Velux windows - maintenance

[Adrian Brentnall]

HI Folks

We've been in this (new-build) house nearly four years now -
all of the upstairs rooms have Velux rooflights.

Looking idly out of one of these windows (as you do!)
I noticed that there's an amount of flaking varnish and grey
discolouration, with a few small splits along the grain in the timber
that forms the lower edge of the fixed window-frame.

Velux's website says ---------------
The wood should be treated at least every four years and otherwise
according to the set requirements.
-and-
windows exposed to strong heat, strong sunlight and/or an especially
high level of humidity (e.g. in a kitchen or bathroom) should be treated
at least every two years.

Treatment: any surface treatment (varnish or paint) is removed, and the
cleaned, dry surface is primed and lacquered/painted with waterbased
acrylic varnish/paint. If the varnish/paint is damaged, the same
treatment is applied to the areas in question. VELUX offers a repair kit
with original repair varnish or paint.

When you treat the wood, it is important to cover the gaskets to prevent
varnish/paint rubbing off on the gaskets, as this will make the gaskets
stiff/hard and spoil their effect.

Guarantee depends on maintenance
Please note that our guarantee depends on on-going maintenance being
carried out in accordance with the above-mentioned maintenance directions.

----------------------

So - what's the best way to treat this ?
- sand down / remove the areas with flaking varnish
- treat areas with splits / discolouration with something (?what?)
- refinish with waterbased acrylic varnish

- maybe a light coat of varnish to all other timber surfaces, as a
preventive measure - I can't belive that they really expect people to
strip down & refinish all parts of each window every 2 - 4 years -
or is this an amount of 'backside-covering' for guarantee purposes ?

Thanks
Adrian

[mi...@mikewilson.cc]

Hi Adrian,

I have exactly the same issue. I'm wondering, another four years on, if you've managed to find a solution to this maintenance problem?

Kind Regards,

Mike

[fred]

We've had two of these windows for nigh on 20 years now. One on a north facing slope and the other on a south facing slope, I've only treated the south facing once in that time, though the other needs a touch up now.

I found the Bosch Delta sander very useful. The green one I have has a dust extractor outlet unlike the blue one. Saved a lot of mess and cleaning up.

[Capitol]

If you fit Roto plastic roof windows, you don't have any maintenance to do.