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After installing plastic windows, the window opening does not look the best: foam sticks out, pieces of plaster stick out, wall material is visible in places. All this “beauty” is closed in various ways, the most practical, quick and inexpensive of which are plastic slopes. It is better to make them from sandwich panels (two layers of plastic, between which is foamed polypropylene). They are dense, durable, made of good material.
There are two main methods for installing plastic slopes: with and without a starting profile. Both are given with step by step instructions and photos. Decide for yourself how to fix slopes on plastic windows. Both methods give good results.
Photo report 1: installation of slopes from sandwich panels without starting profiles
This method is suitable when the window is installed so that the distance from the window frame to the opening wall is too small. In this case, installation with a start profile (see below) is either very difficult or – usually on the hinge side – not possible at all.
After installing the plastic window, such a picture was observed.
The device of slopes of plastic windows begins with the preparation of the opening: we cut off the remaining foam with a clerical knife. It is cut off easily, just don’t overdo it, cut it flush, and don’t cut it out – the foam both holds and insulates the frame. Pieces of plaster that interfere and protrude are also removed. If they hold well and do not protrude beyond the plane of the future slope, you can leave them – less foam will slip.
Then, along the perimeter of the window, we nail (put on dowels if the wall is concrete) a thin rail – 10 * 40 mm – with the wide side to the slope.
Usually it is not leveled, it is nailed as is, but if you want, you can set it straight by placing pieces of plywood, thin planks, etc. in the right places.
Next, along the perimeter of the frame, we cut the foam so that the sandwich panel stands there. It should go in about 1 cm. We cut off the foam carefully so that there are no residues on the frame, but without damaging the plastic.
Now you need to properly cut the plastic panels. Can be done as standard: using measurements, you can make a stencil. With a stencil, it seems to be easier. Take a sheet of paper, larger than your window (I had old wallpaper). Apply to the slope, squeeze, bending the excess. Cut along the curved lines, try on, adjust as necessary.
It is more convenient to start with the upper part of the opening. Having made a paper stencil, we outline it on plastic. Considering that about 1 cm will go into the groove of the foam, we add this centimeter along the edge that will be inserted there. We cut it out with a small margin – it’s easier to cut off than to cover up later.
We cut with a hacksaw with a metal blade, try on, adjust so that the plastic stands up evenly, without bending. Align so that the panel is flush with the plaster. The edge turns out to be almost even, where necessary, we work with a file.
Having removed the tried and fitted strip, along the outer edge, which will be nailed to the bar, we drill holes along the thickness of the studs, stepping back about 0,5 cm from the edge. So it will be easier to fasten and do not damage the plastic.
We put it back in place, take a balloon with polyurethane foam and fill the gap with foam with short “puffs”. We try to get as deep as possible, but we don’t pour a lot: if it swells up, it can warp the plastic.
There are several points when working with mounting foam. If the plastic is smooth, the foam does not adhere very well to it. To improve it, or treat the surface that faces the wall with sandpaper, or / and prime it with something to improve adhesion. The second nuance: for the normal polymerization of the foam, moisture is needed. Therefore, before installing the plastic, the slope is sprayed with water from a spray bottle. Naturally, there should be no dust on the wall – it is swept away with a brush or removed with a vacuum cleaner. If the plaster or mortar is loose, the opening is pre-treated with a penetrating primer, which will bind the concrete particles together.
After we lift the panel, pressing down the foam, we insert the studs into the holes and fasten the outer edge to the bar. The inner one rests against the window frame.
Using the same technology – we cut out a paper template, try it on, transfer it to plastic – cut out a plastic sidewall. Here you need to be especially precise so that the gap between the slope panel and the window sill (upper slope) is minimal. To do this, the edge will have to be processed with sandpaper. To make the edge even it was easier, it is more convenient to process it with sandpaper attached to a flat bar, a file or a whetstone (half of a circle, as in the photo).
We adjust to the ideal (as far as possible) match at the top and bottom, put it in place, driving one edge into the groove near the window. When the result is satisfactory, we level the outer vertical edge on the same level with the wall plaster. You can do this with a clerical knife on the spot, or you can put a line on the panel (with a pencil, a thin marker, scratch it with something sharp) and then refine it with what is convenient.
Having removed, along the outer edge we also drill holes for cloves. We install the panel in place, take the foam, and fill the gap from bottom to top. Too much foam, and here it’s not good, since the plastic can bend. Therefore, we fill in short portions, trying to fill as deeply as possible.
On the vertical parts of the slopes, you can do it differently: on the panel ready for installation, along the far edge, which starts under the frame, apply foam before installation. The strip is made solid or applied with a small snake. Only you need to do this not from the very edge, but stepping back a little. Then the plastic part is inserted into the cut out groove, set as needed, the rest of the gap is filled with foam (do not forget to moisten the wall before installation). Having filled, press, level, fix with carnations into the bar.
So that during the polymerization process the foam does not move the edges of the slope, the joint is glued with masking tape at the top and bottom. No matter how hard you try to fit the plastic evenly, gaps, albeit small, remain. They can be covered with acrylic. It is sold in tubes such as mounting foam, placed in the same mounting gun.
