Double Glazing Trouble!

comeonthetic · 14 March 2005 at 4:37PM

Hi peeps,

Advice needed with regards to my DG.

In my living room and in one of my bedrooms (daughters) there seems to be water/condensation between the panes of glass. The living room has only a very small patch but in the room it is almost the entire pane. The windows were in when we bought the property (17 months ago) so I have no details of who installed them.

Is this easily fixed or will it cost me a small fortune (which i don't have) to rectify?

Thanks in advance

tic.

mrcow · 14 March 2005 at 5:05PM

Hi

We had the same problem when we moved into our house two years ago, except it was every window, and there was at least an inch of actual water inside each window. You couldn't see out of them due to the condensation.

I think it was from where the woman who previously owed the house never cleaned her windows (or anything else for that matter) and had allowed the seals to perish through rotting (I literally had to scrape the mould off them - yuck!).

Anyhow, I contacted a local double glazing repair company who fitted new glass and seals into the original frames for the entire house for about £600 + VAT (it took them about 3/4 day). Make sure that you get a few quotes though as prices can vary a great deal.

I wouldn't treat it as a major priority if you can't afford it at the moment though, as I think that once water's got in, it can't be fixed anyway, so delaying any work until things look a bit more affordable won't really hurt.

Hope it helps.

Rex_Mundi · 14 March 2005 at 6:21PM

It's got nothing to do with seals on the windows or anything else. Your DG units have broken down. The seal round the edges of the units are letting in air and this is condensing inside the unit. There is only one cure. New units.

When DG units are made. They are sealed together, the 2 longest sections of spacer bar are filled with desicant. This takes out all the water from the air trapped inside the unit. When the seal around the edge of the unit breaks down. More air gets inside. The desicant can only extract so much water. Over time the air condenses and starts to fill up the inside of the unit with water. I've changed units that were over half full of water for customers before.

At best you can only expect a ten year guarentee on DG units. Some companies only do five year guarentees. It's worth shopping around to get a few quotes. Prices can vary a lot company to company.

It's not a difficult job to change units. Normally just a matter of whipping out the gasket and beading, then the unit will come out easily. If you decide to do it yourself. I recommend you take the units out to measure them. You will need three measurements. Width, height and thickness (normally in double glazing, units are 28mm thick, but it varies according to the system). Thickness is crucial. Too thick or thin and they won't go in properly. Also when the units go back in the frame, they MUST be sitting on spacers, not the bottom of the frame. The thickness of the spacer can vary. Minimum 3mm though.

Sorry to say. This is going to cost you money.

plumb1_2 · 14 March 2005 at 11:02PM

And K glass

Poppy9 · 14 March 2005 at 11:16PM

A couple of my DG windows make a whistling sound in high wind. Two different companies have told me this is normal

. Sounds like a blooming bird is trapped.

calleyw · 14 March 2005 at 11:20PM

I have a DG back door been in for longer than we have. So about 7 years ago then.

It leaks water over the floor when open. I can only assume that is because it seems to be misting up inside. So the water has to go somewhere. Over my floor.

As 1st I thought it was just because of the water running off the outside of the door.

Yours

Calley

Rex_Mundi · 15 March 2005 at 1:03AM

If you are only replacing the glass. You are allowed under the new regs to replace 'like for like'. This means you don't need to replace the units with 'k' glass. This applies to all windows. It's only if you replace the frame that you have to comply with the new part L building regs.

This has to be the case. 'k' glass has a very slight green tint to it. Replacing one unit in a whole window would look very out of place, and frankly it would look sh1te. This 'like for like' is allowed to take account of broken down units or if a pane of glass gets broken and needs to be replaced.

It leaks water over the floor when open. I can only assume that is because it seems to be misting up inside. So the water has to go somewhere. Over my floor.

If the units appear misty inside. It can ONLY be caused by the unit breaking down. There is only one remedy and this is a new unit. Anywhere in or 300mm around a door has to be toughened or safety glass (laminated). Also any glass less than 800mm from the floor has to be safety glass. It's a bit extra cost, but well worth it for safety.

System · 15 March 2005 at 9:02AM

I agree, the water problem between the panes of glass is because the seals have broken down. We had much the same problem with our old aluminium double glazed windows. The condensation was awful and the whistling through the one window particularly was awful. I dont know if you can replace the seal but we just replaced the windows.

comeonthetic · 15 March 2005 at 9:04AM

Thanks for the advice folks.

I'm afraid I will have to delay replacing them for a wee while as my living room window is huge and I would imagine it will cost an arm and a leg, however all my limbs are set aside for current debts. :mad:

Tic

Rex_Mundi · 15 March 2005 at 9:29AM

I dont know if you can replace the seal but we just replaced the windows.

It's impossible to just replace the seal. This would just trap the damp air inside the unit and forever cause condensation inside. New units are needed because new desicant will be needed. This means new desicant, new spacer bar and new sealant. Even using the old glass is not worth it. Once water sits on glass it creates water marks. This is extremely difficult and in some cases impossible to get rid of. It's also very difficult to split down an old unit. It's not an easy job and can be very time consuming. With the time taken to split down an old unit and clean it up, there won't be much difference in price with a new unit.

The only time I would recommend using the old glass would be for a stained unit. Even then it would only be worth keeping the pane with the stained glass design on and using a new pane the other side of the unit.

Queenie · 15 March 2005 at 9:40AM

Poppy9 wrote:

A couple of my DG windows make a whistling sound in high wind. Two different companies have told me this is normal . Sounds like a blooming bird is trapped.

We've got that in our lounge window - been like it since they were installed (3yrs ago!) - except we've been told, "Never come across this before!" - :mad: The guy who owns the company says that *he* needs to hear it to be able to access it (despite the guy who put them in being able to hear it). Sadly, the wind doesn't understand Mon-Fri, 9-5 :rolleyes:

Mine doesn't sound like a bird as much as a baby elephant learning to trumpet!!

My bay window is the bane of my life

Double Glazing Trouble!

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