Damp Velux Windows

highlandmoo

Hi, perhaps one of you knowledgable folks here can help me figure out what's going on with my windows. I have four Velux windows (3 x GGL M08 1 x GGL C04) and they are ALL damp in the same place (approximately half way up the wooden frame on both sides). One window seems to have it worse than the others as the dampness is also present on the wall next to the frame which has resulted in some slight discolouration around the same area down to the bottom of the window frame (see photo below). I'm worried this is going to get worse and I'd like to correct the issue before things start rotting and mould starts appearing. I have no knowledge of when or who installed the windows as they were present when I moved into this house in late 2018. Any advice you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 

akira181

Not sure if it's my monitor but it's hard to see what you're referring to in the picture.  If it's water on the glass on the inside, then it's condensation and opening the trickle vents or a dehumidifier will help.

Has the wall always been damp or is it a recently occurring thing?

Doozergirl

Ditto.  I can't see what you're referring to.  

highlandmoo

Apologies, you're right, the photo is not very helpful. The discolouration on the wall is not that easy to see and dampness on the window frame is not visible. The photo is centred on the damp area of the window frame, which is around the midway point of the wooden panel that meets the wall. The discolouration on the wall is faint, but runs from the damp area on the window frame down to the bottom of the window frame. The dampness on the window frame is very specific as it occurs on both sides of each window frame at the midway point between the top and bottom of each window and this occurs on all 4 windows. 
This is the first time I've been aware of it happening, but I only moved in a couple years ago, so I can't say whether this is recurring or not. It's certainly been a very wet winter. I do get condensation but the part of the window frame that's damp is not the part that meets the glass. Thanks for your help. 

highlandmoo

It seems the damp area is directly under the hinge, so I took a few photos of the hinge and the area around the window, perhaps they'll be more helpful. I noticed that there was water sitting on the outer frame of the window just below the hinge, you will see it in the photo, so I'm guessing that's where the water is coming from. Is this an installation fault or a fault with the windows themselves?

sleepymans

We’ve had some issues with Velux windows recently. We went onto the Velux website and searched for our local Velux recommended installers who came out and were very knowledgeable. I don’t mean to sound patronising because we wished we’d done this before trying to get advice from general roofers/builders.
There are apparently various components that could fail but Velux do stock spare parts.
HTH

highlandmoo

Thanks @sleepymans, that's certainly good advice. I contacted Velux prior to posting on this forum and so far they've been helpful, but haven't yet figured it out. The closest Velux certified installer to me is an hour and 30 minutes drive away, so unfortunately I can't just have them nip round to check it out, but hopefully with the help of Velux (and perhaps some folks on this forum who may have had similar issues) I can figure out what's going on so that when I do call them out they'll know what parts to bring. 

sleepymans

highlandmoo said:

Thanks @sleepymans, that's certainly good advice. I contacted Velux prior to posting on this forum and so far they've been helpful, but haven't yet figured it out. The closest Velux certified installer to me is an hour and 30 minutes drive away, so unfortunately I can't just have them nip round to check it out, but hopefully with the help of Velux (and perhaps some folks on this forum who may have had similar issues) I can figure out what's going on so that when I do call them out they'll know what parts to bring. 

Just a quick update, funnily enough we’ve got our Velux installers here today! They have found that the screws holding the flashing in place have perished on one side.
the leaking with our installation which looked rather like your problem.
Our Velux was installed in 2008 and gets all the prevailing weather here as we are 725 feet above sea level in the Penines!

Good luck with yours.

highlandmoo

sleepymans said:

Just a quick update, funnily enough we’ve got our Velux installers here today! They have found that the screws holding the flashing in place have perished on one side.
the leaking with our installation which looked rather like your problem.
Our Velux was installed in 2008 and gets all the prevailing weather here as we are 725 feet above sea level in the Penines!

Good luck with yours.

Wow, thanks @sleepymans, that's great news and mighty helpful indeed.