Maintenance & Condensation
Do you dread the labour and costs involved in maintaining your existing window frames, or are you fed up waking up to steamed up windows and pools of water on your sills on your property? ...... then read on?Maintenance
UPVC has very low maintenance costs compared to alternative materials, providing the products are correctly designed, manufactured, installed and maintained.
Upvc is rigid, colourfast and resistant to weathering. Your smart new windows/doors will still require cleaning with a mild detergent - every 3-4 months, and lubrication of the locks and hinges - every 6 to 12 months, to prevent dirt build-up and to ensure they look their best.
Regular maintenance prolongs the life of windows and doors and reduces replacement and repair costs. Double Glazing, unlike its wood predecessor, should never warp, pit, flake, rot or need filling or painting.
Slightly dirty frames can be cleaned with warm water and washing up liquid. Extremely dirty frames should be cleaned with special cleaning fluid – available from your local A6 Windows.
Abrasive cleaners as well as dry cleaning with a duster should be avoided. Cleaning solutions and polishes that contain solvents or thinners should not be used. Aggressive chemicals like these will attack the window frame and seals.
Rust patches can only appear as a result of external metal particles from the outside atmosphere.
How Tow & Heel Doors or Windows
Toeing and Heeling? Upvc doors and opening windows (sash) are heavy, and although the dead weight is supported on the hinge side when it is opened, there is nothing on the lock side to support the weight, and without the procedure of toeing and heeling the door will "drop" on the handle side, sooner or later causing locking problems . To stop a door or sash dropping the glass or door panel has to be braced diagonally corner to corner by the insertion of plastic packers slipped in the gap between the glass and frame, under the beading. On the hinge side the packers go at the bottom corner, whilst on the lock side, the packers go at the top (opposite) corner - place a blob of silcon underneath the packers on the door sides to stop the packers dropping (dont let silicon touch the glazing unit this will cause the unit to fail)
When a upvc door or sash has "dropped" the first thing people usually notice is that the lock is not working as easily as it did, or will not lock all. The door or sash may also possibly rub on the bottom as it is closed and will be out of square with the frame. If this is the case the door or sash needs "toeing and heeling" to adjust and prevent it from dropping again in the future.The glazing beading must be removed, and the double glazed sealed unit must be in place, and resting on its plastic setting blocks at the hinge side bottom corner for correct drainage to work properly before beginning the procedure and also making sure that there is space under the double glazed unit/upvc panel on the hinge side (5-10mm).
How to Toe and Heel a door, properly. The opening leaf must be raised on the lock side to the desired height, to square it up again with the outer frame. Double glazing/window installers use a glazing shovel now on the top of the lock side to lift this side (alternatively a chisel can be used taking care to use a packing on the glass so as not to cause damage) of the door now put packers on the top of the glass/panel and also at the top and bottom sides check door for alignment with the frame and the locking mechanism once everything is aligned apply a dab of silicon and replace all glazing beads
Locking mechanism & hinge maintenance
Locking mechanisms and hinges should be lubricated on a regular basis with a fine oil (3in 1 or silicon)please do not use wd40 because this actually dries the mechanism hence its use on damp car electrics .Take care not to over oil because this causes dust and grit to stick to the mechansim .Other lubricants include vasalene ,butter .On door locks it is important to lubricate all the moving parts ie hooks rollers and door barrel the best way to do this is lift the handle up and spray anything that pops outand spray into the barrel were your key goes.Hinges on doors and windows should also be lubricated .
Condensation
Double glazing can certainly minimise the potential for problems of condensation, however, other factors can play their part and new windows cannot be guaranteed to solve the condensation problem.The insulation properties of frames and glass continues to technically improve, but despite the improved insulation of double-glazing the internal pane will always be susceptible to condensation if the surrounding air humidity is high.
Windows made from the Profile 22 System are designed to close very tightly and save energy. So your new windows will be considerably better sealed than your old ones, and if they are double glazed will, under normal circumstances, prevent condensation. However, where humidity levels are high, condensation may occur on cold surfaces in the room.
This can easily be counteracted with correct ventilation. Windows should be opened on a daily basis sufficiently frequently to allow the moist air out and fresh air in. If you have tilt/turn style windows, a room can be ventilated by leaving the windows in the tilt position for a few minutes
