Hello to all,
I am desperately seeking advice on how to remove permanent interior and exterior grilles for my Anderson Windows. I'm looking for an alternative to purchasing new windows ($1000) and waiting 6 weeks for special order. I understand that they are difficult to remove. I was thinking of dental floss soaked in an adhesive solvent. Anderson has notified me that removing them is not recommended, but since I can't bring them back to Home Depot, I figured I'd give it a try. HELP! Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Lee Soo Lan

 

These grilles will come off, as I have seen the instructions on how to re-install replacement parts. What would you have to do if one section became damaged? Replace the whole sash? I don't think so. You might call Andersen and ask for the contact number of the Service Rep (not Sales Rep) in your area. Most I have worked with were very helpful. I will keep looking for the recommended method.

Just a question tho, these don't have the spacer between the glass as well do they? If they are still packaged up, could you give the label info? If they say SDL, you would normally have the spacer.

 

I'm not overly familiar with Andersen's product line, but I think Andersen uses a gummy adhesive that's stickier than chewing gum. It's highly difficult to remove.

At any rate, if you were going to "try" to remove some of the pieces, I'd recommend you only try one sash and see if you can do it without breaking the glass. The chances are pretty good that you'll break glass before you get all the pieces off that you need to, then you'll have broken windows for 6 weeks and you'll need to order new sashes anyway.

The tool you'll need is a deglazing tool. There are 2 main kinds that I know of:





Image credits: CRLaurence

The top one is the thinnest and would probably give you the least chance of breaking the glass. These aren't tools you will find in any store, you will have to go to a glass house and ask to order them... or perhaps you can contact CRL directly, but I doubt they will sell to anyone that is not in the business.

3M adhesive cleaner or similar may or may not help to deglaze the muntin grilles. It works best on tape and only makes a smeary mess out of the gummy glazing. If you succeed in getting them off, scraping the gummy stuff off the glass with a razor to remove the excess and cleaning with mineral spirits would probably work better than a fast disolving solvent.

 

I don't believe that the grilles are intended to be removed. If you are going to experiment, I would not use any tools since they will either break and surely will scratch the glass. Finding a solvent that will loosen the adhesive will be your only hope.

 

OK, been looking, but don't have the full access to the Andersen site that I used too. The grilles are held on with VHB tape (believe that stands for Very High Bond). That stuff stands up to anything. Its used in commercial construction, road signs, auto manufacturing, etc. It is sold by Andersen, as are replacement parts for grilles, so there has to be a method. It's out there somewhere, I just can't find it, been a few years since I dealt with this.

I know Andersen "doesn't recommend it", but as I said, I'd call their customer care and talk to one of their (hmmm Echelon II?) senior service reps.

The only other option might be to install the windows for now, order new sashes only, then donate the old sashes to Habitat or similar.

Hope you find a solution!

 

The methods for removing 3M VHB Tape are not suitable to remove it from a glass surface. This site explains the removal: http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediaw...666y0zCOrrrrQ-

 

The easiest way to remove the grills is to cut the VHB tape.

In order to cut the VHB tape you will need a length of very thin and very strong wire. Piano wire or welding wire will both work.

Wrap the wire (at each end) around a dowel or thin piece of wood until you have something resembling a garrot.

Slide the wire between the edge of the grill and the sash and then with a sawing motion pull the wire through the tape - remember sawing and pulling - this works best with the window sash on a horizontal surface.

When you have removed the grill you will still have residue from the tape on the glass surface. It can often be removed by simply running your thumb along tape and "rolling" it up.

If the residue is really stuck (which it may be if it was applied with an silane treatment - I don't remember if AW pre-treats before applying the tape) then try naptha to remove it...possibly acetone works also but it has been a while since I have used a chemical to remove tape residue and I don't remember which one worked best.

Generally, the "thumb-rub" works really well to remove the tape residue from the glass and I suspect that you won't need a chemical stripper.

And btw, all-in-all this isn't a particularly enjoyable job.

 

if your not going to reuse the grilles heat a putting knife up and slide it in between the grille and the glass at the top or bottom of the grille. After creating a space use the putting knife to cut through the tape. If all possible stay close to the grille and away from the glass to prevent scratches. the grille will lift up as you go along making it easier to cut through the tape as you go. This job sucks!!!!! after you remove the grille simply take a CLEAN, flat razor and clean off the rest of the butyl tape. Avoid solvents as the can damage the glass. By the way we do replace sash if a grille is damaged. These grilles are not field applied. Good luck and rest your hands and forearms.