Upvc window fitting - damage to plaster normal?

Lara44

Hello

We're just having the last 5 of our windows changed to Upvc double glazing. The rest of the house has been done by the same company (although different teams of fitters).

All the previous old windows came off okay with pretty minimal damage to plaster. This time, large chunks of plaster have been torn off when the old windows have been removed. The fitters (currently here now) have showed me some metal clips that were embedded under the plaster which when the window has been pushed out have taken large chunks of plaster with it. They say they will plaster up the chunks to leave a clean finish this afternoon before they leave.

My OH and I are both horrified having not even considered this a possibility. I was wondering if any experienced people in the trade could say if this was normal, or if we have had a team of bad fitters?

Obviously if this is the norm we will have to make do. The house has lining paper so I'm worried that the repairs will be a bodge job rather than the finish we were hoping for.

Pics to follow

Lara44

Lara44

Apologies, I have managed to upload these sideways... not sure yet how to correct them.

ETA: These are 3 different windows - but all 5 have been affected.

missprice

this is normal as my whole estate had 'straps' holding the single glazed units in and the three windows I have replaced last year all had the same damage to plaster when they were taken out.
am dreading the upstairs windows being done as its the same problem with 'straps' embedded in the plaster. and will result in a big mess and my OH having to replaster the inner window bit.

not much fun and very messy but the other option was to grind them off which would be even worse.:)

sc1_2

It's normal. We had upvc windows fitted earlier this year and the same thing happened. The fitters filled the damaged section afterwards.

pinkteapot

Yep - it's normal. My fitters filled the holes too. Unfortunately they were good window fitters but rubbish plasterers. Got a mate who's a plasterer so he skimmed around the windows afterwards.

Lara44

Hey thanks for posting. Always good to check before becoming a diva customer :rotfl:

Just a shame those windows didn't come off easily like the other 5... They have filled up the holes but it's not a good finish. As you say it's probably better to get someone decent in to do it properly. I feel like a bit of an idiot not even thinking of the possibility that the plaster would be damaged - just a bit gutted after saving for so long to do these. I was telling myself the new windows would look amazing!

Leif

When I stripped the wallpaper from the walls, I found large cracks in the plaster, along the sides of the windows, and near the ceilings on the windowed walls. One crack below a window was several inches wide, several feet long, and going several inches into the wall. I finally figured out that the cracks must have been made when the windows were replaced with UPVC ones, and the fitters did not repair the plaster, apart from the deep crack which was filled badly. Someone wallpapered over the mess. Even if they do not do a neat job of patching, it is not hard to tidy it up yourself, although it does require some physical work, and taking care.

27col

The fact that you never considered this as a possibility is because you do not know how houses are constructed. It is a perfectly normal thing to have happened and no-one could have predicted for certain what might occur in advance. How did you suppose that your old windows were secured to the opening. There had to be a fixing of some sort and it is not possible to know what it is until the windows are being removed.

Lara44

Yes - well I am not a builder, therefore I am happy to admit I do not know how houses are constructed :rotfl:

I had hoped that the clips were located further back on the edge of the window, rather than being embedded beneath the plaster. As I mentioned, we didn't have this problem with the other 5 windows we have had changed, so they must have used another type of fixing.

Anyway thank you for your feedback!

Leif

Lara44 wrote: »

Yes - well I am not a builder, therefore I am happy to admit I do not know how houses are constructed :rotfl:

This is a common problem when dealing with builders, trades etc. Us numpties do not know what to ask, and what to look out for. However, forums like this do help huge amounts.