Help! Failed double glazed roof.

Every single double glazed panel totalling Ca 200 square feet in my conservatory roof has failed with ingress of water.

I am looking for a more durable replacement and would appreciate any novel suggestions. The conservatory was built with full planning permission and building consent. A better "U" value would be nice but the roof doesn't necessarily need to be transparent/lucent.

However, low cost is essential, the conservatory was funded by extending the mortgage but I am retired now and the mortgage was paid up years ago.

DerekG

Reply to
geldard.derek
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It's a fact of life that DG units fail in a few years, usually resulting in condensation between the glasses. The bigger the temperature differential between outside and inside, the sooner they fail.

However if water is leaking into the conservatory, that is a completely different problem. The rubber/plastic seals that keep the water out must have failed. There are several different sytems of water sealing, it might be possible to get on the roof and tighten down the retaining rails or new seals might be required. Without inspection and "trying a few things", no-one can say.

Reply to
harryagain

How old is it? Guarantee?

Reply to
Tim Watts

+1. My DG (installed 1999) had a ten-year (labour & materials) guarantee on it (which I did successfully claim on).
Reply to
Allan

Ca. 18 years. :-( Fitted by a local joiner/filter. The panels are simply siliconed into the reveals. It is definitely the units which have failed, all of them.

IGWS the manufacturers of the units went bankrupt years ago.

I was thinking in terms of sarking felt on top of cement tiles on top of marine ply "panels". This has the advantage of being possible to install a panel or two at a time.

DerekG

Reply to
geldard.derek

OK

Chances are any guarantee would not have been longer than 10 or 15 years.

DG panels are in the order of £70-90 per m2. So that would be a pretty hefty sum :(

You could consider polycarbonate sheets as a cheaper replacement for a weatherproof layer, then insulate underneath with 25mm or 50mm celotex and then line and paint. Buy celotex on ebay for sensible prices.

This is effectively my neighbour's conservatory as they decided they had enough light from the glazed walls and the insulated roof means easier to heat.

From the outside it looks like a conservatory still with no serious hint that anything is amiss.

It sounds like a wooden frame - am I right?

Be careful about overloading the structure by say boarding and tiling it. I would not add anything much heavier than the glass was, so my suggestion above will be OK.

Reply to
Tim Watts

A common cause of failure is if the edge of the panel ends up sitting in a puddle of water. Window frames are designed to provide drainage below the panels (as the outside is not sealed against the glass, so water will get in), but it can go wrong if the installer doesn't understand how it's meant to work. In winter, any water there can freeze and stress the seal into failing at that point.

If you can't replace the glass, what about one of:

1) replace with polycarbonate roofing sheets, if they're cheaper. 2) put on a translucent film so you can't see the water inside the units. (it may start growing algae eventually, so not necessarily long term fix)
Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

It's not a bad idea. I've had several blown units in the front of my house. Been stable for years, just ugly. No significant growth - just enough to look "grubby".

I am finally going to replace those!

Reply to
Tim Watts

translucent triple wall polycarbonate may be an option .... has closure fittings for top & bottom, just thta after glass it will sound like elephants tap dancing when it rains.

Reply to
Rick Hughes

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