Remove and reinstall fixed pane - seal compromise?

[Mik]

I have a window problem I thought you might be able to lend some advice to.

Fudamental question: How much does removing and reinstalling compromise the seals on unframed double paned units like mine? Details below.

New construction, and addition to my home.

To be consistent with the area, fixed windows here are just the glass unit installed into the framing. They do not come with pre-built frames. I beieve what I am up against is a guy who was recommended, but apparently he does not have experience with this type of window.

The windows are 71X42. The first time he put them in they leaked. He tried to say he would patch them and I said no, you can't put new silicone over old and all that would be sealing them was the patch. No way. I could see the silicone job was wrong. If I can see it, he should have known.

So they come out and remove and reinstall with enough silicone. Unfortunately I was not here to watch, and they pretty badly damaged the coated and painted stops my general installed while cutting though the silicone to remove. Instead of stopping and repairing them, which we had the supplies for and would have taken maybe 10 minutes a window, they just siliconed them and reinstalled. Now on the stop you can see the damage from the inside and there is no way to fix it. It affects probably 50% of the edge surface. It looks like 100 year old windows.

Some people never seem to learn that if you don't have time to do it right you sure as heck don't have time to do it over. So out he will have to come again, and he will have to pay for the material and labor to replace the stops. Either that or give me the money back and come get his windows.

My question to you is how much does removing and reinstalling compromise the seals on double paned units like this? Even if I let him remove and reinstall, can I expect problems down the road?

[HomeSealed]

No worries on the glass seals.
Sounds like a mess on the other stuff. Often times however, poor communication rather than shoddy workmanship can be to blame. Obviously that is only speculation without knowing/seeing more detail... If you put up a pic of the damage, we can probably let you know if that is excessive, or if it is just something that is to be expected even if he did not properly prepare you for it.

[Randy]

I agree with HomeSealed on the IG unit integrity; it's not likely to be a problem. I'd just make sure that your expectations of the finished work are clearly explained and accepted before having the contractor do any more work for you.

[Mik]

Thanks much, both. The seals are my primary concern.

After our rather heated discussion of patch versus reinstall I would have thought the guy had a clear indication of my idea of quality. Evidently I will have to supervise the job.

I think if you could see it you would agree. There was inadequate silicone used on the initial installation to cover the places where the glass butted up against the outside stop, to where there were troughs between the two for water to collect. Five of 6 windows leaked. I understand that some damage could be done to the stops in the reinstall, but I cannot understand someone not taking the few minutes to paint or fill it before reinstalling the unit.

This too shall pass. Thanks for the advice.

[HomeSealed]

Did you have a written contract? Filling of nails holes is probably a 50/50 proposition, but generally no window installation whether just glass or the full frame will include any painting unless specified in advance. Now if there was major damage done to the point that paint would be necessary to correct it, that could be another story.... Either way, best thing is to have all details in writing so that everyone is on the same page prior to installation.

[Mik]

The damage to the outer stop occurred from the fact that he had to remove them to reinstall. It happened while he was cutting through the original silicone.

[TheWindowNerd]

I concur that the seals should be fine.
It is interesting to me to understand about the paint, stops and silicone. Paint and silicone do not go together in some circumstances.
A reasonable approach might be for you to prepaint stops and have them correctly applied, this assumes proper design for water drainage.
theWindowNerd....