Leaking barn door window repair

[pbjosh]

Well, all good things come to an end. I reseated the two bolts in question and watched very carefully for correct seating of the washer, things looked lined up well, then I shattered the window. Phooey. I guess this is how you learn.

New glass is not too expensive locally and installation is not too expensive so I'm going to go that route and watch, hopefully learn a bit in the process.

Was pretty annoyed with myself yesterday, particularly after the time I spent cleaning all that butyl off, but c'est la vie. As with everything, you learn as you go and sometimes the learning hurts a bit

On the flip side all of my roof painting / glueing / drilling has gone very well, and the pain and cost of ****ups there is far higher!

[1der]

Bummer Maybe I have been lucky having had my windows out and back on a number of times. Tightening was pushing the window from the outside (pre seat the butyl) and then getting the nuts to make contact with the metal plus maybe 1/2 of a turn of the nut. The butyl is so sticky that so long as it was making contact with both sides I figured it was sealed. The button studs though need to be seated into the holes correctly to tighten flush.

Really sorry to read about the breakage.

[JWA]

Equally sorry here for this mishap----not much consolation but even as a pro I've done this more times than I care to admit. Its easy to do, sad to say.

Its not a bad idea to have someone already in the biz do this for you but given your process and careful attention to the installation you'll find many similarities in their approach.

I don't want to add insult to injury but because using the ribbon-type butyl sealer can and does cause alignment issues for the inexperienced in this I've long advocated either an exterior-grade silicone sealer/adhesive or a liquid butyl, both applied with standard caulking guns. Both allow the glass to be repositioned if/when needed and easily seat close enough to the door shell to maintain the factory original appearance.

[pbjosh]

Bah, there are far greater mistakes in life, and I learned a good bit from this. A couple things that I noticed different about the way the glass guy did it... handled the glass much less carefully / much more confidently than I did, but took a lot of care to line up the bolts so they would seat flat, then tightened them fairly snugly. He used 3/16 butyl instead of 1/4 but said either would work. At least I'm confident I could do just fine replacing it next time, should I ever need to.

Thanks again to all for all the help on this thread, sorry I fouled all your fine advice

[JWA]

Originally Posted by pbjosh

... handled the glass much less carefully / much more confidently than I did, but took a lot of care to line up the bolts so they would seat flat, then tightened them fairly snugly. He used 3/16 butyl instead of 1/4 but said either would work. At least I'm confident I could do just fine replacing it next time, should I ever need to.

Most people watching us glass guys are kinda shocked how uncareful we seem to be----what doesn't show is all the mishaps we too have had over the years.

You did a fine job so don't beat yourself up. As I said I've broken a few tempered pieces my own self so experience alone doesn't always guarantee a successful result. The upside is you learned a lot and can now share that info with others.

[Sigg]

Originally Posted by JWA

I don't want to add insult to injury but because using the ribbon-type butyl sealer can and does cause alignment issues for the inexperienced in this I've long advocated either an exterior-grade silicone sealer/adhesive or a liquid butyl, both applied with standard caulking guns. Both allow the glass to be repositioned if/when needed and easily seat close enough to the door shell to maintain the factory original appearance.

A question for the window guru, I’d you don’t mind. I’ve got three windows I’ve gotta pull and reseal (both back door windows and the long pop-out on the drivers side) and Im leaning towards using the RTV sealant like you’ve suggested, and was wondering how many of the 11oz tubes I would likely need for those three windows? I’m gonna have to order it, so I wanted to make sure I order enough before I start. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Thanks in advance!

[JWA]

Originally Posted by Sigg

A question for the window guru, I’d you don’t mind. I’ve got three windows I’ve gotta pull and reseal (both back door windows and the long pop-out on the drivers side) and Im leaning towards using the RTV sealant like you’ve suggested, and was wondering how many of the 11oz tubes I would likely need for those three windows? I’m gonna have to order it, so I wanted to make sure I order enough before I start. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Thanks in advance!

