Window Frame Repair in Wellington

Frames fail differently depending on what they are made of and where in Wellington they sit. Timber goes at the sill after the paint film breaks and the rain gets in. Aluminium corrodes at the corners and around the fixings, fastest within a few hundred metres of the water on the south coast and around the harbour. uPVC goes brittle and cracks under UV. Knowing which one you have in front of you decides whether the fix takes an hour or a week.

Finding the actual leak before sealing anything

A wet internal sill has several possible causes and only one of them is the seal. Blocked drainage slots back water up over the frame. A failed head flashing lets water in above the window and it appears at the sill. Perished glazing wedge lets water past the glass. A racked sash leaves a gap at one corner.

We test with water, working bottom up, until the leak shows itself. Running a bead of silicone over the outside of a window without knowing why it leaks is the most common bad repair we get called out to fix, because it traps the water inside the frame instead.

Timber frame repair

Rot in a timber frame follows the water. The sill first, then the bottom of the jambs, then the bottom rail of the sash. Everything above that is usually sound old growth timber worth keeping.

We cut back to solid wood, scarf in new timber, glue and pin it, shape it to the original profile and prime it before it leaves. Where the sill has gone completely, a full sill replacement into the existing frame is still far cheaper than new joinery and keeps the original window.

Aluminium frame corrosion and racked sashes

Aluminium frames rarely fail structurally. What fails is the corner joints, the fixings and the coating. Open corners let water track into the wall. Chalky white bloom means the powder coat has been breached and the metal underneath is oxidising.

Sashes that catch on the frame or leave a triangular gap have usually dropped rather than warped, and that comes back to worn hinges, stays or rollers. Replacing the hardware and re squaring the sash fixes the gap. Replacing the whole window because it will not close properly is the expensive way to solve a hardware problem.

When replacement is the honest answer

Pitting right through the aluminium. Timber that is soft through the full section rather than just at the face. Corner joints that have opened so far the frame is no longer square. uPVC that has gone chalky and brittle enough to crack when you screw into it.

In those cases we quote the replacement and explain why. What we will not do is quote a replacement on a frame that has fifteen good years left in it because that is the bigger invoice.

Diagnosing a frame before quoting it

Square, straight and tight

Three checks tell you most of what you need. Is the frame square, measured corner to corner. Is the sill straight along its length. Are the corner joints tight when you press them.

A frame that passes all three is worth repairing almost regardless of how it looks, because coating and hardware are surface problems.

When to stop

Aluminium pitting through the extrusion, timber soft through the full section rather than at the face, corners opened far enough that the frame has racked, or uPVC gone chalky enough to crack when a screw goes in.

Those are the four we will tell you to replace, and you get both prices with the reasoning rather than just the bigger number.

Window Frame Repair at a glance

Materials

Aluminium, timber, uPVC and composite frames

Leak testing

Water tested bottom up, cause identified before any sealing

Timber repairs

Scarf repair, bottom rail replacement, full sill replacement

Aluminium repairs

Corner joints resealed, coating restored, hardware replaced

Sash squaring

Hinges, stays and rollers replaced, sash re hung and adjusted

Finish

Timber primed and ready for paint, aluminium touched up to colour

Assessment

Repair and replacement priced side by side on the same quote