New Windows Have Scratches.

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tony keffer
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 3:07 pm

New Windows Have Scratches.

#1 Post by tony keffer »

Hi,

I just had 12 new Alside Excalibur replacement windows installed. As I was cleaning them, I found 5 windows with hairline scratches on the panes. Should these windows be replaced, or is there a safe way to remove the scratches? Who should fix them? Is there reason to be concerned about these scratches weakening the windows or leading to problems down the road?
Thanks.

Guy
Posts: 552
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 12:41 pm
Location: Minnesota

#2 Post by Guy »

Tony, I'm assuming your talking about scratches and not cracks. I hope they're not cracked. That's a bad thing. If it's just scratched, thats easy. Head out to the kitchen and get one of those green scouring pads. You know the one for pots and pans. You can also find them on the backside of some sponges. Make sure it's clean and dry! Now find your little scratch and buff it out. This will also take off those ugly black marks you get. If it's a deeper scatch add a little mineral spirits and clean it up. This will add a new sheen to your vinyl! Don't do it on the wood grain!!! Bad thing here. Just the solid colors, Your installer should have done this before he left. Hope this helps.

Guy

RC
Posts: 120
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 5:28 pm

#3 Post by RC »

Guy, I think he mentioned the scratches are on the glass, not the vinyl.

Oberon
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 10:25 am
Location: East of the Mississippi

scratches

#4 Post by Oberon »

Tony,

Industry standards do allow for a certain number of light, hairline scratches on window glass. There are specifics for the number, intensity, and location on the glass.
A hairline scratch is usually completely harmless and is more a factor of appearance than performance or potential safety.
Although you didn't include a lot of specific information, I am going to guess that these are razor blade scratches that were made when the glass was being cleaned. Now, was this the factory cleaning? Or the installation cleaning? In other words, it is difficult to trace who might ultimately be responsible for the scratches.
Are they especially noticeable without really "looking for" them?
Are they near the edge of the glass or more towards the center of the lite?
Interior or exterior?
And are the diagonal? Curved? Straight?

Seems like a bunch of odd questions, but those answers could be all clues as to who and where and when the glass was scratched.

Guy and W4U and EZ, you are the installers, what is your thought when a consumer has a scratched glass complaint?

There are systems that will totally remove scratches from glass. Unfortunately, virtually all of these systems use cerium oxide or some other abrasive to remove the scratch. A good operator can do a very nice job of scratch removal, but when using an abrasive system this operator will leave an area of distrotion in the glass in the vicinity of the scratch...it is unavoidable.

There is one system on the market that does not use an abrasive and does not distort the glass. It is made by a company called glass-weld and is by far (in my experience) the best system available - period.
If you want to try that route, then I would check with windshield repair folks and ask them about scratch removal. But, if they suggest any other system other than the glass-weld, I would suggest that you may not be totally happy with the results...just my opinion.
I have had the opportunity to try a number of the glass scratch-removal systems and thus the very definite opinion.

Guy
Posts: 552
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 12:41 pm
Location: Minnesota

#5 Post by Guy »

I thought he may have stated the glass but wasn't sure. I was going to list both remedies before I left but ran out of time. We are working almost seven days a week and twelve hours a day. We are lucky today because teh homeowner had to cancel. So we are resting on this beautiful day here. The scratched glass is a common problem. It can happen at anytime from almost anything. I usually walk through with the customer or by myself at the end of each job. I look for any imperfections especially in the glass. If it's scratched before I leave I buy a new piece of glass for them at no cost. My supplier is great about this. If they call me later with scratches it's a crap shoot. It happens a lot with the customer using the dry razor blade while cleaning the window. If they drag it the wrong way the glass will scratch. So I keep that in mind while looking over the glass. It's usually in an area where a sticker was located. So I weigh the options from there. If the customer was great and really enjoyable to be around I usually get them a new piece at no expense to them. If they drove me crazy and made my job difficult it will cost them. I know this sounds a bit discriminative, but I really take care of the good customers. I'd say most companies are the same way. There is nothing better than a customer who understands what we go through each day. They make our job as easy as they can for us. You just can't imagine how much this makes our day go better for us. So call the installer back for a look at the windows. It may be a haggle for glass. Good Luck!!!

FenEx
Posts: 553
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 11:18 am
Location: Illinois

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#6 Post by FenEx »

Tony

When the job was installed would have been the best time for acknowledgement of the scratches. It could be a crap shoot now that you have cleaned them. Did you sign a letter of completion or pay the remainder of the contract balance?

Proving 5 damaged units out of 12 will be a difficult task... especially if they are anywhere near where factory stickers were applied... where you removed them. I hope that's not the case. Good Luck.

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