Window frame fixing

  • Thread starter SaladFingers
  • Start date
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SaladFingers

I've a window of opportunity to fit a new window to my garage.

Here it is
IMG_1887-1.jpg


What I want to know is, are the arrows a good place to put fixings. Have I missed any positions? Are there too many positions? Are any in the wrong position, such as the top fixings, should there be any or not as there's a lintel above?

The red arrows indicate my intention to use the hammer in Fischer type srew fixings.

Green arrows a self tapper into the cill.

Blue arrows, shorter hammer in fixings.

Thanks.
 
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wowsers.

23 views and looks as though I'm not the only one who doesn't know :LOL:
 
Hi,
I'm no window fitting expert but I have fitted a couple in my time and your fixings up the side & bottom look fine. I would use 1 top fixing on a window of that size, I would put it in the middle. Some will say it's not necessary or shouldn't be fixed at the top but it stops the head from dipping down in the middle, this is more of a problem on a wide frame, so it's up to you if you use any fixings in the top.
If you do and the lintel above is steel you can use a baypole screw, this is a threaded screw with a tip like a drill bit, this will drill into the lintel and then screw into it, ask at any window fitting place and they will probably give you a couple.

I would screw the frame to the cill before fitting and fit it as one unit.
Put a thin bead of silicone along the back edge of the cill where the frame sits, also put a very thin film along the front edge, (Red Dots on photo) wipe any excess that squeezes out off. Make sure you only put a tiny amount along the front edge, just wipe it on with your finger nice and thin !
This "wipe" of silicone along the front will stop any wind driven rain getting through into the void between the frame and the cill.
Also fill the voids between the frame & cill at the ends (Green on the photo)

View media item 50891

With the frame screwed to the cill offer the frame into position, space it up about 5mm from the brickwork with plastic frame packers, this should give you a 5mm clearance at the top if the window is the correct size. If not adjust the frame up / down with the packers until the clearances are equal, do this for the sides also, don't forget to check that the window is level across the bottom & plumb up the sides and set back into the brick work equally on both sides.

Put plastic frame packers between the frame & the brickwork wherever you have a fixing so that when you tighten the fixing it doesn't distort the frame.
I would use frame fixings not hammer fixings (maybe this is what you meant) so if you need to you can loosen them off again so you can adjust any packing you have behind them.

Not 100 % necessary but once fitted & fixed you can use expanding foam around the frame, this is best done with a foam gun as you can control these very precisely unlike the hand held cans. If you do decide to use a can put masking tape around the frame so if the foam goes wild it won't stick to the frame. If the foam comes out of the gap between the frame & the brick work it will have to be cut back slightly lower than the frame before any silicone frame sealant is used.

When fitting the glass panels, try the panel in, you will have to place it on plastic packers that normally come with the frame, you place these at the bottom of the glass about 6 inches in from each corner (this measurement isn't crucial), these packers are to lift the glass panel so that it has the same clearance top & bottom in the frame, this is so it looks correct when the beads are fitted and the distance from the edge of the bead to the silver spacer bar in the glass panel are equal. Move the panel from side to side to equal the gap also.
When the bottom panel is centralised place plastic spacers on top of the panel in the middle, this is to hold the crossbar (transom) of the window level and to stop it drooping down, this is important on wider frames so may not be required.

Fitting the beads that hold the glass in place can be tricky, you shouldn't have any problems with the bigger panel, but on the smaller panel make sure to fit the smaller side beads first, then bend the bigger ones & fit the corners then tap it into place with a rubber mallet, you will get a satisfying crack when it jumps into place, if you are having trouble fitting them apply some silicone spray to them to make them slide into place more easily.


Hope this helps you.

Good luck.

Cheers.
 
Thanks for the info. So what holds the window in at the bottom to the brickwork if the cill is secured to the window first? Or did you go through the frame and the cill into the brickwork with frame fixings?

Cheers.
 
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Hi,
yes, fix through the frame & the cill as you say, when fixed put a dab of silicone over the head of the fixing.

The advice I have given is my own way of fixing a window frame, as I said I'm no expert and others may contradict my advice. Some fitters like to fit the cill to the opening then put the the frame onto the cill, but with this method the frame doesn't always fit tight to the cill and you sometimes get a gap at the front edge between the bottom of the frame & the cill (where I told you to put a wipe of silicone on the front edge) this can allow rain driven rain in, that's why in my opinion it is better to fasten the cill to the frame and fit the unit as one, just like you would if the window was made from wood.

You can find fitting advice in the link below (section 3)

http://www.ggf.org.uk/assets/W&D_Good_Practice_Guide-4ec42d0c5aa21.pdf


Cheers.
 
I'd reckon hammerswing is right in what he says. If anything, you are maybe over egging the pudding with 8 fixes on a unit that size but that's no bad fault.

The only thing i'd be sure of is the frame and opener are true before adding the glazed units. If a fix has pulled it out of true you could get a gap when the window closes.
 
I would say your window needs to sit on a 15 to 20mm mortar bed with fixings up each jamb at least 160mm from each corner/weld. Do not screw through the head..either use a cleat and/or fixing foam.
 
Windows look a mess when the cill is sat on a mortar bed.

I fixed the cill to the frame, sat it on the bricks with some packers underneath. Two fixings each side with packers, one fixing in the middle at the bottom and packers at the top and expanding foam filling the top up. I also filled the gap at the side and under the cill with expanding foam and trimmed off when dry. Looks very neat. Makes my other windows truly look a mess with the way they've been done in the past.
 
"Windows look a mess when the cill is sat on a mortar bed"

BUT it's the correct way to fit it.
 
It's a 'a' way it seems. Especially if someone has made a measurement cock up to fill a massive gap.
 
What do you suggest the cill should sit on then?
 
As others have suggested, on packers on the brickwork. It keeps the gap to a minimum, instead of having what looks to be a huge gap filled with cement, which doesn't look very nice when you have bare brick.
 
The rebate under the cill would help minimise any capillary action... so I agree with cwyn and think a mortar bed would be the way to go?
 

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