Triassic Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 (edited) Unfortunately one of the builders dropped a hammer off the scaffold and it bounced off part of the scaffold on its way down and cracked the glass, in one of my Rationel Ali-clad windows, fortunately it’s one of the small panels of glass.. The question is, how is the Ali-Clad exterior trim removed from the window to get the glass out? Any ideas? Edited November 14, 2020 by Triassic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iSelfBuild Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 (edited) I know my windows aluminium cladding are held on via plastic locking brackets which you can un-lock by inserting a special spanner (which you have to grind down so it's super thin), quarter turning and they disengage. Extremely fiddly job but a nice design feature for this occurrence. From memory I don't think there is room to get a special spanner down and quarter turn them off with Rationals. I don't think they are quarter turn brackets and just lock on ones. Is it a fixed unit or an opener? Our fixed are internally beaded as once fitted you cant get a spanner in due to it being berried in the reveals. Openers you can take it out and take off the cladding easily. Had to do this recently as a joiner walked a scaffold prop into the aluminium cladding on a nice new set of bi-folds, thankfully no smashed glass. Probably have to trash the aluminium cladding to sort this one. Edited November 14, 2020 by iSelfBuild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundtuit Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 I took some trim off mine off by prising it off with a wide scraper. It's attached by little plastic clips pinned in to the timber, but that doesn't release the 'glass bead'. I suspect it's going to be destructive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triassic Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 2 hours ago, Roundtuit said: I took some trim off mine off by prising it off with a wide scraper. It's attached by little plastic clips pinned in to the timber, but that doesn't release the 'glass bead'. I suspect it's going to be destructive... I’ve found how to get the glass unit out, but not how the remove the Ali-clad trim. I really don’t want destruction ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundtuit Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Easy then! This worked for me: a wide, stiff scraper or similar (I think I used a scraper and a brick bolster, but proper plastic paddles are available), a bit of timber to protect the ali that you lever against, start where you can find a bit of flex in the trim (i.e mid-way between clips) and work towards a clip. Once you've popped the first couple of clips off, the rest are easier. Some of my clips broke a leg off as they were 'glued' in with paint but were all re-usable; if you needed new ones they look like they only cost pence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triassic Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 44 minutes ago, Roundtuit said: This worked for me: a wide, stiff scraper or similar (I think I used a scraper and a brick bolster, but proper plastic paddles are available), One video I looked at the bloke used what looked like a Large plastic door wedge, I might make something similar out of timber and give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now