Repair of Washroom Window Surround

After drawing a blank on finding a replacement I decided to have a go at repairing the split window surround in the washroom of my Harmony.
Age has made the plastic very brittle, however, on removing the surround it became apparent that the reason the plastic had split, was the fact that the washroom walls had 'bowed' or 'curved' over time.
As the surround was fixed to the wall, this became under stress and the plastic split.

By fitting wooden battens to all four sides of the aperture, this made it more rigid and straightened the wall panels.
The battens were glued and screwed apart from the left side batten which was glued only.
CT1 was used for all sealing. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The surround was repaired using plastic filler with a thin metal repair mesh behind for strength.
I also used the mesh behind the splits on the surround as well.
Sorry for no photos of that, they somehow disappeared off the camera!

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Remove the white screw caps and remove the fixing screws. Ignore the black tape on the outside of the window. That was a temporary fix to stop the ingress of water. Glass rubber now sealed.


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One of many splits.


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Remove silicone sealer.


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Gently pull surround away.


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Gently pull surround away.


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Surround now detached.


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Aperture exposed.


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Surround removed.


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Edging of surround repaired with 'Isopon Plastic Filler' from Halfords. Thin metal mesh (Halfords) used to reinforce repair.
Splits in surround repaired the same way, using metal mesh behind to reinforce.


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Clean out silicone sealer.
How on earth did that fly get there? Did it get in at the factory?


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Clean out silicone sealer.


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Fix wooden batten to all four sides of aperture.


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Fix wooden batten to all four sides of aperture.


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Fixing wooden batten to right hand side of aperture.


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Fixing wooden batten to left side of aperture. Glued in place as screws would not be hidden by surround.


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Clamped in place until adhesive set.


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Sprayed with white plastic primer and then gloss Appliance White (Halfords).
Refitted to washroom wall.
Slightly longer screws used on account that wall is now straight as opposed to 'curved'.
White sealer used around glass/surround.

Pretty pleased with the end result, time will tell.......................

Hi

Top job youth.

I also have a crack split on the same panel on the right side.

Excellent bit of work PB
I think that should be in the "factsheets" section.

Frank

Great job, its nice to see a project done properly, you shouldn't have any more issues there.

Nice one, PB

Brian

Thats one very professional job there PB.

Fantastic. Whisky.

Thanks all for your kind sentiments.

(Of course, it could have turned out horribly wrong!!)

PB

You don't fancy having a go at my surrounds too do you I need to do the rear door panels and the kitchen window panel as all of them have split in the corners, I was wondering how to go about this little job and you sir have made my day finding this post thank you

Harper22 wrote:the rear door panels and the kitchen window panel as all of them have split in the corners,

Mine are exactly the same, all panels affected. The splits were there when I bought it and they will probably be there when I sell it. Obviously a poor design and possibly caused by over-tightening the screws at production.

Paulmold wrote:

Harper22 wrote:the rear door panels and the kitchen window panel as all of them have split in the corners,

Mine are exactly the same, all panels affected. The splits were there when I bought it and they will probably be there when I sell it. Obviously a poor design and possibly caused by over-tightening the screws at production.

Yeh mine were like it when i bought her too, Its almost like the plastic has shrunk in the corners but i shall definately be having a go at fixing them now although it may mean a change of colour to the surrounds as mine are a dark cream (guessing were off white at time of build)

Paulmold wrote:

Harper22 wrote:the rear door panels and the kitchen window panel as all of them have split in the corners,  

Mine are exactly the same, all panels affected. The splits were there when I bought it and they will probably be there when I sell it. Obviously a poor design and possibly caused by over-tightening the screws at production.

Paul,

I think over-tightening of screws may be a factor. However I feel AS's long term problem has been reliance upon insuficiently strong vacuum mouldings in many areas. For those unfamiliar with the technique, vacuum moulding involves heating a sheet of polymer until it softens then drawing it over a former whilst subjecting the sheet to vacuum, thus the 2D sheet takes on the 3D shape of the former. The problem with this and many other forming processes is that at certain points the sheet has to stretch to take on the shape of the former. In some areas this stretching happens more than others and also in both axes, the result being excessive localised thinning and hence reduced strength.

So whilst the general sheet thickness may be fine, locally the moulded form will be significantly weeker. Add to this some embrittlement over time, presumably as a result of exposure to UV radiation, and cracking is the result. Virtually every internal moulded panel on my 1995 Harmony is suffering in some way or another.

My recovery action has been to reinforce the reverse side with glass fibre tape and epoxy resin which seems to work reasonably well.

Bartfarst

Hi all
Made a start on repairing my washroom window surround this afternoon.

It was all going rather well..

Took off the plastic frame and repaired a few cracks and added some strengtheners around the screw holes, sprayed it white and its ready to go back on.

Was going to add the battens around the window but after removing the plastic frame found that there was already some there - not sure if this is standard on the Harmony or someone else has already done it.


Then as usually, disaster - the ply around the window frame had some water marks on it but looked as if they had dried out - just to be sure I put the hose pipe on it and there is a small drip of water coming through...

So the next job will be to reseal the window - From what I can see it screws on from the outside, so the plan is to remove it, reseal and refit.

I have some White Sikaflex to do it with but also have some of the proper strip sealant that I got from auto sleepers to fix the other high top windows - I am thinking of using this stuff, screwing the window back in and then a bead of black sikaflex round it outside...

Has anyone removed or replaced a washroom window, and what would you use or recommend to refit?   The proper stuff or just stick it in with white sikaflex?

Cheers
richard

Not removed mine but it did look as though it is screwed on from the outside. 
I personally would not use the sealant strip. Sikaflex it back in. It's not going to go anywhere!
I stuck a high top window in on mine.

With regards to the battens, maybe someone modded yours previously or none were ever fitted to mine in build!

PB

I can see an argument for either - Sikaflex (or equivalent) is a fantastic adhesive/sealant but it can be really messy.

The great thing about the butyl rubber sealant is that you put it on, tighten up the fixings, leave for a few days for excess to squeeze out and then run a blunt knife round to cut it back, making a very neat finish. Then run a fine bead of silicone sealant or Sikaflex round the join and you're done.