A customer in Feltham got in touch because several windows around the property were playing up. Some would lock, some wouldn’t, a few were jammed shut, and most needed at least some attention.
It isn’t unusual for uPVC window mechanisms to fail without much warning. They’re fairly simple mechanisms — dare I say that without an engineer appearing from somewhere to tell me off :p — usually moving rollers, pins or bolts across the frame to secure the window.
There are plenty of manufacturers out there, and usually it isn’t the newer mechanisms causing trouble. It’s the ones that have been sitting in the window for a couple of decades. There aren’t many failure points, and some of the warning signs are fairly obvious once you know where to look — which is also why I keep banging on about lubricating them twice a year :d.
Water eventually finds its way into places it shouldn’t, corrosion starts, and from there it’s only a matter of time. Lubrication helps a lot with that. Heat and weather can also affect uPVC frames, but I’m not convinced by how often the weather gets blamed for every stiff window. In my experience, poor workmanship, worn components or low-quality materials are often the bigger problem.
The hinges are another good giveaway. If they haven’t been lubricated and have been wearing for years, a millimetre here and half a millimetre there slowly changes how the sash sits in the frame. You don’t necessarily notice it happening because it takes so long, until eventually pressing the handle down starts needing more and more force and it just becomes ‘that’s how this window has always worked’.
The handle usually tells you a lot. If it is suddenly harder to operate, the locking points may be too tight in the keeps, the hinges may be worn, or the mechanism itself may be starting to fail. Sometimes an adjustment is enough; other times a part needs replacing.
So, after this mile-long post, the simple version is this: if you’re struggling to lock a window, you shouldn’t be. Something isn’t right and it’s better to deal with it before the handle decides to come for a walk with you while you’re trying to lock it. And obviously that never happens at a convenient time, because where would be the fun in that 🙂
