upvc glass suddenly breaks who pays?

mpazza

Hi,
Paid a company £2000 to fit 6 upvc windows approx 13 months ago. A couple of weeks ago (before this cold spell!) heard a loud bang in the night and the inside pane had cracked from top to bottom. Spoke to company and they want to charge £120 +vat to replace (1000mm x 40mm pane) They say glass is not covered by 10 year guarantee. H
Have I any rights here? you buy double glazing to save you money!

On another note the bedroom windows still grow mould round the edges, in some cases worse than the old wooden ones, I was hoping this would have improved with the new windows, is this purely down to ventilation or should they be better?

Any advice appreciated Thanks Mpazza

latecomer

I suspect you dont have a leg to stand on unless you can prove the glass was incorrectly sized or fitted.

as for the mould - do you get condensation on the window?

phill99

You pay. No DG firm would cover the glass. The glass has been broken by excessive variations in temperature. You need to look at your terms and conditions.

In terms of the mould, that is nothing to do with the windows. The mould is as a result of excessive moisture in the atmosphere that is unable to escape. You need to minimise the amount of moisture in th atmosphere by:
-Ventilation in the bathroom and kitchen
-Leaving the bathroom window open once you have bathed or showered or leaving the extractor fan running once you have finished (if you have one)
- Keep the bathroom door shut
- Keep bedroom doors shut
- Ensure the trickle vents are open in the bedrooms.
- provide background heating in the bedrooms so that the cold spots are eliminated

mpazza

Thanks is it worth shopping around locally for a better price as the company is 50 miles away?
There is condensation on the windows in the morning, unfortunatley we have no trickle vents, can they be retro fitted?

bengalknights

Try your local glazers as they should be able to fit the same glass.

themacster

You can retrofit trickle vents - you may be able to find a "window doctor" service in your area. Do the casements have a vent opening setting (i.e. the fastener allows it to be fixed open with just a slight gap) - that's what we've got?

Mould will be due to lack of ventilation.

mpazza

thanks, they have got the vent opening setting, isnt that draughty?

themacster

"Draughty" depends on your perception! I like decent ventilation and don't like the trend to make buildings airtight, but it can depend on the outside temperature and wind speed - you can feel the air movement close to the window, especially if its cold, but I don't find it troublesome as I prefer that to the room getting stuffy. Try the vent setting yourself and see how it goes - it should stop the condensation and mould and improve the comfort level in the room.

Crabman

How can it be the OP's fault that the glass broke on its own?

That it did so suggests it was not fit for purpose and should therefore be covered under the Supply of Goods & Services/Sale of Goods Acts.

I'm sure they wouldn't want potential customers in the area knowing that their glass products can spontaneously break and if they do, the customer would have to pay for the cost of replacement

Premier_2

Double glazing units do spontaneously break occassionally. I'm sure the glazier wouldn't care who knows it. It happens no matter which glazier fits it. No glazier will repair it at their own cost as it's not their fault it broke.

As phill99 says, it's due to excessive variations in temperature (between indoors and outdoors and hence expansion/contraction of the unit). The glazier doesn't control the temperature, but the owner probably does control the interior temperature.

phill99

Crabman wrote: »

That it did so suggests it was not fit for purpose and should therefore be covered under the Supply of Goods & Services/Sale of Goods Acts.

Rubbish.

Strange as it may seem, glass breaks. This is why you see 'fragile - handle with care' stickers on glass products. Glass can break by being dropped, hit, and in many cases with the onset of extreme variations in temperature.

Its nothing to do withe the sale of goods act. Its common sense, or is that something you haven't been issued with yet? No trading standards officer woulkd ever say glass breaking is covered by the Sale of Goods Act.

Get real.