Last weekend, CarbonfreeDC volunteers began the first installment of green makeovers for the Extreme Green Neighborhood Makeover.

Three great families in Deanwood opened their homes and worked with us to make eco-improvements on their houses, including caulking, weather-stripping, smart strip installation, light bulb exchanges, gardening & more. This weekend we green 6 more houses in Shaw & Deanwood.

With all the work we're doing, we're also learning a lot about making older homes energy efficient with a small monetary investment. Here's what we learned last weekend! (Click "Read More" below)

LESSON 1 - OLD WINDOWS
Through the years, homes expand, shift and settle, resulting in gaps between walls and windows. Those cracks might seem insignificant, but they're allowing significant amounts of air to flow in and out of your home, reducing your comfort and increasing your A/C-Heating costs.

Some of the windows we saw last weekend were loose in their frames from years of cracking. Here's how we fixed up old windows on a budget...

1. Secure the window in place. You can simply tap a nail through the window's outer frame to secure it.
   
2. Clean up the dust and grime around the areas where you will be working. Remove any old weather-stripping, paper, glue or caulk.
   
3. In the larger gaps, more than a quarter-inch wide, use narrow weather-stripping to cover the crack.
   
4. Squeeze caulk along small cracks and around the weather-stripping. Smooth it down with your finger.