Well, that saved a few bob - more. Riser blocks

[Harry Bloomfield]

Having tracked down the company that made these wedges for UPVC doors and windows, plus had a quick email exchange with them. The wedges are called 'riser blocks' and they are supposed to be installed.

Idea is that they help keep the door supported and centralised in the frame as it closes and when closed. Obviously the professional window installers (one of the big companies) were not aware of their purpose and intention, because they just chucked the riser block loose in the frame bottom.

Windowwidgets has kindly volunteered to send me some spare blocks, free of charge following my enquiry.

[John Rumm]

Plastic frames need support from the DG sealed unit to stop sagging in hot weather - so normally you use the plastic blocks to "heal and toe" the glass into the frame, so that it is under compression across the diagonal - much like you would use a diagonal brace on a frame and ledge door.

[jkn]

"Heel and Toe", I think that is, as you probably know...

I would love to see a proper understanding of the proper procedure around this - I've never seen a really good explanation of how to go about things.

J^n

[Andy Burns]

It's quite straightforward, with an opener (door or window) you want the packers supporting at the bottom and on the hinge side and at the top on other side of the opposite diagonal.

the spacers on the other sides are basically to stop it shifting, rather than take any weight/pressure.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Andy Burns expressed precisely :

Thanks for that. Looking at the diagram, there are some entirely black blocks and some a lighter shade. Are we saying that one spacers, or only the setting blocks are supposed to be fitted or should it be both, all 6 blocks?

Our front door (the one under discussion) was fitted by one of the national companies and they left it with no blocks fitted, just one dropped loosely in the frame.

I had a local company replace all of the windows and the back door, the year after the front door was fitted. Having now checked - all of the windows are fitted with the blocks, but there are none at all on the back door.

[Andy Burns]

The black ones are the ones that should be 'tight' the grey ones with a mm or so of play.

I'm taking about between the frame and the glass, rather than between the door itself and the frame, you can't see them after the glazing bars are fitted.

Sounds like your lifting blocks are within the frame, my doors don't wedges have any like that (neither do my windows but I think that's because they have multi-point locking all round, so there are metal blocks as part of that).

[Harry Bloomfield]

Andy Burns submitted this idea :

Both of my doors and the windows are all multi-point locking. Protruding pegs which go into pockets on the hinge sides, on the doors.

What nudged me into investigating the front door, was that it had developed a creak, as it expanded and contracted in the sun. On opening it, I found it sticking on the one block which I had myself put properly in place, one which the fitters had just left loose in the frame. Now I have adjusted the fit of the door, it hasn't creaked since.

[Jeff Layman]

Maybe a daft question, but if the grey ones have a mm or so of play, how to they stay in place as they are on long vertical sides?

[Tim Streater]

Further, our three uPVC doors, fitted by a local company, have just the one block for each door - block d in the above pic, but moved along to be under the lock end

This is why one uses a local, not a national, company.

[Tim Streater]

And the ones I referred to just now become visible when I open the doors and look like this:

I imagine they would be fitted (at floor level) within the frame after the doors were hung and glazed.

[John Rumm]

The ones on the diagonals (black) are there for support - the other grey ones to stop the unit sliding about too much or showing to much edging tape behind the glazing bars.

In reality they are usually plastic stepped wedges - they often come in a range of colours where the colour indicates the thickness. You just stack them up in combinations to give the required overall thickness.

[Jack James]

Still not very clear and doesn?t explain the different colored blocks or the significance of the letters. You presumably left the text off.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Jeff Layman laid this down on his screen :

My example clips into the frame moulding, though I notice other examples which would clip into place also include a screw hole to fix them more permanently.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Tim Streater pretended :

Those are quite similar to the ones fitted to my windows, except how they clip to the frame is slightly different.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Tim Streater pretended :

The single job of replacing the front door, was quoted as around the same by local and national installers, so I let the national company do it. There was a much larger difference between the two quotes for the back door plus 10x windows doing, so the local got the job. What really put me off about the national, was they quoted, then rang few times - each time quoting lower figures for the job. In the end I told them the job had been awarded and not to ring any more. They never came even close to what the local quoted and did the job for.

[Tim Streater]

My windows have none of these.

[Tim Streater]

This is another reason not to go with a national one: their sales tactics. All the local ones gave us a quote, then said (in effect) that this was their take-it-or-leave-it price, and that they would wait to hear from us and wouldn't be pestering us if we didn't take up the offer.

[Andy Burns]

Actually these are the instructions I followed ... maybe I was remembering putting them at the bottom/sides of the toplight openers