A great many flats here are now changing hands for the second or third time, and the glazing is something buyers almost never inspect. It is worth twenty minutes, because the faults are easy to spot once somebody says what to look for and some of them are expensive to put right afterwards.
The five minutes that tell you most
Open and close every window and the balcony door. A window that is stiff, drags or has to be lifted to lock has worn hardware, which is cheap. One with uneven gaps around the sash has a frame problem, which is not.
Then push each balcony glass panel gently: any movement at all is a fixing that has started to let go.
Finally look at the bottom track of the sliding doors for standing dirt, which tells you the drainage has not been cleared in years. None of it needs tools.
What is expensive and what is not
Worn rollers, hardened gaskets, a dropped door and blocked drainage are all inexpensive and they cover the great majority of what you will find.
What is genuinely expensive is a misted double glazed unit, which needs the glass replaced and matched to the elevation, and a balcony enclosure a previous owner added without drainage, which will have corroded from inside.
So those two are the ones worth looking for specifically, because they are the ones that change what the flat is worth doing.
Things a previous owner did
Retrofitted work is where the surprises are: a window replaced with a non-standard system nobody has parts for, a grille welded to a window frame so the window cannot be serviced, an enclosed balcony with no outlet.
None of those is visible in a photograph and all are obvious in person.
We are happy to look at a flat before a purchase and give you a written list of what is wrong and what it would cost. It is a short visit and it is considerably cheaper than finding out afterwards.
How the job works
- Tell us about the jobSend a few photos, rough sizes and what you need. Use WhatsApp or the form. For a repair, a short video of the door moving helps a lot.
- We call you back in about 2 minutesWe confirm what you need and a time to visit. Where we can, we give you a rough price on the call.
- We come and measureWe measure the opening and check the walls, floor and ceiling around it. Anything made to size is made to these measurements, so they must be right.
- You get a written priceIt lists each item, with GST as its own line. If anything about the job changes, we tell you before we go ahead.
- We fit itYou approve the price and pay the advance. Our own team fits the work, checks that every door and window opens and closes properly, and clears up. Most jobs are done in 3 to 4 days.
