Aluminum Windows Replacing Wood

Has anyone done this? 3 years ago I had one window remade inside and out, a couple repaired, and all 6 on the fwd cabin, shower room, and head (not under cover) repainted. 2 now look bad again in parts.
I had aluminum windows on a previous boat remade, in aluminum. (Here we call and spell it aluminium, it fascinated some Americans during a cycle trip in Ireland). Cost was very reasonable, from a factory in Queensland.
There is an IG for sale here which has windows replaced in aluminum, looks fine, all current Clipper and Integrity boats have them. It would cost, but would be a long term fix for a recurrent problem. Teak windows custom remade do not come cheap. I believe it will look fine, the wooden windows protected by the Europa design are far enough,and are ok.
Anyone done it? How did it go, what did it cost? Other thoughts?

I could be mistaken but believe a member named Anode did so on a Sundowner Tug as part of a full refit. His boat looks fantastic by anyone's standard. Hendo is currently having windows made for Axe as well. Perhaps one of those members will chime in with their experiences.

CPseudonym said:

I could be mistaken but believe a member named Anode did so on a Sundowner Tug as part of a full refit. His boat looks fantastic by anyone's standard. Hendo is currently having windows made for Axe as well. Perhaps one of those members will chime in with their experiences.

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Whatever happened to Anode?, haven't seen heard from him in quite a while. He certainly did some fine work on his boat, the only owner I heard of that had his & her Fein tool set.

I had an old Carver where I replaced the leaky, wood frame windows, with aluminum powder coated windows. The windows were tinted, and the boat looked great after the restoration.

The window rough opening framing had to be re worked, and that was done in Teak. The windows were secured to the new Teak frame using a clamp ring, so now exterior screws...very clean look. Carver had a design flaw where the window frames sat on the fiberglass frame, with the window frame being screwed in to a block screwed in to the inside of the boat. Water would get under the the window frame, and find it's way in to the boat. I glassed in a flange on the fiberglass to create a dam so water could not get into the boat. I held the new window frame off of the fiberglass by a 1/4", then caulked the joint.

This was done on a 30', so not a lot of windows. Having done this 15 years ago, I forgot the costs, but I'd recall $1500 worth of windows. The job took me two months working in my heated shop. Probably 150 man hours.

The bright Teak window frames looked great against the white hull and black aluminum windows, but were pain to keep maintained. If I were going to do that same job over again, I'd seriously consider glassing and painting the frames to make for a maintenance free install. On the flip side, we got a lot of compliments on the boat, because it looked as good or better than the original to the factory build, just without the leaks.

Conall

I replaced all 16 windows except the ones in the 2 sliding doors.

I went with a company that made windows for boats and RVs.

They clamp together, inner and outer frames with screws from the inside so no extras to caulk or leak.

The flat black frames are now part of a black trim color scheme and amazing how many people think because the windows are more modern looking the boat is newer.

The windows with shipping were a little over $3500 IIRC and we're a snap to put in if the window matched the old hole correctly. I could have put all 16 windows in in the time it took to get one old, wooden one out.

In the Californian built forum we have been talking about several of us having just done that.

PSNEELD, can you share who the manufacture is for the windows ?

Andy G said:

Whatever happened to Anode?, haven't seen heard from him in quite a while. He certainly did some fine work on his boat, the only owner I heard of that had his & her Fein tool set.

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He pops in from time to time but hasn't posted in a while. Psneeld was the other member I couldn't recall last night that went aluminum windows, glad he chimed in. Later today I'll dig around the old threads because there was someone else here who had a thread covering their change that seemed well documented.

Wynne Enterprises out of Tuscumbia, Alabama.

They are not high grade, seaworthy windows.... but after removing my old windows, I don't think my entire house is Hugh grade seaworthy so expensive windows seemed overkill.

I think they only offer radiused frames so we I took the old windows out, I had to fill in every corner. I considered this a stronger and more leak resistant option, so the custom corner filling seemed worth it.

I appreciate the replies, thanks guys.
I should mention, the wooden window I had remade required skill to deal with the width of the tapering fwd of the fwd cabin. I expect each window in wood or aluminum would be a "one off". With the previous boat, the shipwright made a cardboard template of the whole side window assembly,the resulting product was excellent in quality and fit, but it was replacing a "tired" aluminum one, not wood.

I used Aluminum 2000 on the old boat. They custom made a sliding window for the galley and a sliding door about 8' wide. Powder coated from a large selection of colors. We were very happy with the service and product.

Rob

I stumbled upon a listing for a GB36 that had the wood window frames replaced with aluminum windows Bruce. A lot of exterior shots for you to compare.

Northwest Yachts (Anacortes, WA)

Being new to boating, and having a Sundowner Tug, I was glad to find Anode here. He also has a blog and a Facebook page with tons of information (especially photo's) of their refit. You might find some information there;

M/V Scout

https://www.facebook.com/chip.estab...06927992.176048.509307992&type=1&l=a47ad998a8

CP the GB looks pretty nice I think. I do not think it detracts much from the Classic styling at all. But I am not a total purist. I sent an email to the broker asking what brand window they used. Will wait to hear what they say and post as soon as I get a reply.

kolive said:

CP the GB looks pretty nice I think. I do not think it detracts much from ths Classic styling at all. But I am not a total purist. I sent an email to the broker asking what brand window they used. Will wait yo hear what they say and post as soon as I get a reply.

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Good idea. The broker is actually a Commercial Member here. He is just not a very prolific poster. He may reply on thread with an answer if he finds this discussion. OkSkipper is his screen and he has been around for quite some time.

CPseudonym said:

I stumbled upon a listing for a GB36 that had the wood window frames replaced with aluminum windows Bruce. A lot of exterior shots for you to compare.
Northwest Yachts (Anacortes, WA)

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Thanks, they did a good match. Europa design protects all but the bow section windows, but it makes matching important. The hours in remaking odd shaped teak windows (which start degrading immediately they are fitted) probably exceeds the cost of durable new alloy ones. I will be exploring this.

Wow what a timely discussion. I am doing a refit and just getting to the windows. I have removed the frames on 6 of 16 windows and 4 portlights. Seems to take 3-4 hours on each window with the multi tool and the black stuff from hell. It sure seems tempting to get some quotes for replacement windows. I don't really want to ever do this again, nor maintain teak windows. Any idea on lead times?

psneeld thanks for the source and pricing, any one else care to share their manufacturer and pricing? Lead times?

My other issue is where to source and how to apply mahogany veneer. I have to replace the plywood and veneer under several windows. I know where to get the plywood but where can one find the book ended veneer? How do you glue it on? Ill post some pics later once I start a new post on windows on my blog. Thanks.

I believe Wynne at the time was 2 to 4 weeks plus the shipping. But the salesman says that varies be a use they do alternate between big orders and slower times.

Call as they seemed to act like a small business despite their volume, very nice and helpful.

I have been using Wynne for years on the last two boats. I have been replacing plastic ports with either fixed units or sliders depending on the situation. I have done 14 ports so far. I replaced one door glass and two vertical sliders in the galley. They now offer mitered corners as well as three inch radius. They can make any depth custom interior trim. If the wall thickness is too deep the the trim ring does not function as a clamp ring and exterior screws are required. The cost of the windows is very similar to the cost of the replacement glass for 1/4" laminated. They are great folks to deal with. Units almost always ship in four weeks. The crates they build to ship are works of art.

Anybody in the lower mainland of British Columbia ever deal with AJR Windows in Port Coquitlam?