Hi All,
My dad wants to take the glass, one piece, out of door and replace with new. The old has leaked and now there is moisture in between panes. He wants to cut the fiberglass quarted round off, pop out the old glass, put in new and reinstall quarter round, with some caulk to make it weather tight. Any thoughts on cutting out the 1/4 round. Remember, it’s fiberglass.
Thanks
Kevin
PS Cant just buy the door, no longer made. 2 panel door, one fixed, one swings. Matches other patio door in same wall. So to replace both doors because 1 out of 4 glass panels leaked is not worth it.
Replies
Doc how was it put together? No removeable stop like andersens? If it really has to be cut I would think a multimaster and set up a fence to guide it.
How's the house coming? Ready for the season?
Rich
Hey Rich,
House is fine. I plan on painting it next month, and Grant will be coming up in June to put a copper roof on. Just bought a 24,000 btu NG stove by Vermont Castings to heat the place and extend it's use to almost year round.
Kevin
You would be better to take the door to a glass company and have them do the replacement. It's not likely that cutting the bead is the way to do it. A picture of the inside and outside would help. There are several different ways the glass is mounted. No sense ruining the door. You may not actually be able to get the glass out, and in, by cutting the bead.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Totally agree. Take the door to a pro and have them figure it out. You'll still have to have them make you a replacement, so why not have them do the whole thing? I love well meaning relatives, but they can cost you more in the long run.
might have to do that.
If the tempered insulated glass unit has to be custom made and installed by a pro, you may want to think about replacing the door. Especially, if the other pieces of glass end up failing over the next couple of years.There are six (that I know of) generic stock sizes of tempered insulated glass for patio doors. If it's one of those sizes, it would be worth replacing just the glass..
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Has he priced out custom sized tempered glass replacements?
If it is a ThermaTru door, then take it from me, and ex- ThermaTru suit, who took that product through major design and development, the glass is not removable, nor is it replaceable.
If it is a Peachtree, there is a small bit of hope, but if it's a flushglazed ThermaTru, forget about it.
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"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
Not sure what type door, I'll check it out.
Hi Gene,
Just got off the phone with my Dad, said it is a thermatru. He said there is moisture in the glass and that he was told, once the sun hits the glass it burned the cloudy look into the glass, it can't be wiped clean even if the glass were taken out and than split. That's why he wants to replace the whole pane.
Is there anyway to fix the problem while the glass is still in the door?
Things may not be the same now, but in the last millenium, a flush-glazed FiberClassic door with edge seal failure in the glass, was replaced at no charge.
It may take a little persistance, in getting the ThermaTru territory sales manager's attention to the matter, but they will probably respond to your dad's satisfaction. Of course, installation and finishing is up to the customer.
The key is getting up the chain from the dealer, and through the distributor, directly to the company level.
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"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
I believe the TT seal failure warranty is 10 years. Flush glazed TT doors are repaired by replacing the entire panel, not just the glass. If the panel is not available anymore, then that's a bummer.......View Image
the door is over 20 years old, would they still fix it? Is there some lifetime warranty?
I believe that the product, when sold, had a lifetime warranty. The key, however, is getting the sympathetic ear of the actual ThermaTru sales territory manager.
In the scheme of things, it costs them little to get you a brand new slab, complete with glass.
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"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
Gene, I realize many bogus door companies have problems with glazing seal in both windows and doors. But the question arises, why in the hell would they make a glazing system like Thermatru's that couldn't be removed and replaced?
Is the cost of a new glazed panel that cheap?A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Calvin, see my post to the OP, above.
TT made the decision, at the product's initial introduction and a couple years before I joined them, that glazing failures were less expensive to deal with via complete slab replacement, than to have added expense to the assembly with a glass-insert design.
During my watch, we redesigned the fiberglass parts, and added a perimeter glaze seal arrangement, and were able to reduce the occurrence of seal failure. We reconsidered design options to make the glass unit replaceable, but rejected them, as had occurred earlier.
What is your experience with the product? I have seal failures on both leaves of a unit over at my camp, but am too lazy to replace them. If I get around to doing something, the whole unit will get yanked and an Andersen Frenchwood hinged door will go in the hole instead.
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"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
My experience with TT. Minimal in the beginning as I had a couple bogus doors (new) to deal with at my expense-poor fits, decided it was a less than good product and directed customers away from Thermatru alltogether.
Gave them another chance a few yrs ago (entrydoors) and now don't mind so much using the product. Perhaps the assembler has changed.
However, on a recent quest I found the "flushglazed" item. After some questions about it, found it to not be glass removable and decided against using it. The look of the flush glazed is nice-more "realistic" and certainly I guess a better seal to the slab than the gooped up plastic lite kits.
Seems the warranties range from 10 yrs, 20 yrs to lifetime limited..........don't know how it covers glass seal failure and the resultant panel replacement.
Just something seems not right on not being able to replace the glass. Thinking a little better designing could produce replaceable yet good weather seal system. A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Calvin,You wrote, "Just something seems not right on not being able to replace the glass. Thinking a little better designing could produce replaceable yet good weather seal system."I totally agree. What Gene said was that the decision was dollar-driven, not design-driven. The really big problem comes when a manufacturer fails and the defective window or door is not repairable, then the only option is to replace everything in the opening.Who wants to be a hostage to the business fortunes of a window/door manufacturer? When enough of us take the long view, the manufacturers will also have to, to keep our business.Bill
Then count on me at this time to post for Thermatru and any other manufacturer that I draw the line whenever possible on feeding the landfills of (should be) usable material of which the door slab certainly qualifies.
What kills me is that it's marketed as flush glazed............not flush glazed and you can't take it apart and insert a pc of glass when this one breaks or fogs up............or you decide to change with an artsy one that fits......
I admit that it looks way better than the plant on window lite kit that at least isn't the flimsy, warp and look faux forever kits of the past.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Flush glaze window replacement
Don't know if you guys will see this since this thread is over 3 years old BUT a few months ago I [unfortunately] purchased a ThermaTru fiberglass entry door with flush glazed glass insert. Somehow the exterior side of the double pane glass insert got busted (I think it was when my yard guy weed-whacked too close to the door & threw up a rock from the crushed granite path).
My insurance company will only give me $100 for the glass, but Therma Tru says that the glass cannot even be replaced, that the entire slab has to be replaced.
My insurance company doesn't believe this and won't give me money to replace the slab. I've had one [questionable] glass guy out who says that he can take the trim pieces off and lift the glass out.
I shudder at the thought that I will only get $100 for this door which cost me $2,000 (special order at Lowe's), AND the repair job will end up looking like something out of Sanford and Sons, and won't be weather-tight.
Do you know if Therma Tru still makes doors with window inserts that can't be replaced?
Do you know of any way to convince my insurance company of this?
Thank you in advance.
and it seems they are the abuser.
I'm not sure of ThermaTru or that line from them, but some doors it's true-there's no "removable " stop to take out to replace glass.
My best bet would be to get in touch with ThermaTru and have their rep or someone higher up document whether or not it can be repaired.
What we say here won't amount to a hill of beans.
Your insurance?
What about yard boy (if he's a service)?