Every single double glazed panel totalling Ca 200 square feet in my
conservatory roof has failed with ingress of water.

I am looking for a more durable replacement and would appreciate any
novel suggestions. The conservatory was built with full planning
permission and building consent. A better "U" value would be nice but
the roof doesn't necessarily need to be transparent/lucent.

However, low cost is essential, the conservatory was funded by
extending the mortgage but I am retired now and the mortgage was paid
up years ago.

DerekG

wrote in message
...
Every single double glazed panel totalling Ca 200 square feet in my
conservatory roof has failed with ingress of water.

I am looking for a more durable replacement and would appreciate any
novel suggestions. The conservatory was built with full planning
permission and building consent. A better "U" value would be nice but
the roof doesn't necessarily need to be transparent/lucent.

However, low cost is essential, the conservatory was funded by
extending the mortgage but I am retired now and the mortgage was paid
up years ago.

DerekG

It's a fact of life that DG units fail in a few years, usually resulting in
condensation between the glasses.
The bigger the temperature differential between outside and inside, the
sooner they fail.


However if water is leaking into the conservatory, that is a completely
different problem.
The rubber/plastic seals that keep the water out must have failed.
There are several different sytems of water sealing, it might be possible to
get on the roof and tighten down the retaining rails or new seals might be
required.
Without inspection and "trying a few things", no-one can say.

On 17/06/14 01:20, wrote:
Every single double glazed panel totalling Ca 200 square feet in my
conservatory roof has failed with ingress of water.

I am looking for a more durable replacement and would appreciate any
novel suggestions. The conservatory was built with full planning
permission and building consent. A better "U" value would be nice but
the roof doesn't necessarily need to be transparent/lucent.

However, low cost is essential, the conservatory was funded by
extending the mortgage but I am retired now and the mortgage was paid
up years ago.

How old is it? Guarantee?

On 17/06/2014 08:12, Tim Watts wrote:
On 17/06/14 01:20, wrote:
Every single double glazed panel totalling Ca 200 square feet in my
conservatory roof has failed with ingress of water.

I am looking for a more durable replacement and would appreciate any
novel suggestions. The conservatory was built with full planning
permission and building consent. A better "U" value would be nice but
the roof doesn't necessarily need to be transparent/lucent.

However, low cost is essential, the conservatory was funded by
extending the mortgage but I am retired now and the mortgage was paid
up years ago.

How old is it? Guarantee?


+1. My DG (installed 1999) had a ten-year (labour & materials)
guarantee on it (which I did successfully claim on).

On Tue, 17 Jun 2014 08:12:10 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:


However, low cost is essential, the conservatory was funded by
extending the mortgage but I am retired now and the mortgage was paid
up years ago.

How old is it? Guarantee?

Ca. 18 years. :-(
Fitted by a local joiner/filter. The panels are simply siliconed into
the reveals. It is definitely the units which have failed, all of
them.

IGWS the manufacturers of the units went bankrupt years ago.

I was thinking in terms of sarking felt on top of cement tiles on top
of marine ply "panels". This has the advantage of being possible to
install a panel or two at a time.

DerekG

On 17/06/14 11:39, wrote:
On Tue, 17 Jun 2014 08:12:10 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:


However, low cost is essential, the conservatory was funded by
extending the mortgage but I am retired now and the mortgage was paid
up years ago.

How old is it? Guarantee?

Ca. 18 years. :-(
Fitted by a local joiner/filter. The panels are simply siliconed into
the reveals. It is definitely the units which have failed, all of
them.

IGWS the manufacturers of the units went bankrupt years ago.

I was thinking in terms of sarking felt on top of cement tiles on top
of marine ply "panels". This has the advantage of being possible to
install a panel or two at a time.

DerekG


OK

Chances are any guarantee would not have been longer than 10 or 15 years.

DG panels are in the order of £70-90 per m2. So that would be a pretty
hefty sum

You could consider polycarbonate sheets as a cheaper replacement for a
weatherproof layer, then insulate underneath with 25mm or 50mm celotex
and then line and paint. Buy celotex on ebay for sensible prices.

This is effectively my neighbour's conservatory as they decided they had
enough light from the glazed walls and the insulated roof means easier
to heat.

From the outside it looks like a conservatory still with no serious
hint that anything is amiss.



It sounds like a wooden frame - am I right?


Be careful about overloading the structure by say boarding and tiling
it. I would not add anything much heavier than the glass was, so my
suggestion above will be OK.

In article ,
writes:
On Tue, 17 Jun 2014 08:12:10 +0100, Tim Watts
wrote:


However, low cost is essential, the conservatory was funded by
extending the mortgage but I am retired now and the mortgage was paid
up years ago.

How old is it? Guarantee?

Ca. 18 years. :-(
Fitted by a local joiner/filter. The panels are simply siliconed into
the reveals. It is definitely the units which have failed, all of
them.

A common cause of failure is if the edge of the panel ends up
sitting in a puddle of water. Window frames are designed to
provide drainage below the panels (as the outside is not sealed
against the glass, so water will get in), but it can go wrong
if the installer doesn't understand how it's meant to work.
In winter, any water there can freeze and stress the seal
into failing at that point.

IGWS the manufacturers of the units went bankrupt years ago.

I was thinking in terms of sarking felt on top of cement tiles on top
of marine ply "panels". This has the advantage of being possible to
install a panel or two at a time.

If you can't replace the glass, what about one of:
1) replace with polycarbonate roofing sheets, if they're cheaper.
2) put on a translucent film so you can't see the water inside the units.
(it may start growing algae eventually, so not necessarily long term fix)

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 18/06/14 17:36, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

2) put on a translucent film so you can't see the water inside the units.
(it may start growing algae eventually, so not necessarily long term fix)

It's not a bad idea. I've had several blown units in the front of my
house. Been stable for years, just ugly. No significant growth - just
enough to look "grubby".

I am finally going to replace those!

On 17/06/2014 01:20, wrote:
Every single double glazed panel totalling Ca 200 square feet in my
conservatory roof has failed with ingress of water.

I am looking for a more durable replacement and would appreciate any
novel suggestions. The conservatory was built with full planning
permission and building consent. A better "U" value would be nice but
the roof doesn't necessarily need to be transparent/lucent.

However, low cost is essential, the conservatory was funded by
extending the mortgage but I am retired now and the mortgage was paid
up years ago.

DerekG





translucent triple wall polycarbonate may be an option .... has closure
fittings for top & bottom, just thta after glass it will sound like
elephants tap dancing when it rains.




--
UK SelfBuild: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/UK_Selfbuild/