We finally bought a house in Melbourne just pre-covid after 4 years of looking but have been running from one issue into the next. 2020 has been soooo amazing for us (NOT!).
For now, I'm trying to get some understanding about some critical repairs we need to do on 2 windows on the first floor.
They are currently commercial grade, single glazed but have been installed without any decent sub-sill or drainage which has caused water to drain into the midfloor. As a result, there is evidence of rotting of the wooden I-beam the window rests on. It's not the main structural beam as the window sits recessed compared to the facade and there is a rendered ledge all the way to the main outside structural beam (not I-beam but full beam). I will link to a video in a next post to give a better understanding of the situation. This could have gotten taken care of by the previous owners under builders warranty as clearly it is not a new issue but hey... our fault for not having done a building inspection for the 101'th time on an auction we didn't expect to win.
I'll concentrate my question on 1 of the 2 windows for now which is the one in the Master Bedroom. It's currently a 4 panel sliding door with the middle panels sliding open towards the 2 fixed side panels. It's the most critical to replace as it is causing the ceiling on the ground floor to get water damage.
Questions I have:
- What are the chances that the I-Beam the window sits on can be treated for the wood rot. I.e.: cutting away the rotten parts, treating the remaining with a product or some kind of covering or new wood? Or are we looking at having to replace all or parts of that I-Beam and how expensive could this get?
I've cut into the floorboards on the inside next to the window and the I-Beam still looks absolutely spotless from that side fwiw.
- When we're replacing this window, what are the odds we can use this opportunity to fit the new window to sit level with the floor and hide as much as possible of the tracks as possible (as is being done on so many new builds) while we're having to work on the I-Beam anyway? Is this possible to do during a window replacement and would it create a hugely different invoice?
- Same as above but wrt the side and top of the aluminium frame. What would be the best way to do this (rejig the wooden window fittings or just use the existing and then try to cosmetically adjust the interior plasterboards to hide the the alu frame as much as possible) and would this add significant cost as well?
- We want to change from the current split-door setup to a 3-panel stacker to reduce the amount of visible aluminium framing in the middle, but it would cause us to lose the symmetry of the room. How hard/easy/costly would it be to have a stacker door with a fixed middle panel so that the 2 windows on either side could slide behind it towards the middle? And would it be possible to have them perfectly line up one after the other? Similar to what these guys are doing: https://www.lacantinadoors.com/gallery/video/a-new-class-of-multi-slide-video. Watch from around 2:15.
- We’ve been quoted on a 6.38 Grey Lam Safety Glass/12Ar/6 Clear toughened 3-panel stacker by 360Windows recently, as well as Accent windows. 360Windows use AWS frames (they’re a licensed manufacturer) and quoted on the 704 Slidemaster, Accent windows quoted on the Proglide system. Both arrived at a similar price for a similar window but I don’t believe the frame is thermally broken and I would love to have the extra convenience of it. What would I need to calculate in uplift towards thermally broken on average? I’m going to ask for a requote but I’m finding it quite expensive as it is now already! I've been reading up on U-values but haven't been able to determine whether it would be worthwhile going from a U-value of 3.3 to 2.6.
Probably still have 1001 other questions, but looking to wrap my head around this issue asap. Any help would be much appreciated!!