Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK
Service please...
So, you have a problem with a glazed unit. It either leaks, or if plastic has a crazed pane, or both. Or you just want to source new. You need a solution and want to know the options. You don't just want a shop, you want a holding hand. You’ve come to the right place.
We deal in four basic types of unit;
Whichever, you are now on a journey which we hope will allow you to identify what you have and the options for either replacement, refurbishment or straight purchase. This can still lead to a dead end, but we’ll do everything we can to find a solution where possible.
This will be an education, probably more so than you envisaged or wanted, but at least you’ll become the ‘expert at the club bar’ to help others…. This is our core business. We have over 30 years collective experience, as well as direct support from key manufacturers, particularly Lewmar for whom we handle requests involving custom or heritage units. We've also refurbished the windows for the UK lifeboats since 1989 too. In short, we have form.
So before diving into hatch/window specifics, let’s step back to share some key learnings:
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Manufacturers support catalogue units, builders, if at all, hold spares for custom units
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Spares for obsolete units are quickly exhausted (or binned)
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When a manufacturer goes bust, so does its tooling, frame section designs and spares stock
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Frame sections are proprietary, rarely available and/or expensive to remanufacture
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Bespoke manufacture is very costly in small batches and often has a painfully slow turnaround
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Manufacturers are in business to sell current units in large volumes to builders
Ours is a full service option
We don't just refurbish or supply; we provide guidance before you commit, clear terms, assistance with temporary covers (see Lids4Lend options), shipping assistance to/from us and then ongoing guidance and help to aid successful re-installation. We offer a 12 month warranty too. We are sailors that own boats, so we speak your language, share your tales and understand your challenges. But love you as we may, we don't want to see you again, just hear of your clear and dry exploits...
Value & Price are not the same thing
We are proud to offer a premium service. We know there are cheaper alternatives which may appear to offer the same, but we know our business. We're leveraging 30+ years experience and know-how, plus the best tools in a clean, dedicated workshop environment. Preparation is everything. In particular cleaning of the frames and preparing the surfaces to ensure excellent adhesion, a key, but time consuming process representing a significant part of the cost. Materials are relatively inexpensive, expert labour is not, which is why we may appear more expensive than some who may consider themselves competitors. Our goal is to ensure your windows/hatches have a long and drip free life, not a quick fix which soon fails, so when you send in a unit we don't expect to see it again, certainly not from the same customer.
