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Oh No! Not another thread about Dometic (Seitz) windows!


RussnSue

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Whenever these windows have been the subject of a topic on this forum I have not been backward in coming forward to criticise them. In short, I hate the bloomin' things. Recently, Sue and I have been travelling down the west coast (as some of you may have read in our blog.) The issues with these windows (not rolling up, or down, or jamming and not going either way, or still letting bugs in (some of these bugs, smaller than the head of a pin, have the ability to knock over a water buffalo), in spite of the modifications)were starting to send us both insane and once we reached Geraldton I decided to do something about them......

I chucked them on the local tip! But not before I used them to make templates for some real windows, with real flyscreens. As it happens, the old plastic frames were near as dammit 60mm x 19mm, the exact same size as I could get Tasmanian Oak skirting board in. Not only that, but the Oak also had a bull-nosed edge already routed onto them, ideal for what I wanted. The other edge was then rebated with a router so that a normal aluminium flyscreen frame would fit snugly in it. I mitred all of the window frames with the radial-arm saw that I left with my Son years ago, then glued the frames together using wooden biscuits on each corner. Finally I clamped the old plastic frames on top of the new wooden frames and used them as templates to drill the mounting screw holes.

Sue used outdoor furniture oil to seal the windows while I made the flyscreens. I purchased the frame material, corner joiners, insect mesh and spline so that I could make the screens myself. The glaziers at Geraldton were all too busy to make the screens for a couple of weeks. As it turns out, with an aluminium cutting blade fitted to my radial-arm saw I was able to knock out the screens in no time - and they look rather professional if I say so myself.

The screens were then secured to the top edge of each window frame using piano hinge to lessen any twisting that might occur when opening the screens. I found some little cabinet fittings at Bunnings to use as a handle on the bottom of the insect screens and some old-fashioned wing-clips to hold the screens shut. Fully assembled, the screens fit inside the window frames like a finger in a duck's bottom! Perfect! Finally, the assembled windows were screwed into place (amazingly, all of the holes lined up.) The screw heads were covered with putty, sanded back and treated with the furniture oil. While the putty is somewhat obvious now, it has been darkening as the oil seeps in and should "tan" to a pretty close match to the timber over time.

We had already fitted beige coloured blinds to the van, so we don't miss the block-out shades at all and the insect screens actually work! It is an easy job to lift the insect screen and open or shut the windows, with the exception of the kitchen window which only has a small amount of travel because the drinking water tap is in the way. Still, we can get the window latches open and closed and can then open or shut the window open from outside the van - a small price to pay. We didn't fit the wooden frames to the bathroom or toilet areas, mainly because of the dampness that can be experienced in those areas.

In the photographs attached you can see a window with the Holland blind pulled down, a window with the blind open and a close-up of the kitchen window that shows the little clips used to keep the screens shut, along with how close the drinking water tap is. We are absolutely ecstatic with the results and for an all-up price of under $400.00, it was a cheap fix for a problem that was driving us nuts.

Life without insects....what bliss.

Cheers

Russ

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Nice job Russ!!

Just recently spent a few days on one of my windows. The screen/blockout would jam when going up and down, spring tension was not the problem, rather it was the frame warped by screw tension on the top and bottom of the frame which caused it to be too close to the rolled up screen or blockout.

The design seems to me to be predisposed to this problem, but, by placing a few strategic pieces of 20x6 pine between the frames I seem to have overcome the problem, for now.

Didn't fix anything to do with insects though, you may have the only viable solution for that.

John.

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Extremely well done Russ, looks great.

Should make for some happier Kedroners if they follow your lead.

Cheers from the Kyd's

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  • 10 years later...

Hi Russ!

I came across this thread looking for some inspiration for an alternative to the Seitz roller blinds. 

I like your idea and will most likely build something similar. I was just wondering if you hinged your flyscreen frame at the top. Or do you have to pull the whole flyscreen out each time you want to open and close the window? 

 

Thanks,

Tim

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