Peter M

I see that I was too slow but just incase anyone else needs a referral code you can use mine 😉 Well done to prodave for his prompt response. 👍🏻 https://share.octopus.energy/sunny-foal-774

Hi Dani and Craig, our situation regarding the botched window supply and installation has not yet been resolved, more than a year has been lost in our build and we have engaged a solicitor to pursue all issues of this for us, we've just recently had a complete survey done, engaged by our solicitors, by an independent fenestration expert and are now awaiting their report, sadly these kind of supply and install problems are not easily resolved and it takes time but we're determined to not allow our particular supply and install company to get away with the total mess that they have created.

Whatever you do don't use the Obex product which is a rubberised product as our plasterer said that he can't put plaster onto it either as a dot and dab or wet plaster as it won't adhere very well. Our window installer used the Obex type which we are now insisting that is removed and replaced with illbruck me508 with a full adhesive backing.

In this instance it's the maximum height as the opening is also a fire escape a fact which is referenced earlier in this thread so you may not have seen it.

I can only quote you what our building inspector has detailed, see below:- "I would suggest that from the blue line on the photo attached (top of the 120mm upstand) the glazed guarding comes 1100mm from this level. The guarding needs to be from finished floor level, but in this instance I would suggest that the upstand is the floor level and not the actual room level, because if the guarding was taken from the bedroom floor level it would be under the required height once stepping onto the upstand/step. " I hope this makes sense to you.

Sorry I should have stated that in our particular case the opening was a fire escape, my mistake.

Check out the reply to this thread that I have just posted today re Juliet's and the pit falls that can catch you out, it can be a minefield out there for the unwary.

Be very careful of who and what is installed as our Juliet has been installed above the maximum height of 1100mm, the measurements that should have been considered were not taken into account, see attached picture, and as the sub-contracted company who our window company engaged to do the Juliet's did not perform a full survey just a cursory visit before the windows were even installed so they screwed up big time, they insist it is compliant but our building control guy says otherwise, there are many factors that can determine where the height is measured from as shown in the picture, but with us it's from the top of the block-work immediately in front of the opening, not the frame, not the gasket both of which has been suggested, either way it's too high even though it may be only 60mm. Juliet_Balcony_Glass_&_Window_26_(compressed).pdf

Our building inspector is insisting on 1100 from finish floor level or if there is a step in front of the opening, as with ours, the 1100 should be taken from the top of the step including any finishes.

Don't believe everything that you are told regarding foam filled aluminium frames, our Comar 9pi and 5pi advanced framing supposedly had foam in the inner core but when I noticed the absence of foam from within one of the trickle vent slots and examined it for myself I was brushed off with the excuse that maybe "the foam had fallen out during transportation" but still nothing was done to rectify the problem, a possibility yes, but now I am doubting whether any or some of the other frame sections have missing insulation foam. Not a good feeling to have I can tell you especially when the U-values of the windows and doors are so critical.

The external finishes are not all in place yet, which will be just a strip of HardiPlank cladding to the inside of the opening, some have been done and some haven't but the water ingress is happening on finished and unfinished window openings, but what I did do was to go around all the openings that I could easily reach from the ground without erecting a tower, which will be erected later, and sealed with low modulus silicone sealant on top of the expanded foam that the window company had pumped in between the epdm barrier and the brick or block structural opening. The black sheet that you can see in the picture on the inside sill is the epdm the water sitting on top of is the epdm which in turn is stuck to and around the frame to 'seal' the whole window unit from any outside moisture and to improve the airtightness and then stuck by way of a further adhesive strip on the reverse side, 4 inches wide, if the water is forming on top of the epdm it can only be coming from within the frame units that have found their way into the bottom casement section and not drained out through the face drainage slots, water by it's very nature will always find the path of least resistance to drain down unless there is a watertight seal preventing such action. There is no foam between the framing and the epdm seal just the adhesive, approx 2 inches wide sticking the epdm to the frame. I'm loathed to carry on with the finishing detail around the windows until I am 100% sure that the water coming in is sorted and that the window does not have to be removed which will cause all sorts of damage in doing so.

Hi Ian, the frames are anthracite grey so what you can see in white is the protective film, the black cylindrical object is the hinge on this particular window as it is a tilt inwards arrangement. Only have ever seen this a day or so after it rains, not immediately, or when I have hosed & washed the windows down after I had been doing some dusty work on the cementboard cladding. The house is dry no wet trades in progress and the floor has dried out, laid in June 2021, no evidence of condensation/water on any internal surface only from BELOW some of the frames.

As this thread is entitled "Condensation and 3G Windows" and not being fully clear by what is meant as "3G" in the title I thought that I would chance my arm and post this reply here and add a picture of what we are experiencing with condensation, or at least that is what the window company is saying is the core contributor to the 'condensation' Our build is nowhere near completed as far as wet trades are concerned as we have not started the plastering yet, the floor has been poured but is now dry and the house has no form of heating yet so the temp outside is pretty much the same as inside and is pretty much sealed apart from the odd draught around the opening as they have not yet been fully sealed. We are really concerned that this is a much bigger issue than condensation being caused by the head or heads of the screws that is fixing the sill to the bottom frame, window company explanation not mine, the pooling of water is being experienced on about four windows at present, was about eight but it seems to alter depending the direction of the rain/wind, if you have any thoughts or ideas I'd be pleased to hear from you. All windows are double glazed in core insulated aluminium from a largish supposed expert company.

If you want to make yourself feel a little bit better and to avoid some of the traps that we fell into read my post on the thread 'Window order checking / comparing suppliers' it's a continuing saga and is nowhere near the end of the debacle.

We did consider an MVHR but the cost for us was prohibitive plus some of the reviews about them turned us right off them.