New uPVC windows scratched - repair or replace?

[nomisr]

Hi,

I've had some major building work done (extensions to 3 sides), and all existing windows and doors were replaced as part of the work. The builder used the same local window company that he always uses. The whole bungalow was to be rendered with a monocouche render, so the window company recommended that the protective plastic film be left on the frames until the job was complete.

Now the render in on and the film has been removed there are dozens of minor but very visible scratches in every frame. It's mainly the sills, and not close to the edge, so it doesn't appear to be due to the rendering. There is a french door set with sidelights, and one of the sills has two very deep gouges about 15cm long in it. The 20 year old frames that came out were in better condition.

There is also a 5.8m wide bi-fold door in aluminium which has lots of scratches in the sill and problems with the beading on the inside.

The window company offered to repair the scratches and have made a start, but the guy they sent around has actually made the minor scratches worse by using a fairly coarse wet-and-dry to sand them out. I asked him when he was going to polish the sanded areas back to a gloss finish, and he didn't know what I was on about! He filled in the deep gouges with wax and sprayed, but the repair looks pretty bad. He hasn't started on the bi-fold door yet.

I'm on the brink of telling the builder to get the whole lot replaced, but that would be a world of pain due to the monocouche render, which is notoriously difficult to repair.

A more palatable alternative might be to call this lot in (at the builder's expense) ...

http://www.plastic-surgeon.co.uk/

They couldn't do a worse job than the joker from the window company.

Does anyone have any experience of this company? Are they as good as they claim? Or would you just have the windows replaced?

Cheers,
Nomis

 

[Gazman16]

I know nothing about that or any other particular company I'm afraid.

I can tell you that there are experts who can do a seamless repair. I do have a PVC repair kit and can do an ok job on a small mark but it is not a skill I have mastered yet.
I have seen huge gouges that I thought impossible to repair fixed before.

I would suspect that the renderers have done the damage (they almost always do) thats why I wont leave the tape on any more, That way the customer knows they were scratch free when I leave.

The window company may be your 1st port of call here though. They obviously just sent out a fitter like myself with a basic repair kit last time but they will have access (most likely through the fabricating factory) to people who are trained specifically for it.

There is a chap on the forums who deals with insurance claims on windows. Hopefully he might know a good repair company to recommend.

You may find getting a good repair on the aluminum more difficult.

 

[crank39]

'Now the render in on and the film has been removed there are dozens of minor but very visible scratches in every frame. It's mainly the sills, and not close to the edge, so it doesn't appear to be due to the rendering. There is a french door set with sidelights, and one of the sills has two very deep gouges about 15cm long in it. The 20 year old frames that came out were in better condition.'

Minor scratches can easily be just polished out 1000 or 1200 grit wet n dry then finished off with t cut and then car polish.

Deeper scratches will require courser wet n dry, depending on the scratch you could start as low as 80 grit, this would remove lots of pvc but you wouldn't want to remove all of the scratch with the first sanding, moving up to 120 grit then 240, 400, 600 this is where you'd want to have removed all of the scratch, then start blending in all the finer scratches from sanding with 800 and then as above 1000 and 1200

'There is also a 5.8m wide bi-fold door in aluminium which has lots of scratches in the sill and problems with the beading on the inside.

...Powder coated brown, white ali is easily repaired with some wet n dry sanding and then using some 'Konig' spray paints. Anodised bronze and silver are near on impossible to repair and hide, there are some really funky colours and textures out at the moment and I wouldn't even know where to begin in repairing them

The window company offered to repair the scratches and have made a start, but the guy they sent around has actually made the minor scratches worse by using a fairly coarse wet-and-dry to sand them out. I asked him when he was going to polish the sanded areas back to a gloss finish, and he didn't know what I was on about! He filled in the deep gouges with wax and sprayed, but the repair looks pretty bad. He hasn't started on the bi-fold door yet.

Waxes and sprays yes this is all part of the repair kit, I'm trained in those repairs and it takes a lot of practice and patience to get to a certain standard, then you need years on top to get to a level where you can disappear a repair totally, the more you do it the easier it gets, I've not done any in a while so....... , I would imagine the chap that came out from the factory was not fully up to speed with smart repairs regards wax and spray but polishing scratches out is pretty straight forward

I'm on the brink of telling the builder to get the whole lot replaced, but that would be a world of pain due to the monocouche render, which is notoriously difficult to repair.

Tough, tell him you want to claim against his liability insurance! Sounds like you've paid a fair bit for this renovation, if it was me I wouldn't want scratched frames spoiling my house that I've probably had to re-mortgage, don't let him off the hook too easy

 

[nomisr]

Hi,

A quick update on this one. Here is the second attempt to fix the deep scratch in a sill. I'm still not happy with it but the contractor has run out of ideas. Am I being too critical? I think I could do a better job myself.

The repairs to the aluminium bi-fold doors (white powder coated) are still outstanding because the guy they sent over didn't know how to use the resin touch-up he was given. Unbelievable!

Cheers,
Nomis

Untitled

• nomisr
• 19 May 2015
• 1

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[DHFrames]

We used the Plastic Surgeons a few weeks back to colour match our window to the existing building.
Some of their repair work is unbelievable. Only used them once, they came highly recommended
Will be certainly cheaper than replacing
Couldn't fault them

 

[big-all]

did you post those picture a year or 2 ago they look familiar

 

[Doggit]

Trying to get the windows out without damaging the render is going to be pretty much impossible. Have you thought about using a uPVC profile piece to cover over the damage. Repairing the sills wouldn't be as simple, but not impossible.

 

[DHFrames]

did you post those picture a year or 2 ago they look familiar

Nope, just tonight.
Installed 3 weeks ago

 

[big-all]

Nope, just tonight.
Installed 3 weeks ago

ahh ok thanks

 

[Gazman16]

Very nice.
Where they newly fitted windows painted or old windows? Just thinking surely it would have been cheaper to spray them in the factory instead of once fitted?

 

[DHFrames]

Same price Gaz to have it sprayed in the factory or on site.
No risk of damage if sprayed after installation. We've had windows sprayed before in the factory, this is the way forward for us now.
Existing timber window replaced with our UPVC window