Another post, another question from a homeowner. You can see why I need to build a consumer section to this site! Anyway, this time round it is a homeowner who has bought some sealed units online, but is concerned as to the quality of the units they have received. This was his correspondence:
Hi
I hope you dont mine fielding a couple of newbie questions regarding the quality of the double glazing units I ordered on-line. Obviously if I ask the supplier directly they have an invested interest in telling me they are all perfect.
The units are 16mm toughened glass argon sealed bought to replace the 16mm broken sealed units housed in our wooden framed windows and door’s.
I think they are of a poor workmanship, but maybe I’m going to fussy and its normal to expect the following issues?
Now to be fair to this guy, he hasn’t gone naming and shaming in his original email, and he’s not kicking and screaming. In fact it appears he is open minded as to whether he is being too fussy or not. So, below in the image carousel are the 6 images he provided me with. Please scroll through the photos and take a look for yourselves. All the areas of concern have been marked in red borders by the reader to make it more obvious. Please forgive me displaying the images like this, the images were quite large and would have made this post much harder to digest had I displayed each one individually. This way is much neater!
Now from my own personal point of view, I have certainly seen much neater glazed units in my time. But there are a couple of things which stand out to me the most. Firstly it is that stepped unit. 5mm might not seem a lot, but in glazing terms, this is quite a lot, and can negatively affect the lifespan of that unit by a fair bit once it has been fitted. Also, the issue with the wandering kitemarks. I’m no expert, but is it that hard to have all the kitemarks in once place on the sealed units?
As for the others, they appear to be a mix of scuffs and scratches. Either way, they aren’t the best. But the main aim of the reader here is to know whether to send them back, claiming poor quality, or to accept what he has been given. Personally I would at least contact to the supplier to inform them of the issues and then judge the feedback of the company. No name has been disclosed to me but I’m sure if you look at the labels on some of the images, you could see who the supplier is.
All comments on this welcome as always in the section below.
Get them sent back straight away – they’re awful! If we were sent glass units as shambolic as that to our projects we’d never go near that supplier again (after they rectified the problem of course!)
Not the best to be honest. I’m realistic with glass in visual terms, but those are the type of things I’be be picking up on with the unit manufacturing. Rather than just cyber kicking someone’s business, better to look at the points individually, and give the guy some advise and possible thoughts on the specifics. PiB primary seal incomplete in images 5+6 (same unit). Avoidable, as it just requires more care and observation at the application. Effectively becomes a single seal unit in that part. You’ll always get the odd spit and pop with even the very best PiB application… Read more »
A very thorough response from Ginty there too which I mostly concur . One issue I have however ,and I maybe reading this wrong , is that this customer has gone online to purchase these units , probably as they are the cheapest he can find , he has probably signed up to terms and conditions on his order and may have limitations to what he can and cannot return. I do have sympathy with him to a degree , but if he has the confidence to measure , specify, order and fit these units then maybe he should be… Read more »
To Glint and Kevin Glint thank you very much for your detailed response! In answering 2 of your questions. None of the kitemarkes are ever in one corner on all 40 units. Its a shame but like you say it does not effect performance. I took possession of the units 2 days before writing my email. I have stored these units inside away from heat and so dont think it was my storage that has caused the sloping as it would have effected all units of the same size at the same time, which it has not. Kevin I have… Read more »
If none of the 40 have the kitemarks in the same corner, then there’s something really going amiss there. You’ve every right to be irked. That’s not just a little error, it’s a systematic problem. You are not going to be able to hide 40 unpaired stamps, instead of just the 2 it appeared. That’s not gonna be acceptable to anyone, however reasonable and objective. There’s no 20mm world. Most sizes should be available from a good local supplier, from 14 through to 28 and beyond. 16mm units still very easy to supply and source. Buy local every time. Use… Read more »
Ginty could you please commend some I could get a quote from?
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4545848/Windows%20for%20Replacment.pdf
Hi All Well a month ago I finally had this minor drama resolved. The company I ordered the glazing through agreed they were not good enough based on the images I sent through the second time and refunded me the money within a few days. Then 2 weeks later the company that produced the glazing wanted to see the items before refunding the later company. Anyway luckily I had not taken them to the rubbish, so on the proviso they collected them they could come and inspect them, they agreed. A man came around to look at them and agreed… Read more »