Crack in conservatory window frames

[Silvan]

I have a conservatory built roughly three years ago. There are eight panels and four of them have cracks. The cracks are all on the UPVC frame radiating from the corner weld, all at the bottom of the frame. They are just hairline cracks, barely visible unless you are looking for them. The company have come out and said they don't know what caused them, and they have offered to repair them with some kind of filler or welding kit. What could have caused the cracks, could there be a serious underlying problem?

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• Silvan
• 18 May 2015
• 1

 

[ronniecabers]

Don't accept the repair, I'd want the rep[laced , as they will still be covered by the installers and manufacturers warranty. A repair could be masking a bigger issue. I'd also be looking for cracking elsewhere in the conservatory , just to make sure it hasn't moved. Upvc should NOT crack on welds, unless a/ it was poorley made, b/ it was ' abused ' when put in , or c/ something has moved ........

 

[Silvan]

Thank you, there are no other cracks in the PC frames.

But there are some cracks in the walls. It is a lean-to conservatory, with the main aspect facing east. The house is on a hill, so the conservator has an underbuild of a few feet, with a suspended timer floor. On the south side there is a full height firewall, this has some evidence of cracking on it where it joints the existing property wall and also between some bricks of the wall, but the cracks aren't big, maybe a millimeter or so at most when I hold a ruler up against them to make a judgement. The north wall is only half-height, and it has a crack all the way up between the wall and the existing property, again it is only a millimetre by my reckoning. These cracks have been attributed to the kind of settlement that takes place on all new-builds.

Should I be worried that there is a structural problem? The builder is a good well-know window company that has been in the business many years.

 

[ronniecabers]

I would expect to see settlement cracks , yes, but not see cracks in the Upvc, I would want those frames replaced. As you are on a hill I would just keep on eye on the cracks in the plaster , but as you say sounds like settlement and drying out, but I can not 100% guarantee that as I am not a structural engineer

 

[joe-90]

Put a square against the frames to see if they've moved out of shape. A rafter square is best.

 

[crank39]

I'd be just as concerned that its only 3 years old and still externally beaded