Drainage Holes in UPVC Window not Draining

[kevkdg]

Hi,

I have a UPVC Window where the water pools in the window frame channel (as per the below photo). As the height of the "side wall" of the channel is lower on the inside, the water comes into the house. As you can see there are three drainage holes (and another three on the other side). None of these holes are blocked. This window has been in place for 10 years, but only recently started leaking!....

On the outside of the window, there are three concealed drainage holes on the underside of the frame, located where I have marked the three black lines (below photo). None of these holes are blocked.

There are also drainage holes in the bottom of the window section that opens. These holes empty into the channel, but it is not clear whether the water is bypassing the seal against the glass in the below photo) OR the seal between the section of frame that opens against the window frame when it is closed.....

From prodding around with a metal coat hangar, it seems might be two "chambers" and that they are not connected. I think there is a top "chamber" that the 3 holes drain into from the channel in the window frame, but can find no way that the water can then find its way into the bottom "chamber" which hosts the 3 concealed drainage holes on the underside of the frame that would release the water onto the external window seal.

I can't drill straight down to open the potential bottom chamber to the top chamber due to the angle.

All I can think of doing is drilling the existing top drainage holes in the window frame channel, so that they go straight through to the outside. They won't then be concealed on the outside but that's not a problem.

Any ideas would be much appreciated. I don't know what the cross section would look like for this type of frame, if I did it might help decide a course of action. I also can't understand why the water is not draining to the outside.

Thanks

 

[ronniecabers]

Upvc frames are cellular, the outer section is normally considered the drainage one , so in theory those three holes should be drilled at an angle to join the outer hollow ' cell ' . The external drainage , be it face or concealed , is then in that outer section , allowing water out. It is very rare for the external drainage holes to line up with the internal ones, so a straight implement won't push through one hole and be seen at the other. I'm guessing that water is not running out of the concealed holes? . Usually when cleaning these types, I use a bent paperclip, as they can be moulded to a shape and also have a ' hook' bent on the end to get any crud out of the hole.

If all else fails then , yes , you could drill at an angle that would pierce the outer section only ( it's usually a fairly small hollow , approx 5mm). You could then buy ' drain caps ' to cover your new holes. If drilling though just be careful you only pierce the outer layer, as damage to the internals may send water where you don't want it.

 

[kevkdg]

Hi @ronniecabers,

Thanks for the reply.

The top and bottom holes are unblocked. I managed to do this with some wire.

It seems as if there might be an outer top and bottom cell, as when I push some wire through the top drainage holes, the length of wire I can push in only seems to go about half the depth of the profile before hitting what appears to be an internal wall. This is why I am wondering whether the top holes drain into a different cell to the bottom ones and the two potential cells are not bridged, or if they are this is blocked.

Do you have any diagram/photos of a likely cross section?

Many thanks

Kevin

 

[Tigercubrider]

I don't know if it would work but a can of air duster might help. I use kenair at work to blow dust off parts, but don't use it upside down

 

[DNJ]

So i have this exact same issue (obviously didn't look far back enough in my search results to find this thread!)

Did you drill through in the end? Any ill effects?

The difference in mine is that the outer and inner chambers seem to be separated by an internal floor rather than an internal wall. I don't know where the chambers go, and obviously don't want to send water to the bottom of a previously sealed chamber just to leak out into the wall!

 

[ronniecabers]

Not sure how I missed the reply asking for a cross section , my apologies. Hopefully attached is a picture. The first white arrow/line shows where the existing drainage holes in the frame should be , then the orange line showsthat the water should literally go straight down into the front ' cell ' , and if base drain it should run out the base where the holes are drilled

 

[ronniecabers]

Another picture of a more cellular window , again white arrow indicates where drainage holes on the rebate of the frame and yellow line shows ideal flow route for base drainage

 

[DNJ]

Thanks Ronnie, that's really helpful! I've attached an image here. My frame has holes where the green arrows are, but how does the water get through where the blue arrow is? If I pour water into the top hole it doesn't seem to drain out the bottom one. Perhaps the perforations between the two chambers are blocked? I am thinking of just drilling through where the blue arrow is...

 

[ronniecabers]

If you have holes where the green arrows are, and you have that internal wall ( to the left of the blue arrow ) , then drilling through where the blue arrow is shouldn't hurt

 

[Deanpollard2000]

Hello,

I've got this exact same issue, did anyone here resolve it?

Thanks,
Dean