Replacing UPVC solid panel with glass?

[daveray]

Hi all,
So I have a question. In my flat we have two panel UPVC windows; the frames of these run from almost the ceiling to the floor. The top panel is glass and the bottom is a solid plastic(?) panel. I was wondering if it would be possible to take this bottom solid panel out and replace it with a glass unit, effectively making a sort of full length window? If it is possible how easy is it to do?
Thanks a million,
Dave

 

[Gazman16]

Should be fairly easy, Can you post some pics?

 

[daveray]

OK, with a bit of luck, here are the pics. As you can see it is actually four widows in the top section and one panel in the bottom The solid panel measured to the inside edge of the bead is 137 x 78cm.

I suppose my question is; are these panels the same depth as the double glazed units, so can I pop out this panel, measure it to its outside edges, then get a glazed section the same dimensions and swap the two over?

Are there any issues with doing this? - We just moved into this flat and the panels are all horribly yellowed, we thought swapping this one out to make a really big window would be worth a shot.

Untitled

• daveray
• 18 Mar 2014
• 1

Untitled

• daveray
• 18 Mar 2014
• 1

Untitled

• daveray
• 18 Mar 2014
• 1

 

[kbdiy]

Just be aware that it will need to be safety glass (toughened or laminated I think) as it is in an area where young children especially could run into it, with disastrous consequences.

 

[Gazman16]

Yes no problem there.
As mentioned will need to be safety glass, If there is any kind of a drop out side I would go for Laminated glass to the inner pane and toughened for the outside.

Take the thickness measurement from the panel but not the overall size (they tend to cut them wonky and out of square).
Take the panel out and measure the aperture and deduct about 10mm in both directions from a tight fit.
The glass unit will have a spacer bar and seal all the way around that is about 12mm thick and needs to be hidden behind the beads to protect it from sunlight.

 

[daveray]

Great. Thanks loads for the advice and indeed the swift response.

I'll get on and do it then I suppose. Fingers crossed, firstly that i don't break anything and secondly that it'll look good.

Cheers all!

 

[crank39]

Measure from these lines for width and height then deduct 10mm for both, this gives you 5mm slack all the way round the glass, next you'll need the thickness, remove the top and two side beads to the panel and ease the top towards you and measure the thickness, this realistically could be 16mm, 20mm, 24mm or 28mm overall depending on age, if its upto ten years old its likely to be 24mm or 28mm thick any older and they used to have some right thin units in

 

[phatboy]

Also remove the beads in such a way as you don't damage them! A paint scraper carefully positioned in the middle of the length, tapped with a hammer will do it usually.

When putting pack, you need a rubber hammer to tap them back so as not to smash the nice new glass.

Also, make a note of which bead went where (left, right, top, bottom), you would think top/bottom and left/right were interchangeable, but they often are very slightly different, so the corners don't line up.