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Why is it whenever you do a job which is really hard and you swear to never do it again, you always forget how bad it was about 3 years later so you do it again and cannot even remember how you did it the previous time.

Well thats me today at Nowty Towers with window fitting.

Yesterday my triple glazed windows finally arrived with the latest Pilkington K glass, warm super spacers and argon filled.






So around midday I decided to give the large one half way up the house on the staircase landing which is one of the remaining old ones that probably loses most heat.



Soon I was chipping away at the old beading, unfortunately the beading is on the outside of the house so up the ladder with the chisel and mallet.



Then it got dodgy as the glass unit was too heavy for me to take out and safely lower it down from the outside.



Quite surprisingly I managed to lift it out from the inside and twist it so it fitted back through the window to the inside of the house. And as if by magic some of the rubber seal which had already dropped onto the floor was well placed to lower the old glass unit down onto it.



Then all the screwheads holding in the original widow all snapped off when trying to remove them so I had to angle grind them out. Soon I had the old frame out and decided to just drop it. What's the worst that could happen I thought. Unfortunately it impacted my hosepipe timer and there was water spraying everywhere.



As usual the spy from Octopus Energy was having a laugh at me, "well that didn't go too well did it nowty, and now your letting all the heat out of the house".



I had to clean up the brickwork, fill in a few holes, cut a bit off the new windowsill, then it was time for the new frame. But I'd forgotten how much of a pain there is in removing all the protection film, there is tons of it and it does not all come off cleanly. It wasn't too heavy but I could not safely get it any further than half way up the ladder. So I attempted to install it from the inside of the house and it was surprisingly much easier. I then lent one of the ladders onto the frame to hold it in place.



Previously when fitting windows I used long screws and rawlplugs but its a pain because you have to drill the frame and make a mark, then remove the frame to drill the larger hole for the rawlplug. So this time I used masonry cutting screws so you can just drill a 6mm pilot hole through the frame and into the brick, then screw straight in with some plastic packers between the frame and the brick so the frame does not distort. I practised yesterday with an old brick and I worked out that they work fine, but you cannot remove them and re-insert or else they become too loose so you only get one go at each one.



Then I thought, ahh its almost done and its still only 3pm ,no you've now got to put the glass in but that's easy right ?.

That's the really BIG thing I had forgotten how bad it was and especially with triple glazed units. The new glass unit was 30 kg and was hell to lift up and into the frame, then I had to remove it several times to get the correct amount of packers into the frame. Then came the really big problem which I had forgotten about and that was getting the new beading in. It took me 3 more hours to get all the beadings in and some I had to cut here and there to get them all in.

But its now in and operable, but I still have all the sealing up to do inside and out. My whole body was killing me but pills and wine are sorting that out as I type this up. At least this was the worst out of the 3 to do and I managed it all myself, even without any help from SWMBO but really I think its a two man job.

Outstanding work, looks great. Ralgex and tiger balm pal! 30kgs is quite a load to be playing with.

Is there an audio difference? With that amount of windows I'd invest in a sucker lifting handle for the glazing units.

I normally use wedges and packers and sometimes the pneumatic packings to get the frames in and true, then squirty foam, once that's gone off for a bit then drill and mechanical fix. Worth a try, it is a lot quicker, I'm surprised your beads need to be trimmed to fit?? T/G is blooming heavy stuff, take care mate.

Desp

151 brand poundshop fluoro yellow degreasant is a time saver on UPVC nowty, if you get sick of using vinegar (its about 4x the oomph)

Changing a single window is an all-day job for me. And the TG glass units aren’t half heavy!

“Elbow grease” branded degreasant is good to clean them up once they’re fitted. £1 in the cleaning aisle. I’m a fan of “No Nonsense Builder’s Silicone” from screwfix for sealing the edges outside…

Stinsy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 15, 2022 5:33 am I’m a fan of “No Nonsense Builder’s Silicone” from screwfix for sealing the edges outside…

So am I, and this will be used shortly when it warms up a bit outside. I also use the same brand of decorators calk to seal the inside as its easy to smooth off and is paintable.

But I cant believe the price, it used to be less than £3 not that long ago and now its £4.99.
I must be getting older as I keep complaining about prices.
But I am quite surprised that I only have a few aches and pains today, I thought I would be far worse.

Joeboy wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:23 pm Is there an audio difference? With that amount of windows I'd invest in a sucker lifting handle for the glazing units.

There was no noise issue with that window but when I replaced my front lounge window a few years back audio was massively different. Last night I was a bit disappointed as the area seemed as cold as before, even the glass felt cold, but the whole area around the window had been losing heat for nearly 6 hours whilst I was fitting it.

Today, it is noticeably different, no cold down draft of air in front of the window, the window no longer feels cold and using an IR thermometer, the temp was the same as the wall. Before it was 2 or 3 degrees lower and the bathroom window (next on the list) is still 3 degrees colder.

I sealed up inside last night and outside today.

So 1 down, 2 to go.

Great to hear you have instant results. I'm sure it will keep improving until the new equilibrium is found.

Brave man, that could easily of gone tits up

A good job nearly completed, but I’m surprised you started with one needing working from ladders. Is there not an easier one on the ground floor, to be ‘practising’ on?

How much are you expecting savings to be over the old ones?

My double glazing is all well over 30 years old and likely soon due for replacement. Front and back have been triple glazed for the duration (previously fitted to the single glazed originals. I reckon they have easily paid for themselves by the much-reduced re-decoration costs (over the original softwood windows), let alone the double glazing gains.