I don't mind a bit.

Any photos or your long pop-out drivers side glass?

About the needed material my initial guess would be having at least 3 tubes on hand.

Is this sort of material not available locally through one of the "home centers" like Lowe's, Home Depot, Menards etc etc?

What year is your van? Ford used a different type window for some years where the plastic spacer ring we've discussed was used--it had visible bolt heads on the outside of the glass. Later years saw the glass become "encapsulated" meaning the spacer ring was now a permanent part of the glass, no visible bolt heads that were replaced with studs cast and affixed into the spacer ring.

[Sigg]

Originally Posted by JWA

I don't mind a bit.

Any photos or your long pop-out drivers side glass?

About the needed material my initial guess would be having at least 3 tubes on hand.

Is this sort of material not available locally through one of the "home centers" like Lowe's, Home Depot, Menards etc etc?

What year is your van? Ford used a different type window for some years where the plastic spacer ring we've discussed was used--it had visible bolt heads on the outside of the glass. Later years saw the glass become "encapsulated" meaning the spacer ring was now a permanent part of the glass, no visible bolt heads that were replaced with studs cast and affixed into the spacer ring.

My van is a 2001 15-passenger, and each of the windows in question have four external bolts. I've attached two pictures so you can see—one shows the butyl seal pulled in and visible from inside the van (top right corner).

I couldn't seem to find any of the bigger, caulk-gun tubes locally at the home stores. But maybe an auto parts store would have them? I might just order it online from the link you pointed out on here…

[unreng]

I used a little more than one 10-ounce tube for the smaller side door window and the two rear door windows on a 2006 E350.
I bought three tubes just in case and am using the sealant elsewhere on the van.
One rain storm and two snow storms and no leaks.

I put about a 1/4" bead on the window bracket, let the sealant sit about 5 minutes to develop somewhat of a skin.
A 1/4" bead should be good for 25-30 feet...depending on manufacturer.

Then installed the window frame and all of the nuts and used a bunch of mini spring clamps to set the window frame for the first hour or three?!?
https://smile.amazon.com/Tueascallk-...588323&sr=8-13

Then installed the window on the bracket and used CR Laurence suck-n-clamps between the two side nuts (the area of the frame with the largest distance between install nuts and it's on a curve) to set the window frames for the next 24-48 hours.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I prefer low/no VOC sealant and found this brand works well:
https://chemlink.com/Products/Roofin...ve-and-Sealant

And found this company has a good price for M-1:
https://store.concreteexchange.com/p...b01dbb33&_ss=r

[Sigg]

Originally Posted by unreng

I used a little more than one 10-ounce tube for the smaller side door window and the two rear door windows on a 2006 E350.
I bought three tubes just in case and am using the sealant elsewhere on the van.
One rain storm and two snow storms and no leaks.

I put about a 1/4" bead on the window bracket, let the sealant sit about 5 minutes to develop somewhat of a skin.
A 1/4" bead should be good for 25-30 feet...depending on manufacturer.

Then installed the window frame and all of the nuts and used a bunch of mini spring clamps to set the window frame for the first hour or three?!?
https://smile.amazon.com/Tueascallk-...588323&sr=8-13

Then installed the window on the bracket and used CR Laurence suck-n-clamps between the two side nuts (the area of the frame with the largest distance between install nuts and it's on a curve) to set the window frames for the next 24-48 hours.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I prefer low/no VOC sealant and found this brand works well:
https://chemlink.com/Products/Roofin...ve-and-Sealant

And found this company has a good price for M-1:
https://store.concreteexchange.com/p...b01dbb33&_ss=r

Thanks unreng! It sounds like 3 tubes oughta be plenty! I checked at the store you linked, and they're sold out of black…but they definitely had the best price. Any reason I shouldn't get gray instead? It seems like black or clear would definitely be best, as I can see bits of black butyl around the other windows…