Temporary removal of Double glaze panel
 

I'm sure I'm not hte first person to do this - bought a new sofa at a
great price. It fits through the hall door OK but after that the isn't
enough clearance to get through into the front room. Is it possible to
te,porarily remove a double glazed panel - uPVC ? It is about 44" x 47"
and it looks like the only way in for me. If the panel can be removed
is there anything I should be careful about ; will I need to cut /
break seals ??? Is this something I should tackle myself (average to
good DIYer) or should I call in an expert?
TIA, Ned

Ned wrote:
I'm sure I'm not hte first person to do this - bought a new sofa at a
great price. It fits through the hall door OK but after that the isn't
enough clearance to get through into the front room. Is it possible to
te,porarily remove a double glazed panel - uPVC ? It is about 44" x 47"
and it looks like the only way in for me. If the panel can be removed
is there anything I should be careful about ; will I need to cut /
break seals ??? Is this something I should tackle myself (average to
good DIYer) or should I call in an expert?

The answer is that the panel will definitely be removeable, the unknown
is whether you'll be able to do it without breaking it! That depends on
the type you have. Some panels are just held in by beading, which can
be prised out (although it's usually a total sod to do); others are held
by special, incredibly strong double-sided tape, which is likely to be
impossible to shift without breaking the window.

It's probably fair to say (?) that the newer the window, the more likely
it is that it will be somehow glued in, as undesirables had learned they
were able to gain entry silently and safely by pulling the beading out
in earlier models (which also had beading on the outside rather than the
inside.

The panels aren't *that* expensive, so you may decide it's expendable,
especially if it's a case of that or dumping the sofa! 30 quid for
yours maybe? Trouble is unless it's a bog-standard in-stock size, you'd
need the replacement ready and made up 'just in case' before you start
trying to remove the old panel, as it normally takes a few days to get
them made up.

David

Lobster wrote:
Ned wrote:
I'm sure I'm not hte first person to do this - bought a new sofa at a
great price. It fits through the hall door OK but after that the isn't
enough clearance to get through into the front room. Is it possible to
te,porarily remove a double glazed panel - uPVC ? It is about 44" x 47"
and it looks like the only way in for me. If the panel can be removed
is there anything I should be careful about ; will I need to cut /
break seals ??? Is this something I should tackle myself (average to
good DIYer) or should I call in an expert?

The answer is that the panel will definitely be removeable, the unknown
is whether you'll be able to do it without breaking it! That depends on
the type you have. Some panels are just held in by beading, which can

If the window is openable, it will usually be possible to remove it at
the hinge in some way.

I've taken a pane out which had the tough double sided tape - just
prised it slowly. Afterwards I was told that wobbers use a cheese wire
to cut it out in two shakes.

On 17 May 2005 11:03:37 -0700, "Ned" wrote:

I'm sure I'm not hte first person to do this - bought a new sofa at a
great price. It fits through the hall door OK but after that the isn't
enough clearance to get through into the front room. Is it possible to
te,porarily remove a double glazed panel - uPVC ? It is about 44" x 47"
and it looks like the only way in for me. If the panel can be removed
is there anything I should be careful about ; will I need to cut /
break seals ??? Is this something I should tackle myself (average to
good DIYer) or should I call in an expert?
TIA, Ned

Generally, the panels are quite robust but if you get the panel out be
VERY careful not to tap the edges, especially the corners. The edges
are the most vunerable points and the whole panel will shatter quite
easily if the corners are subject to shock.

(I know this from personal experience!!)

When you stand it down, place the lower edge on a couple of pieces of
wood, likewise protect the top edge.

Ian, This is a solid pane - not a hinged window.

In article .com
, nafuk writes
I've taken a pane out which had the tough double sided tape - just
prised it slowly. Afterwards I was told that wobbers use a cheese wire
to cut it out in two shakes.

Yup, hobby knife run around on the inside would be easy too as it is
double sided foam tape to take up tolerances in the frame. Didn't know
about the cheese wire trick though, reckon I will back fill my gaps with
some decent glazing friendly silicone before fitting the external glazing
beads, that should bake it a bit harder.
--
fred

Thanks all for the replies. As luck would have it, I met a glazer last
night and asked him about this. He laughed and said he is constantly
"on call" to a furniture shop to do just this. He says it is easy peesy
- I just need two "suckers" (tile lifters to me) ; from the front prize
out the angled ehatever-he-called-thems, have someone on the inside tap
the pane twoards the front. He did mention to carefully rest it on a
couple of blocks; shoot in the sofa and reverse the procedure. I'll
gather the troops for Thursday evening (golf on Wednesday) and give it
a go...

Job was completed on Thursday night as scheduled. No major problems; I
had two sons & a firend of theirs who had some experience of this so we
had the panel out, sofa in, and panel reinstalled in 30 mins. First
step was removal of the inner beading, then the outside "slips"
(outside angled metal strips around the side of the window - where the
putty is in a traditional window). At this stage we had one person
inside and three outside and carefully pushed from inside to free up
the pane. After getting the sofa in the reinstallation of the panel was
easy enough, pane in, slips in and finally the inside beading. This we
"softened" in a basin of luke warm water and suds to make it slippy -
it also expanded the rubber slightly which need to be trimmed a bit.
Job is finished - happy days back to the golf........