Care and maintenance for uPVC windows.

A uPVC window needs very little. The frame is never painted or sealed. What it does need is simple and regular: wash it, keep the drainage slots open, keep the gaskets clean, and oil and adjust the hardware. If a glass unit fails or breaks, it is replaced from inside the room, and the frame stays in the wall.

A schedule for building staff.

Task	How often	Who
Wash glass and frames	As the building needs	Cleaning staff
Clear the drainage slots	Once a year, before the wet season	Super
Wipe and inspect gaskets	Once a year	Super
Clean and oil the hardware	At least once a year	Super
Check that limiters hold	Once a year, and at every apartment turnover	Super
Adjust a sash	When it rubs, drops or lets in a draft	Trained super, or a service call
Replace a glass unit	When it is cracked, or fogged between the panes	Glazier

Cleaning.

Use warm water, a mild liquid detergent and a soft cloth. An ordinary spray glass cleaner is fine on the glass. The same method suits white frames and colored, foil-faced frames.

• No abrasive creams, scouring pads or blades, on the glass or the frame.
• No solvents or thinners on the frame or the gaskets.
• No pressure washer aimed at the gaskets or the joints.
• Pick a mild day. In direct sun the cleaner dries into streaks. In frost it freezes on the glass.
• Open the sash and wipe the frame rebate too. Grit there ends up in the hardware.

Drainage slots.

Every window lets a little water past its outer gasket in driving rain. That is by design. The water collects in the bottom of the frame and leaves through drainage slots, also called weep slots. On the outside each slot has a small cover in the frame color.

When the slots block, water fills the frame and shows up inside the room. It looks like a leaking window. It is usually a blocked drain.

1. Open the sash and find the slots in the bottom rebate of the frame.
2. Clear them with a vacuum or a soft plastic pick. Do not drill them or make them bigger.
3. Pour a cup of water into the rebate and watch it come out on the outside.
4. Replace any missing weep hole covers. They keep out wind and insects.

Painters and caulkers sometimes seal the slots by mistake. Check after facade work.

Gaskets.

The gaskets make the window tight against air and water. Wipe them with a damp cloth. Keep paint, solvent and cleaning chemicals off them. Look at the corners, and look for any length that has come out of its groove. It can usually be pressed back in by hand. A gasket that is torn, flattened or hard should be replaced. Gasket is supplied by the length and pressed into the same groove.

Hardware: clean, oil, adjust.

• Clean. Vacuum the fittings or wipe them with a damp cloth. No detergents on the metal parts.
• Oil. Once a year. Use only lubricants that are free of resin and acid: a drop of oil on each moving part, and a little grease on each locking point. Work the handle a few times, and wipe off what is left over. Penetrating sprays are not lubricants. One exception: never oil or grease the hinges of a terrace door. Their bearing sleeves are made to run dry.
• Tighten. A loose handle is normally two screws under the cover plate at its base. Check the hinge screws and the keepers too.
• Adjust. The hinges move the sash up and down and side to side. The locking points set how hard the sash presses on the gasket. A sash that rubs the frame needs a hinge adjustment. A draft at a closed window usually needs more pressure at the locking points. Make small changes and test the window after each one. Ask us for the adjustment instructions.

The adjustment points take a window adjustment tool or a hex key. Both the Vi6 and the Vi5 have their own adjustment tool, and the hex keys are 3, 4 and 5 mm (3/16″).

Limiters are safety devices. Check that each one still holds the sash at its set opening, and replace one that does not. Never remove a limiter because a resident asks. See the article on window limiters.

When a glass unit is replaced.

An insulating glass unit is two or three panes sealed around a spacer, with gas in between. It is replaced, not repaired, in two cases:

• Cracked or broken glass.
• Fog or moisture between the panes. The edge seal has failed. The unit cannot be cleaned, dried or refilled with gas on site.

Fog on the room-side surface is a different matter. That is humidity in the room, not a failed unit.

How it is done.

The glass is held in the frame by glazing beads, which are snap-in strips on the room side. There is no putty and no sealant bead. So the work is done from inside the apartment, with no scaffold or lift at the facade.

1. The glazier taps the beads out with a broad plastic tool, starting at the middle of the longest bead.
2. The positions of the plastic pads around the glass are noted. On a sash that opens, the pads brace the glass corner to corner, and that is what keeps the sash square. Put them back wrong and the sash drops.
3. The old unit is lifted out and the new unit is set on the pads the same way.
4. The beads are tapped back in with a rubber mallet.

The glazing bead comes off from inside. The frame never leaves the wall.

Replace like with like. The window's energy and sound ratings belong to the glass makeup it was tested with. The new unit must match in thickness, in makeup, and in which way the coated or laminated pane faces. Where the original was tempered, laminated, acoustic or bird-safe glass, the replacement must be too. This is a job for a glazier, not for building staff. Check the warranty terms before anyone starts.

What to have ready when you call.

The building address and the opening number from the sticker inside the frame. That number identifies the exact unit, with its size, glass and color. For a part, give the part name, the series and the frame color.

The parts catalog, the operation and care instructions, and the service request are all on the service and parts page.