Sliding Windows

  Sliding windows

Since I wanted to restore the boat and keep it as much as possible original the plan for the windows was  to keep the system the same and not installing a new type of window frames.
I have looked around received some samples but in my opinion the aluminium window frames will not look nice with the classic look of the boat, even though one can order them in black for example. 

Although the above statement is not totally correct as can be seen in an earlier blog the fixed windows were installed in the frames with a modern suitable window caulking instead of the original design.

For the sliding windows it was decided to stay with the original design which is a silicone sealing where the glass slides alongside and between the chrome guiding strips at the top and bottom of the glass.
After testing different types of clear silicone from the building market I chose one which is used in bathrooms and is UV resistant.

Till so far this works fine, and if it fails, relatively easy to replace.

Since the actual sliding windows always leaked during heavy rainfall  and water started to collect at different spots in the boat especially in the aft cabin at the aft side corners, where also a lot of damage was found when I bought the boat, I had to come up with an idea how to stop this water ingress.

Looking around for sliding windows and after a long call with a supplier of sliding windows it was decided to stay with the same system and make some modifications. During the call I learned, statement from a manufacturer, sliding windows almost always leak, the best thing to do is to make sure that the water does not enter the boat, but drains outside.

With this information I decided to find a solution and install a "gutter" around the sliding windows with a drain to the outside.

On the building market I found a hard plastic "gutter" which would be suitable for my windows.

  A U-shape hard plastic with a lip.

The lip was cut off to get a U shape "gutter" where the sliding window would be fitted into.

This  U shape was the same size as the width of the area where the sliding window was fitted onto. 

This would be all fine but the area where the window slides along side the silicone seal it would not be touched and this would create additional water ingress between the U shape gutter and the sliding window, therefore the area where the window touches the silicone seal the material was removed.  

Everything was removed the metal strip and the wooden support for the sliding window .

The plastic " gutter" was installed between the wooden support and the metal strip where the window slides over, this way fixing the plastic in place.

 The plastic was closed at both ends with a small piece of plastic glued in place while the plastic was glued with silicone at the vertical seals for the sliding window.

At the end of the "gutter" a hole was drilled to the outside to drain the water, aft ships side.

Into this hole an aluminium pipe was placed, the outside diameter of the aluminium pipe had the same seize as the hole I drilled resulting in that the pipe had to be inserted into the hole with some force, this way getting a tight fit, where the pipe stuck through the plastic it was slightly widened to get a good fit with the plastic as well as that at that point glue was used.

To make the windows slide a bit easier alongside the silicone and over the metal rails some silicone grease was added, I hope that over the coming years the silicone and grease become a smoother surface then at this moment resulting that the windows slide a bit easier then at this moment.

As can be sen from the next picture the "gutter" is hardly visible.

For the Vertical sealing of the sliding window I have tried different materials amongst some of the car industry windows, all of them did fail or had in a short time rust particles and algae growth. I ended up with soft rubber hollow material  which is normally used to keep a draft out of the house on door frames.

 This material was glued in the space of the vertical window frame with super glue the original glue strip was removed from the rubber. When the window is closed it pushes slightly the rubber in creating a good seal against water ingress.

As can be seen from the next picture a little bit of silicone was added to the window frame and glued against the vertical window seal creating a watertight construction. 

Till so far after the above installation I have had no water ingress into the boat anymore through the sliding windows in the ship.

Additional I have installed during the construction of the boat rain gutters above the sliding windows to reduce the water which will run from the roofs over the windows a simple L-shape piece of wood which is slightly longer than the sliding windows.

This piece was fitted against the ships hull above the windows and where it overlapped the windows it was glued with silicone caulking.

As can be seen from the next picture the water is now running over the fixed windows instead of the sliding window where it can enter the boat.