LESLIE: Mel in New Jersey is dealing with some solar issues. What can we do for you?
MEL: Hi. I have a 22-year-old deck house that has a delightful solar conservatory in the front of the house, sunroom.
TOM: OK.
MEL: And it has six approximately 4×8 dual pane windows, about eight feet up and 30 degrees off the vertical.
TOM: Are they curved or are they flat?
MEL: They are flat.
TOM: OK.
MEL: One of them has moisture in it.
TOM: Right, the panes have failed.
MEL: I can’t find anyone locally, or even non-locally, that can deal with this. I had one fellow out, based on an ad. There’s an outfit called Window Matrix that claims to be able to repair the dual pane windows.
TOM: No, you can’t repair them. You have to replace them. You need to find a source to have those glass panels remade.
MEL: Yep.
TOM: The reason they’re leaking is because there’s two panes of glass that are assembled under a vacuum and that material that surrounds them, sort of that gasket in between, is called swiggle.
LESLIE: Which is my favorite word.
TOM: Yeah, it’s a great home improvement word.
MEL: Swiggle?
TOM: Swiggle, right. And over the years, the swiggle will fail and then you’ll get a little moisture in there and that will form condensation. Now, the good news is …
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and create the fog that you can’t clean.
MEL: (overlapping voices) Right.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Yeah, it’s dirty but it’s not leaky in terms of water getting into your house and it does maybe affect the energy efficiency. But other than that, it’s a pretty cosmetic issue. But what you’re going to need to find is a glazer that can actually remanufacture these glass panels for you.
