Velux Window Leak

[Darrell Blake]

During the heavy rain last week one of the Velux windows in my daughter's attic bedroom started to leak. I've had a quick look at it and there's clear signs of water getting under a metal bar on the right hand side and has rotted away a screw hole over time allowing the bar to loosen and then let in more water. I think that's what's happened, anyway.

Is this something I can fix myself? Ideally I'd like to fill the screw hole to allow me to screw the bar down properly again, maybe with some sealant to try and stop it happening again. I've spoken to a few window repair companies in the area but they all only replace Velux windows, they don't repair. Moreover, it's in the roof of a four storey town house so they'd have to get scaffolding up so it wouldn't be cheap and with the cost of living at the moment we're just not in a position to afford that.

I need some way to fix it from the inside myself, really, which severly limits what I'm able to do. Also, with it constantly raining the weather isn't on my side to give me time for the wood to dry out or anything. I know that ultimately it needs fixing properly or replacing, I'm just trying to come up with a temporary measure that can tide us over until we are in a better position to afford it. And it'll stop my daughter from complaining that she has kitchen roll jammed in the window frame :D I did try replacing the screw with a slightly longer one temporarily to try and hold the bar better but I think the hole is too rotten.

Here's a picture of the metal bar which I've unscrewed at the bottom so you can see the rotten hole (this is about as far as I can lift the bar up from the inside too):

I also recorded a couple of videos whilst trying to diagnose the problem which might give some more info:

?v=2D1rQWZmHu8 Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Mike Clarke]

Is it a genuine Velux or a lookalike? If it's a real one try contacting Velux for advice, they were helpful when we had a problem with one of ours.

Also, if I remember correctly, Velux spare parts are available and it is even possible to replace the flashing (and even the entire window) from the inside so any repairer who wants to replace the whole thing might be trying to rip you off.

[alan_m]

Quick and dirty fix and assuming that you cannot get tha bar any higher off the wood.

Get some Ronseal Wet Rot Wood Hardener which has a consistency of water and soak the wood around the hole (use a small paint brush to apply the hardener). It will soak into any rotten wood and dry/cure rock hard within an hour. Get some two part car body or two part wood filler and fill the hole making sure that you pack the filler tightly down into the hole. If you inadvertently over fill the hole the excess filler can be removed with a craft knife after a few or 10 minutes when solid but soft state or you can sandpaper it flat after a few to 10 minutes. Just keep checking your left over mixed filler to find when it has just gone solid. Once that has hardened*, again within an hour, drill a pilot hole for the screw and tighten it down.

*Once the filler has fully hardened it still can be sanded down but a lot more effort is required compared to when it just went solid and is still soft.

[alan_m]

The Ronseal product is a resin and is waterproof.

Alternative 2

First treat the whole area with the Ronseal Wet Rot Wood Hardener. Drill a new hole through the metal, say an inch away from the old hole and use that position to screw the metal and wood. Fill the old hole with silicone sealant to make it water tight (possibly filling the old hole before screwing down in the new screw position.

Aternative 3

If you can remove the metal and get to the wood, again first treat the whole area with the Ronseal Wet Rot Wood Hardener, find some round wooden dowelling larger than the hole and re-drill the hole to the diameter of the dowelling. Glue the dowelling into the newly drilled hole. Once the glue is dry and you have cut off any excess dowel the screw now screws into sound wood. In the absence of any suitable dowelling multiple cocktail sticks with the sharp end cut off glued into the hole can also work but let the glue fully dry which may be a day in our current weather.

[Darrell Blake]

I believe so. We've only been in the house for 18 months but I think that they're the original windows that were installed when the house was built 14 years ago. It's odd that so many companies won't repair. Maybe there's just not enough money in it.

[Darrell Blake]

Excellent, thanks for that! Sounds like a decent solution, even if it's only temporary. Looks like we might have a few dry days next week so I might give it a try then.

[Mike Clarke]

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If it's a Velux there should be an identification plate with the model number somewhere on the side of the opening part.

[Brian]

I’d check the seal around the glass. This is a common source of leaks and the water gets under the opening part to the area you show.

You can remove the metal around the glass, clean away the old mastic, and reseal.

[alan_m]

Installing from new you probably need to be climbing on the roof but replacing can be done from inside.

[Andrew]

After replaying your 2nd video over and over I cannot see how those exposed screw heads are protected from rain at all.

Are they always exposed like that even when the window is closed ?. If so, I think they should have been fitted with some sort of rain cover or at the very least sealed with UV resistant mastic of some sort.

Unless that angular bar is covered when the window is closed then either the installation is wrong (check with Velux if it is genuine) or something was omitted by the original roofer.

[Andrew]

But it is the frame that is suffering from water ingress, not the opening 'casement'.

[Andrew]

A quick temporary fix is to get some UV resistant tape from screwfix or similar and stick that over all the exposed screw heads on each side of the frame. These are the problem.

Wait until summer when the timber that has stained black has had a chance to dry out.

[Darrell Blake]

Just had a look and there is an identification plate so it looks genuine.

[Darrell Blake]

I thought the same thing! Especially that one at the top that looks like it's not flush.

Just had a quick look at one of our other Velux windows (daughter is in bed at the mo) and part of the window does cover that screw at the bottom so tomorrow I'll check that. However, the wonky screw at the top is definitely exposed. Maybe the water is coming in at the top and running down and the bottom screw was a red herring all along.

If I open the window fully I can reach the screw at the top by effectively reaching out "in front" of the open window, if you know what I mean. So I'll at least try the UV tape method first. Hopefully changing one thing at a time and then seeing what happens in heavy rain will allow me to diagnose what the actual problem is.

[Brian]

The ‘route’ is through via the casement to the frame.

[Darrell Blake]

Do you think it's likely to be the screw at the top where the start of the route is? Ideally it's the start of the route that needs to be fixed otherwise I'd just be moving the problem elsewhere. Though, to be honest, if I can just come up with any solution to tide me over until the warmer weather next year I'd take it :D

[Darrell Blake]

I've just been and taken some better photos of the screws at the top of the window in the light of day.

This is the screw at the top of the side of the window that's leaking:

is the screw on the opposite side that isn't leaking: Maybe it's a red herring but that first screw looks dodgy to me... Also, I'm not convinced that the window does properly cover the bottom screw like I thought it did last night. Technically it will cover it from direct rain but not from water running down the metal panel, that would still run over the screw. You can see the metal frame that would cover the screw hanging over the wooden frame in this photo:

[Davidm]

Some years ago I fitted 4 Velux windows into our roof working completely from inside, even removing the roof tiles to create the initial opening, so certainly possible to dismantle and repair from inside.

[Darrell Blake]

Just realised that I posted the wrong image link. Here's the right one:

[Darrell Blake]

That's encouraging. It's beyond my DIY abilities but at least if I do some searching around I might find a company who's willing to do it when we're in a position to afford it.