Hole in double glazed patio door for cat flap.

crazyrae

Hi, I had this done a few months ago but we had to replace the catflap today (it was faulty) with another one and the glass has cracked from the hole upwards on the outside. Is this because we changed the cat flap? When I called the company who did it they said I'd have to replace the whole glass panel again and pay the £200+ again. I am pretty upset about this as it cost so much to do and we can't afford to pay all over again and they haven't been of any help at all as to what I can do. Can anyone give me any advice? How could it crack if it's double glazed toughened glass?

markie1980

If this unit is in a door, in a frame ajoining a door or in a window below 800mm from the floor it should be toughened.
If the unit was toughened it would not crack - It would shatter into thousands of tiny (4mm ish) pieces.

The company that did it are 100% responsible for this and either don't know the rules or have tried to save (a small amount of) money by using a non toughened unit.

Have you got a reciept saying the unit they supplied and fitted was toughened?

scoggs

markie1980 wrote: »

If this unit is in a door, in a frame ajoining a door or in a window below 800mm from the floor it should be toughened.
If the unit was toughened it would not crack - It would shatter into thousands of tiny (4mm ish) pieces.

The company that did it are 100% responsible for this and either don't know the rules or have tried to save (a small amount of) money by using a non toughened unit.

Have you got a reciept saying the unit they supplied and fitted was toughened?

Also supplying and installing non-toughened glass to critical areas is illegal.

helie333_2

Hi,
Does anyone know anyone in Preston or the surrounding area in Lancashire who will put a cat flap in a french conservatory door?
thanks

Turquoise

i will shortly be moving house to cheadle hulme and the back door of the house has a upvc door with a decorative panel - one of those which looks like there are two rectangular moulded panels on near the bottom of the door and further up on the door there is a window. Trouble is, the door is not one where there are two panels so you could remove the bottom one. It is one long panel all the way up the door which the glass is in the middle of and the decorative bits are on. Can the surface 'mouldings' just be chipped off in some way to provide a flat surface where needed or would the whole panel need to be replaced? would you be able to do this and how much roughly would it be please?

chrisg1985

withabix wrote: »

Your sealed unit will be completely wrecked by doing this.

It will be permanently clouded with condensation and will also lose virtually all of it's insulation properties.

Don't do it IMHO.

£90 is about right for visiting your house, cutting a hole in two panes of toughened glass and fitting a cat flap supplied by you, if that's what you REALLY want to do.

I would say there was a risk of the door shattering anyway, as it's toughened glass.

I suggest putting it in another door, or alternatively just make the cat stay outside until you let it in.

You cant cut toughened glass.

The door must be laminate. As rex pointed out it's an awkward job. £90 is just not right. if the unit has not got spacer bar and polyurethane it will mist up.

If the guy does it properly let me know his details I will use him all day long.thanks.

C3P0_2

williamrobb88 wrote: »

withabix, and anybody else who says this can't be done, or will wreck your unit, THAT IS RUBBISH!

Let me make a few things clear.
1. The door will have toughened glass in it (Mandatory). Toughened glass CAN NOT BE CUT IN ANY WAY! Once it is toughened that's it. So you can't just cut a whole in it.

2. The unit will NOT cloud up.

Here's how it's done............

You go to a D-G unit supplier with your Cat flap, and tell him the size and thickness of the panel you want. They will cut the shape of the Cat flap out of 2 BRAND NEW pieces of glass. Then the glass is toughened. Then the unit is assembled in the normal way (Aluminium spacer the way round the inside of the unit), and where the hole for the Cat Flap is, we use a bendy space bar called Super Spacer. We then seal the hole with 2 Part Sealant as opposed to the 1 part sealant all around the edge of the unit. How do I know? Because I make 10 of these EVERY WEEK!

£90 is about right.

Hi I'm so glad I found this thread! Do you know anyone in London who you would reccomend to do this, always very cautious of getting ripped off!:doh:

Many thanks

fubar4164

Hiya,

I live in Bristol and want a cat flap in my French door. Any recommendations?

Thanks

Crystalrach

Hi i live in wigan and need a catflap in my patio door any advice on who does this in my area? ..thanks

crazyrae

markie1980 wrote: »

If this unit is in a door, in a frame ajoining a door or in a window below 800mm from the floor it should be toughened.
If the unit was toughened it would not crack - It would shatter into thousands of tiny (4mm ish) pieces.

The company that did it are 100% responsible for this and either don't know the rules or have tried to save (a small amount of) money by using a non toughened unit.

Have you got a reciept saying the unit they supplied and fitted was toughened?

Thanks for your help - yes, I found my invoice after a long time searching for it. I got another company to come over and check the glass and they agreed it wasn't toughened and they called the company who did it for me to complain as they hadn't listened to me - had to wait for days for them to have time to come and check it for themselves, but when they did they agreed it wasn't toughened, blamed the glass company and said not to trust the person who had come to check it for me! I got my money back because by this time I didn't trust them to replace it - surely they should have noticed the glass wasn't toughened when they fitted it and the owner couldn't even apologise to me, just made out it was my fault.

But since then I haven't been able to get through to the 2nd company to come and replace it - looking up today he hasn't had very good reviews either on various forums and finally seen that he has changed his number on his website so thats why I couldn't get through - am worried that's a bit dodgy now. But he was really helpful and didn't charge me for coming to check it so I guess I will try his new number.

Who would have thought it was such hard work to get some glass cut by a trusted company who aren't all bad mouthing each other!!

Oh and for others having this done - check the glass for a kite mark in one of the corners - if it isn't there, it isn't toughened!