Has any one ever seen or encountered a complaint about having the laminate separate from the surface of an Anderson door?
This is a good customer that I have worked with the past 3 years, just the window (no screens) job is worth about $850 before sales tax. Not to mention he has referred me to some of his family with about 3 more houses close to the same in revenue once or twice a each year.
The last cleaning was almost 4 months ago (10/7/2011) and was my first time using my water-fed set up there. He called me today (1/30/2012) politely inquiring about the separation of the laminate from a few of his doors. He made it clear he was not pointing any fingers just inquiring my thoughts. The door I took a picture of is under a small overhang on a deck but is exposed to sun and heat. Initially i suggested to reseal the joint. It looks like a strip of white silicone that runs along the glass and the edge of the door. His concern is that moisture has gotten behind there and the doors are prone to further damage.
These doors are about 10 years old so he called Anderson but the doors are just out of warranty. We all know here that the window manufactures never take responsibility for defects or poor quality and try to push it off on other causes. They asked him some questions about cleaning procedures and he asked me about my new water-fed techniques and if the system could have done this. I assured him this method was environmentally the safest so a chemical or detergent would not be the culprit in this case, the brush is the soft the standard dual trim that came with my Gardiner.
I told the customer I would post the pictures on the forum, get some feedback and contact him with any usefull information. My concern is not to make waves but to provide him with a solution or answer to his dilema. If anyone has sound advice I would greatly appreciate it. I would like to show him this post so he can see first hand responses and suggestions.
I think I can picture your situation. Is it like the finish of the door is peeling off the underlying material?
If so, I’ve seen that with a few Anderson door panels myself. I never checked the top of the door, but I wonder if there is a way water from above could have added to or accelerated this event which to me is likely due to the elements.
Well, now that your picture showed up, I guess I’m picturing something else! Sorry.
But I highly, highly doubt that pure water and nylon or hogs hair bristles in combination could normally make that happen.
Thanks Dan, I’m still getting used to the forum and uploading. I have never seen this either, kinda stumped. Just tough when things like this happen and there’s no explanation to give the customer…
I have seen this same problem with Anderson doors. They were in bad condition before I ever cleaned the windows. If pure water made this worse than so would regular rain. It’s too bad that such costly Anderson doors fall apart like this. This is in no way your responsabilty. It is just a defect in certain Anderson doors.
its actually vinyl or aluminum clad and this is very common on older doors. its just glued on from the factory and the weather can really do damage on it over the years. the separation might be occurring b/c the factory caulking is starting to wear and moisture is getting behind the clad.
best of luck with this one as when you try to peel it all off it snaps in little pieces. you might want to check with Andersen to see if they sell the clad pieces separately the you can re -glue them for him for additional $$$$
I agree it’s not your fault. My background is carpentry and I have installed alot of winows and doors. Andersen in my experience is one of the easy companies to deal with. Advise your customer to talk nice and maybe they will do something. Maybe. As for you, walk away from any repair unless you are certified somehow by Andersen.
Dale
