Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

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LoneStarGuy
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Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#1 Post by LoneStarGuy »

My yard/house was directly impacted by a tornado here in central Texas. We had many large trees snapped by toothpicks, lost some roof shingles, but no glass breakage.

The problem is some of the vinyl windows have dirt, grass and leaves in between the edge of the IGU and vinyl frame. I know there is a way to remove the IGU to get to this space but the window manufacturer didn't tell me how and I don't want to break it and make it worse.

The window manufacturer recommends just replacing the IGU as the insurance will cover it but that seems like a waste. Is there a reason why they are suggesting it? What do you all do to fix this?

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#2 Post by Windows on Washington »

Let's see what you are seeing.

Glad you are okay.

LoneStarGuy
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Re: Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#3 Post by LoneStarGuy »

I posted this also on Reddit here: https://www.reddit.com/r/howto/comments ... een_glass/
It has a photo.

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#4 Post by Windows on Washington »

Try to get a fine and resilient cloth on the back of a taping knife to slide between the glass and the bezel of the sash. That small section indicated by the green line, shouldn't have any glazing tape or adhesive on it. You might be able to get into that space and clear the debris.
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TheWindowNerd
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Re: Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#5 Post by TheWindowNerd »

I do not think you will get any cloth in there. You might be able to slide a new thin flexible putty knife in there and flick the debris out.
Or you hire a window guy to remove the glazing bead, clean it off, reinstall.
A good handy man might be able to do it.
Take pictures before and have filed with your insurance prior to starting. It is possible to break the glass during the process but no one wants to be blamed for additional damage.

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#6 Post by Windows on Washington »

I was envisioning something like a painters wiping rag...super thin.

But that spacing is tight so you are likely right.

Deglazing all of those will be PITB not to mention likely to break something or somewhere. Insurance company should buy it in some capacity.

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Re: Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#7 Post by fridge2020 »

Not that hard to pop out glazing bead, if someone knows what they are doing its not that risky either

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Windows on Washington
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Re: Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#8 Post by Windows on Washington »

True, but they will still have to remove all the glass. Window is interior glazed in this case.

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Re: Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#9 Post by TheWindowNerd »

The photos I have looked at have the glazing bead to the exterior. If so deglazing is not required. Just R&R stops and cleaning

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Re: Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#10 Post by Windows on Washington »

I couldn't tell from this picture. This is the only one that I saw and the hard crease line looks like the stop, but a close up of the outside would verify that.

If they are exterior glazed, then WindowNerd is right. Pop off that glazing bead and clean them up. First window will take you 10 minutes, each subsequent window will be about 3-5 minutes. You'll be a pro by the 3rd window.
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LoneStarGuy
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Re: Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#11 Post by LoneStarGuy »

Here is an update. I was able to get all of the debris cleaned out and the glass crystal clear. I did so using a shop-vac with a tiny brush attachment designed for auto-detailing. I was able to clean the first of the six that was messed up on the 1st floor - it took two of us over an hour to clean it. I showed that one to the insurance adjustor how we did and he said he'd just write up for replacing the glass anyway as it looked like a lot of trouble.

As you could really only see the issue from inside, one of us used the shop-vac brush outside on a ladder and the other was inside pointing to the dirt. The windows had a bezel between the glass and frame, but the debris did not get stuck between them just wedged in. Blowing air also helped as did flicking it out with a thin piece of paper. Reminded me of flossing.

I still don't know how we had no glass break. Many of our neighbors did. Winds were estimated around 135mph. We did have several screens tear but that should be easy enough to replace. No rush there as it is too hot to open the windows this time of year.

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Re: Cleaning vinyl windows after tornado.

#12 Post by TheWindowNerd »

Good job. You are hired.

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