I have just recently been educated via this forum about fab. debris.
I am bidding on a large new construction job with high-end Pella windows.
Stamped on the tempered panes (that i have inspected thus far) is Pella. So i assume they do their own tempering.
My question is…What kind of reputation does Pella have for fabricating debris?
I now know about getting a waiver and informing my clients of FD.
Thanks!
I have found Pella windows with fabricating debris on them. They were the high end wooden framework on the inside with the aluminum outside.
Basically, on any construction cleanup job you’re going to razor, you should have a waiver. I’m not sure I would trust any glass.
By the way, I had a waiver signed on the job where I found fabricating debris. The Pella Rep came and looked at it. I don’t know if it was ever replaced or not, but having the signed waiver is a must for me.
I live in Pella’s home state and I too have seen FD on their windows. Several years ago I toured their plant and they did their own tempering at that time. I can’t say if they still do. I will reiterate what Micah said get a waiver no matter what stamp is on them. Guardian does a great job on their tempered windows but I wouldn’t count on them not slipping occasionally.
Yeah be very cautious, I recently did a home few months ago. The home was worth somewhere in the 5 million mark, custom Pella windows that open up so there’s 4 complete panes per window. The cost of the windows were roughly 250,000 CAD. but we found even before we started there were some minor scratches, but some panes had heavy debris were as some of them had nothing. Just be cautious, don’t want to be footing the bill for a replacement on jobs like that even with a scratch waiver.
Hope that helps
CrownWindowCleaners,
Are you referring to the Pella with the inner blind? 2 glass but 4 faces? If so did you notice an inner oil like coating? I have a customer with this type and they had been construction cleaned by someone else prior so I had been washing the inners with no debris to worry about, no scraping or scrubbing, but on one window there was an oily spot about the size of a dime, I rubbed it with microfiber and it created a darker spot about the size of a quarter, so I stopped and told the guys not to touch the inners with anything but the wetter and squeegee. Does anyone know what this could be?
Love the new logo Tony
Thanks Doug!
I’ve cleaned thousands of Pella’s. I can’t recall a oily residue. But I havent touch a Pella in two years. Maybe something has changed.
Older pella’s (70’s - 80’s) were superior windows. Something happened in the the 90’ to present. There quality went down hill from a window cleaners perspective. Have a waiver.
Do you guys worry about having a waiver signed only with new construction or all homes/businesses new and old? Anybody know when FD started?
I get all new customers to sign a waiver. In fact I don’t have a customer now that hasn’t signed a waiver.
As for when FD started that’s a little tough to pinpoint. The fact is that the manufacturers used to face the roller side (FD laden side) in on the IG units so we never dealt w/ it. Once low-e came into the picture in the early 80s and it started to react to FD then they faced the roller side out and we’ve been fighting this garbage ever since.
Really? Wow. Has it just become more common? Feels newer than that
I work on Pella’s all the time but I rarely can scrape them. They always have fabricating debris (except anything made before the '90’s). Its not on all sides usually, but its not worth chancing. Good Luck.
Pella stamps all glass even non-tempered with thier Pella icon (so do most higher end manufactures like Anderson, Marvin, Peach Tree and Windsor). Make sure your looking at the correct icon, there should be one that is the tempering icon and one that is the Pella icon. Very IMPORTANT: a customer can request for no tempered icons and they will recieve a certificate instead so ask your builder or home owner before you start! As for the windows that come apart you need to watch out for the Low E coating and now in some cases they have a dual Low E coating on the number 3 and 4 sides of glass and a blade will ruin it. We found 0000 steel wool and de-natured alcohal works the best and did not scratch the coatings. My wife and I spent a day with Dan Fields 10 years ago so I learned a lot since then.
