SERVICES

Like most things on the inside and outside of your home, windows and doors do require maintenance. Most manufacturers provide care and cleaning instructions with their products, which should be followed. Here are a few key maintenance considerations.
Glass, sash and frame surfaces should be kept clean, but petroleum-based cleaners and solvents should not be used. Additional, you should not use a razor blade, putty knife or abrasive pad. Particular care should be given to sills and track areas. Keep free of dirt, dead insects and other debris. Most windows and doors use a water drainage or “weep” system in the frame to drain excess water from heavy rains to the outside. Care should be taken to keep weepholes clean without damaging weephole covers/baffles.

Weather-stripping and hardware should be cleaned and maintained periodically. If weather-stripping is excessively worn, windows and doors cannot seal properly. Hardware components, such as sash locks, operators and patio door rollers, must be operable for security and life safety purposes. If any of these components are no longer functional, they should be replaced.

Manufacturers offer a wide variety of warranties on their windows and doors, but there will come a day when components need to be replaced, repairs are needed, or the whole unit needs replacement.
Replacement weather-stripping and many hardware components are available, but research is required to identify and select items that date back many years.

For energy efficiency and comfort reasons, many windows and doors today are supplied with insulating glass. Insulating glass generally is comprised of two lites of glass divided by a spacer frame and sealed together. Over the lifetime of a home, the seal between the two lites of glass may fail and the insulating glass unit may fog. In that case, the insulating glass unit can be replaced.

Older laminated hurricane glass lites may should signs of de-lamination. Tell-tell signs are bubbles on the inside of the glass mark-up, caused by failure of the edge de-lamination bonding between the lites. The glass unit can be replaced

Occasionally, homeowners raise concerns about condensation on window glass. Condensation is water vapor from the air that is deposited on a surface when the humid air near the surface is cooled. The water forms since cool air is not able to hold as much water vapor as warm air.

The occasional appearance of condensation on windows is not a problem, but consistent condensation indicates an elevated humidity level in the home. Window glass provides a visible location on which the excess humidity in your home is able to condense. Condensation is also likely to be forming elsewhere in a home that is not as visible as on the window glass.

Many everyday activities can add more water vapor to the air and raise the relative humidity of your home. The breathing of a family, cooking meals, taking showers, washing dishes and doing laundry can all contribute to high humidity levels within the home. Proper ventilation is essential, because high relative humidity levels within the home can be damaging and contribute to the growth of mold and mildew.

Problematic window or door leaks can often times prove to be a challenging, stressful and time consuming. J&J Glass has extensive knowledge of dealing with these issues and can help determine the cause. There are a number of different testing methods and protocols that can be undertaken, subject to the nature of the problem(s).

If you are planning to upgrade your windows and doors but need assistance understanding the costs we would be pleased to assist in providing you with a budget. Impact rated systems are more costly than existing no-impact tempered openings and costs are typically under estimated. It is an event and a transition that, at some point, must be addressed, and this service helps you plan for the future.