Window replacement

Hi Jean

Yes, I may be able to help.

Ronar M’s windows were also at the end of their life (or so I thought) but then I discovered Seaclear Windows of Maidstone, Kent, UK. To cut a long story short, I took out all the windows from the forward cabin and saloon – I had to drill out the old bolts but the job was not difficult. I took the windows to Seaclear and they completely refurbished them – took them apart, cleaned them up and resealed the glass. Meanwhile the inner aluminium frames, which had become corroded and pitted, I rubbed down and had sprayed (to match the headlining etc – the colour was a Ford colour called ‘ermine’) by my local car body repairer. Seaclear supplied me with 150 of the inner female stainless steel ‘nuts’ and I bought a similar number of the outer male M5 machine screws from my local fastener supplier. Seaclear also supplied some neoprene strip which goes between the frame and the fibreglass to make a waterproof seal. Bingo. Total cost about £500. I am aiming to get the after cabin windows done soon in the same way

Hope this helps

Trevor Jones

Hi Alan,
About 2 yrs ago I made some enquiries about the very same thing. I emailed photo’s of a couple of the saloon windows to Andrew Turner @ ‘SouthEast Marine Windows’ in Burnham-on-Crouch, & Tel No: (01621-774-430.
He quoted me £300 each for 2 of the aft-saloon windows & £292 each for the 2 forward saloon windows.
This was to completely replace all 4 with opening windows & included new frame, laminated glass, all the Interscrews, & flat backing-plate for each window.
I didn’t go any further with this job as I had to go overseas on another contract, but I’m hoping he’s still in business as I’d still like to replace mine, purely for the extra ventilation. They’re corroding all the time & there’s always corrosion debris in the teak grab-rail below.
HTH
Jeff on ‘Sea Eagle’.

Hello Trevor,

I have had a reply from Seaclear, they can supply me the ‘interscrews’ captive nuts which are either 6mm or 10mm in depth,
Can you recall which ones you used.

In addition, can you please also send me the photos of your inner forestay, see the thread.

Best wishes

Mike

In addition, can you please also send me the photos of your inner forestay set up both above and below deck as you indicated on the post on the Nic38 site.

Hope I am not asking to much, but would be obliged for any help.

Best wishes

Mike

Here is the reply from Seaclear:

Dear Michael

Thank you for the enquiry, yes I do remember supplying these, the nuts you refer to are called ‘interscrews’, in profile they resemble a ‘top hat’ shape, they come in two sizes 6 & 10 mm (this is the depth of the thread), 6mm is the usual, if you have an idea of the machine screw you need I can also supply these. The neoprene tape comes on a 20 mtr roll which can be useful around the boat. If you can tell me the quantities you require I can give you a cost.

The white powder is corrosion which is quite common, once you have removed all the exterior screws the inner frames should be easily removed, the corrosion can then be cleaned off and the old interscrews removed by knocking them out with a hammer and a drift, they should come out easily then replace with new (all quite self explanatory once you start).

Freeing the windows from the boat might take some effort because ‘Captain Tolleys’ is glue, you will need to break the seal between the window frame and the boat, a fine bladed flat scraper and gentle use of a hammer usually works, once the windows are out you need to clean both surfaces of any old seal/sealant and refit them with the neoprene tape which acts as a gasket.

I hope the above helps, if you would like to give me a call to discuss this further please do.

Regards

Graham Beal
SeaClear Windows
07761882626
01622205837

Hi Mike,

You will need to drill out the old bolts. I did mine from the inside of the boat. Once the head is removed you may need carefully to punch out the bolt. The new fixings consist of a female part and a male part. I bought the female part from Seaclear but found it cheaper to get the male part from my local fastenings supplier. Seaclear may offer you the female bit with or without slots (for a screwdriver). I went for the slotted ones and was glad I did as they can be tightened so much more easily. I would wait a see what the diameter of the Seaclear bolts is and then choose a drill the same size but also one slightly smaller – the latter you can use to drill out the old bolts then clean out the holes with the larger one once the window is out. Also buy a few washers – the C & N layup varies a bit and you may have to pack out some of the bolts where the layup is thinner.

The inside aluminium trim was quite corroded on some windows. I cleaned it up and filled the pits with plastic metal before rubbing flat and then got them sprayed by my local spray shop. We managed to match the colour well to the headlining – looks very good.

One other tip. When you are sticking the neoprene sealer to the window frames, start in the middle of the bottom and overlap a bit when you get back (ie when you have gone all round). Also you will not be able to get it round the corners unless you pull the backing paper off. I did this progressively as I went round.

Good luck, Cheers, Trevor.

Hi Jeff,

I recently bought some captive fitting nuts here for my windows, they have been mentioned previously when passed on to me:
http://www.seaclear.co.uk/
Be worth asking them, if you already haven’t.

Mike

We did not get around to measuring the window fastneres before we headed to warmer climates for the winter, leaving our boat behind to deal with the nasty weather alone. 8~(

We simply rebedded the original portlight. We have not considered replacing them with opening ones, though I can understand why people might find that interesting. But our typical problem is being too cold…. Maybe someday we will sail further south to find some warmth.

Marilyn

To those who may be interested. I have just installed a complete new set of side windows on ‘Salara’. The job was long overdue and all the frames were badly corroded. I realised that the cost of replacement would be a little heavy and so over time I had investigated various non standard options all of which were unsuitable and still costly. The only answer was to ‘go for it’ and order five new pairs from Seaglaze Ltd.
I provided some templates to enable them to quote and they quickly gave me a price for the windows and delivery to Greece. I accepted their quotation for five pairs of windows including internal fixing trims, all fixings and Arbocol tape sealer. The units being the bolt through type.
A set of hardboard templates was despatched to me in Greece to compare with the existing windows so that manufacture could go ahead over the winter period. I arranged to have the new windows shipped to Greece to arrive the week before I returned there from UK.
Nikki Chapman at Seaglaze dealt with my order most efficiently and all went exactly to plan. The product is very well made and I had no problems when I installed them. It is really a two person job but as I have run out of wives I managed to do the installation fairly easily alone.
The finished job looks great and I have no hesitation in recommending Seaglaze Ltd. Check out their website http://www.seaglaze.co.uk

Hello,

I have taken all windows out for repairing and reseal and I am about to set them back in place.

I am thinking to use a composed solution for waterproofing between the external window’s  frames and fiber glass:  Neoprene Strip as gasket+Maritime Sika Flex.

Do you have any suggestions?

What width and thickness of the neoprene strip shal I choose?

Thank you,

Conche – João

Very interesting article.

Thank you Marilyn

Dear Joao, You measure the cirumferences of all the windows and buy the tape by the metre. In England, which may not be helpful to you, there is also a sealant gun butyl product called Arbomast BR which is great stuff. Also Jean_Pierre at Hadlow Marine http://www.hadlowmarine.com recommends Scapa 3507 tape and also every other product you need for re-glazing and/or re-bedding, and there are information sheets on his site. I have refurbished nearly all my windows myself now with success thanks to his products and advice.

Duncan

Hi

I want to  fit storm covers on Latorchee and was wondering if anyone had already done this and could you advise.

Cheers

Richard