Boat window professionals, Scottish West Coast

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dovekie

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Does anyone know of any good professionals for boat window removal and reseating on the Scottish West Coast?

Two of the windows on our (2010 manuf') boat are leaking. They are of mineral glass, set into moulded recesses, using I presume a hi-tech adhesive/sealant, which bonds to the glass and the moulding.

The boat is a Southerly. The owners Association has helpful articles on how to DIY the job. But it looks tricky to me, ensuring the right bond between the "ceramic frit" on the glass, and getting the correct thickness of sealant to accommodate the expansion/contraction. I suspect I would be wise to have professional help. Boat is in Oban.

Thanks for any advice.
 

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Would have thought that your best bet would be the guys at Dunstaffnage. Haven't ever had occasion to use them but worth a try. If they can't help perhaps they can recommend someone. Silvers boatyard at Rosneath on the Clyde would he another suggestion but obviously not that near Oban.
 
If it helps we too have a Northshore boat. The repair method recommended by them is to remove all the sealant from between the GRP and the edge of the window glass. I did this with a craft knife and small screwdriver. This leaves the window stuck in place with a deep channel around the perimeter. Refill this channel with a suitable sealant, we used a sika product for mineral glass. The problem long term is the sealant is not protected from UV so will degrade again over time. Before I knew this method I did remove 2 windows and a local windscreen guy put them back in.
 
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There are UV stable sealants so if you do as Dunx suggested make sure that you use a UV stable sealant. There are numerous threads on here about different sealants and a wealth of info on the web. Personally I've used Bostik Simson ISR70-03 which is uv stable but from memory has limited colours (I think it was only grey!). Be careful with your choice of Sikaflex as some are permanent and when they say permanent they mean it will not come off - which given you are looking at glazing could be a real problem in the future.
 
..I should also have suggested the Crinan Boatyard in my original list. Again I've no experience of them but I'm sure they would also be up to the task.
 
Thank you all, I shall enquire of Crinan and Ardfern - and your list Derek. And yes, clearly choice of sealant is critical.
Dunx, it had not occurred to me to not remove them completely. We have water ingress, so I have the concern that an unknown proportion of the glass-sealant or sealant-grp bond is failing. My worry would be that a replaced bead of sealant, in a newly cut channel, might not restore the original strength. But Northshore should know! Maybe my concern is misplaced.
 
I’ve had mine done now 4 years that way and it’s worked a treat, no leaks! I wouldn’t worry too much about the strength issue as even with all the visible and easily accessed sealant cut away from the two windows I did remove, it took hours of patience to remove the rest in order not to break the glass. Give it a try if you have the time ?
 
dovekie said:
Thank you all, I shall enquire of Crinan and Ardfern - and your list Derek. And yes, clearly choice of sealant is critical.
Dunx, it had not occurred to me to not remove them completely. We have water ingress, so I have the concern that an unknown proportion of the glass-sealant or sealant-grp bond is failing. My worry would be that a replaced bead of sealant, in a newly cut channel, might not restore the original strength. But Northshore should know! Maybe my concern is misplaced.
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Ardfern definitely recommended.
 
My last experience of one of the marinas recommended was not so good, needed a repair, pushpit, cockpit and aft locker, after being rammed fom behind while tied up at its berth by a sailor steering from behind a misted up spray hood/cockpit enclosure. Took it to the yard, was given an itemised estimate and a start date two weeks hence, returned as instructed, left boat with advice to collect in a week,
On returning to collect, the work had not started as the steel bender had a backlog after a break, new completion date set, but on retrieval major parts of the work included in the estimate had not been carried out, sprung locker hinges had not been replaced and no grp work carried out. As it was mid summer I collected replacement hinges from their chandlery after some argument about payment, took the boat back to the canal and fitted them myself, the only grp work needed was bedding hinge screws and a good rub of the scuffs with T cut and polish. Received the bill for the whole amount in the estimate, when I questioned it I was told that since my bill was being settled by the perpetrator of the damage they would not reduce it, their excuse for not completing the work as listed was 'staff problems', The yard has a strong reputation but with a large captive market I don't think they are accustomed to customers who question their service or expect work to be completed on the day they say, though I suspect they may give better service to their bertholders.
So I have not been back since which is not that handy since their chandlery shop used to be one of the best in Scotland.

Not sure how you avoid problems like this particularly in the height of the saiing season.
 
Most boatyards give a much better service than you'll receive from a tradesman or vehicle repair garage.
 
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