Cleaning windows - how far to go?

[Guest]

So, new boat has hopper windows (plus a couple of sort of hopper port holes) and also a couple of vertical glazed panels on a bow doors... to clean these out thoroughly do I remove all the black rubbery strips (and the glass if it comes - I have a feeling it will in some panels but not others)? it looks pretty loose in places. Presumably putting new seals is one of those many spring/summer jobs I ought to avoid now? But a quick wash down (a few are quite mossy) and re-fitting the seal strips would be beneficial?

 

I thought to start with the bow doors as can easily stand in the little well deck for those. With the side windows I'll need to be on the gunnels for much of it won't I? (No side on mooring spots in vicinity).

[Jen-in-Wellies]

I'd leave most of this job, other than a quick clean, to the summer. You don't want to dismantle a window, measure a seal, order a seal, wait a couple of days for it to arrive, find it is wrong, send it back, be told that the one you actually need is out of stock and due in six weeks, the old seals now won't go back in the grooves, or they crumbled to dust when you took them out, so now the glass isn't sealed and it is very cold, but that changes tomorrow when heavy rain is forecast etc. in the middle of winter!

Go out on the boat and find a bankside mooring for any outside window work, even if the nearest one isn't nearby. Seriously. Standing on the gunnals, holding a roof rail with one hand works fine till you try using both hands for something. Kersplash!

 

Jen

[OldGoat]

Serious question -

if you have a motor car - do you strip out the rubber seals around the windscreen and other fixed windows??

           

                                          No, you don't

 

So you don't on a boat either,

well, not if you want an easy life - they can be a pain to replace.

 

If they're mouldy, you can clean them up with   GENTLE use of a small scourer (I use a small stainless steel ball type thinghy.

                                         

 

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

Serious question -

if you have a motor car - do you strip out the rubber seals around the windscreen and other fixed windows??

                                         

 

But the ones in my car hold the screens/windows tight and don't have a little moss garden condensation channel to clear!

 

The seals on the outside of a few of the windows are flapping around in various places (there is a completely detached one sunbathing on the well deck at present which looks perfectly healthy but is clearly taking a break from doing any actual work) so I suspect they may be easier to re-fit than @Jen-in-Wellies ones but the risk of swimming is probably high... and I've not yet located a place to order replacements for any seals which are missing/swimming/otherwise indisposed...

 

Might be a thing to do when have boat painted in summer as all side moorings are probably over a day away (once window faff time is taken into account) unless I book a visitor mooring at Paddington again - and I'm not sure they are really designed for doing maintenance in...

[Momac]

Green moss and algae  in window channels may be killed off using Patio Magic or similar applied on a dry day and left to do its work over a couple of weeks. 

Any residue  will tend to be washed out by rain. 

[frangar]

11 minutes ago, TheMenagerieAfloat said:

But the ones in my car hold the screens/windows tight and don't have a little moss garden condensation channel to clear!

 

 

You’ve never owned a series Land Rover then!!

 

 

[Murflynn]

12 minutes ago, TheMenagerieAfloat said:

But the ones in my car hold the screens/windows tight and don't have a little moss garden condensation channel to clear!

 

 

depending on your parking place, car windows often do have a little moss garden.   

in our front yard the sun doesn't shine from October to March and with the recent soggy weather almost everything goes green.

SWMBO swears by white vinegar for 90% of cleaning jobs.

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I'd leave most of this job, other than a quick clean, to the summer. You don't want to dismantle a window, measure a seal, order a seal, wait a couple of days for it to arrive, find it is wrong, send it back, be told that the one you actually need is out of stock and due in six weeks, the old seals now won't go back in the grooves, or they crumbled to dust when you took them out, so now the glass isn't sealed and it is very cold, but that changes tomorrow when heavy rain is forecast etc. in the middle of winter!

Go out on the boat and find a bankside mooring for any outside window work, even if the nearest one isn't nearby. Seriously. Standing on the gunnals, holding a roof rail with one hand works fine till you try using both hands for something. Kersplash!

 

Jen

there speaks the voice of experience  

[Slim]

Leave all but aquick wipe of the windows til the summer. As someone suggested try a squirt of patio moss cleaner then read a book and let it get on with it's job. (Wet and Forget is good. As used on the Sydney Opera house if you believe the blurb) As for sourcing seals try Seals Direct on line.

[Tony Brooks]

I wonder if what you call a seal is in fact a filler strip that covers the securing screws. If so on its own will not allow any leaks. They can be put back in with careful use of a screwdriver abut a special tool is sometimes available.

 

Any seals on a decent hopper design are usually non-critical leak wise and self adhesive neoprene strip will often suffice for the lower one and an inverted U shaped rubber section will do the upper. Look at Seals Plus Direct. https://www.sealsdirect.co.uk.

 

As others have said moss in the drain channels on the inside is no problem and a routine job.

 

As usual if you want best advice then photos please.

 

 

[WotEver]

10 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

They can be put back in with careful use of a screwdriver abut a special tool is sometimes available.

Here’s a selection of tools all for a tenner:

Laser TOOLS LAS77136 Gunson Windscreen Installation Tool Set, No https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017Z01W0Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VAjcEbZKEDAAP

[Guest]

Photos later when back from boat. 

 

Realise how urban/sheltered I am... Car has typically lived indoors (car park) and, more recently, under a cover... I've gone through entire cycles of car ownership without having to use one of those ice scraper things, let alone deal with living organisms or reliably find the main beam lights... 

 

Fortunately I have, being somewhat hippy, identified precisely how far I need to travel from my local (balsamic/organic (raw) cider/...) vinegar suppliers to find the see-through stuff for cleaning sinks etc. That together with an old nail file are my cleaning secrets! 

 

 

Photos later when back from boat. 

 

Realise how urban/sheltered I am... Car has typically lived indoors (car park) and, more recently, under a cover... I've gone through entire cycles of car ownership without having to use one of those ice scraper things, let alone deal with living organisms or reliably find the main beam lights... 

 

Fortunately I have, being somewhat hippy, identified precisely how far I need to travel from my local (balsamic/organic (raw) cider/...) vinegar suppliers to find the see-through stuff for cleaning sinks etc. That together with an old nail file are my cleaning secrets! 

 

Ooh, cross posted... Thanks all - appreciate that I'm a muppet abt most things boat at present but am really enjoying learning xx

[Jen-in-Wellies]

1 hour ago, Murflynn said:

there speaks the voice of experience  

Almost. I've nearly gone in. Been left holding the handrail with one hand, feet in the water. It is five to six feet deep here, so you really don't want to be doing any sort of complex work stood on a four inch wide ledge!