Conservatory leaks air part 2

[Tim Streater]

So far we've not used the conservatory much in winter, and because the kitchen tended to be cold, didn't notice anything amiss. Kitchen remodel now complete, much warmer generally but still cold at the conservatory end and with air leaking in.

Yesterday in the conservatory I noticed a small spider's web near the box gutter that was vibrating when the wind blew (it was a bit strongish yesterday). Not knowing whether air was getting in there, or the roof vibrating due to the wind was causing the web to vibrate also, I got up on a ladder and soon found a howling gale.

I opened the roof blind for that panel, and up the ladder I could just make out (it's a bit cramped) that the conservatory installer had, for that panel, omitted a sealing element.

The missing part is an aluminium tube, with a P-shaped cross section, with the tube part being square cross-section. Others which are present have a thin strip of rubber on top of the P. This tube is the same length as the roof panel is wide.

The idea is that the tube slots into the building frame, near the lower end of the roof panel, and such that the glass just presses onto the rubber strip to form a seal. With all such strips in place the conservatory would then be fairly airtight.

Anyone know the proper name for this item? All our uPVC glass and guttering was done by the same outfit, who have generally been quite good. It'll be a few days before I can call them as I'm getting the gutters cleaned out next week and one of them tends to overflow. This is most likely due to grot in the gutter but there could be an issue with the gutter itself.

To fix the missing part issue, ISTM that the double glazing firm will have to get on the roof, remove a certain amount of trim, and tilt that panel up so the missing strip can be slipped in. Anyone know if that process is likely to present problems?

[Brian Gaff]

Depends on where it is and what access is like I'd imagine. Brian

[Jeff Layman]

Only to the installers. It will cost them time and money. What it might do to the units already in place, well, that's another question. But the installers /should/ do it all correctly to ensure the conservatory is now how it should have been in the first place.

We had a conservatory built a few years ago. It was done by the same guys who do all our double glazing. It was a one-off design, using unusually-shaped units (some triangular, some pentagonal). Three weeks after completion, we noticed some misting in one of the units. Needless to say, it was one of the very odd-shaped pentagonal units. It was obvious that the double-glazed insert hadn't been sealed properly. It took a couple of weeks for the new insert to be supplied, then half a day for the installers to remove bits to get to the faulty insert, remove it, and replace it with the new one (all done under guarantee of course). It's all been fine since, but I understand the installers gave the double-glazing supplier an earful as between the two of them they'd lost a day's pay!