Squeeze the strip into the slot, rub it, smooth it out, remove the excess with a damp soft cloth or sponge. You need to do this operation in small areas and wipe it gently – clean. As long as the acrylic has not hardened, it cleans up well. Then, with great difficulty. It is more convenient to start filling cracks from above – immediately – a horizontal slope panel, then joints, then move down, first along one side, then along the other. The last to cover up the joints with the window sill.
After drying – 12-24 hours, depending on the sealant (written on the tube), acrylic can be drawn into the seam – this is if the gaps are large. All these places go through the second time according to the same method. After the second layer dries, if there are roughness and irregularities, they can be leveled with fine-grained sandpaper, folding it in half. In general, it is better to carefully align while damp, otherwise you can scratch the plastic.
Everything, plastic slopes are installed. After the final polymerization of the foam, the bevels must be puttied, leveled with the surface of the walls. After that, you can remove the protective blue film. As a result, the window will look something like this.
When installing these plastic slopes, sandwich panels were used. These are two layers of plastic, between which there is a layer of foamed foam. Using the same technology, you can make window frames from inexpensive plastic window sills or white PVC wall panels. The most unreliable material is panels: even wall panels are quite easily pressed through, besides, if the front layer of plastic is thin (cheap), then jumpers are visible in the light. There is no such thing in sandwich panels and plastic window sills. And it takes a lot of effort to push through, and even there are no jumpers to the clearance.
Installation of plastic windows is described here.
Photo report 2: we mount plastic slopes with a starting profile
The installation of plastic slopes and according to this technology begins with the preparation of a window opening. We cut exactly the foam, remove everything that does not hold well, clean off the dust, if necessary, we pass along the opening with a primer that improves adhesion.
Along the perimeter of the opening, but already near the frame, a wooden bar is attached. Choose the thickness depending on the distance: it should almost go on the frame. One side of the bar must be worked out with a planer, making a slope. The slope angle of this face is equal to the slope setting angle. It is possible to saw off, but it is even more difficult to do it, except that there is a circular saw with an adjustable angle.
We fasten the processed bar to the walls along the perimeter of the opening. The mounting method depends on the material of the wall. If the wall is brick, you can try on self-tapping screws, you need to put dowels in concrete.
You buy a starting profile in the store, install it with the long side to the bar, fasten it. It is more convenient and faster to fix it to the bar with staples from a construction stapler, if there is none, you can use small cloves or self-tapping screws with flat heads.
When choosing a starting profile, take a tight one. It is more expensive, but you only care about three meters per window, maybe a little more. A dense profile will hold plastic well, a soft one will bend and look ugly. Another point – when mounting the profile, press it as tightly as possible to the frame so that there are either no gaps at all, or they are minimal.
At the top, when joining the vertical and horizontal profiles, you need to be especially careful and cut them off exactly at an angle of 45 °. If there are small gaps, they can be repaired with acrylic.
According to this technology, it is more convenient to start the installation of reservoir slopes from the sidewalls. Insert the panel into the fixed start profile. They are also better to take from expensive and dense, with a thick layer of plastic. If you put cheap ones (ceiling ones), then the front wall is thin, and jumpers will be visible in bright light. In addition, such plastic can be pushed through even with a finger.
The width of the plastic panel should be greater than the slope. If one is not wide enough, two are joined. But then, at the junction, an additional vertical bar will be needed, to which the first strip will be fixed.
The panel inserted into the profile is usually longer than the opening. Holding it with your hand, mark the opening line. After removing, cut off along the marked line.
We install the panel again, move it a little away from the wall and fill it with mounting foam, trying to fill it without gaps, but without excess. To make it happen, we start from the far lower corner – we draw from the bottom up near the nailed bar. While we reached the top, the bottom of the foam expanded a little. Again we draw a line with foam, but closer to the edge. The closer to the outer edge, the less foam is required – after all, the panel is installed under a slope, so make the tracks thinner. Having reached the middle, make a snake on the rest of the surface and press the panel the way it should be. Align and check. Attach to the wall with masking tape. Also install the second part and then the top. It can also be cut out according to a paper template, and the edges can be adjusted to a perfect (or almost) match with sandpaper.
Having installed all parts of the slope and secured with masking tape, leave until complete polymerization. Then, in order not to putty the gaps between the slope and the wall, a white plastic corner is glued to the liquid nails. The main task is to cut exactly at the corners. It is easy to glue: apply a thin strip of glue on both shelves of the corner, press it, passing your hand along it, hold for a couple of minutes. So they are installed around the entire perimeter, then, until the glue dries, they are also glued with masking tape and left.
After a day, we remove the adhesive tape, the plastic slopes are ready.
If there are gaps somewhere, they are sealed with acrylic, as described above. Don’t use silicone. In the light, it quickly turns yellow. In a year or two, your windows will look terrible. Look for white acrylic sealant and mask it.
How to adjust plastic windows read here.
Video
See this video for the option of installing slopes with a starting profile screwed to the window frame.
Video option for installing slopes made of plastic without a starting profile.
And another way in this video. Here, pay attention to the finish of the panel joints. They were made using a special profile. Could be so.