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uninstalling pella sunrooms

raybrac | Posted in Construction Techniques on April 11, 2006 03:36am

evening gentlemen. bought a couple of pella sunrooms on ebay. started to take them apart, tried to take them apart, quit taking them apart. could not get any info from pella , run around, ” we have no tech reps at the headquaters, all inquires are handled at the regional level.” tried that guy really didn’t know anything. I can not figure out how this is put together? a lot of brake work and caulk, certainly. it seems monolithic. pulled the casment sashes, frames seem to be in sections, spent the day w/ a sawzall. I want to reuse this so I dont want to destroy it so any heads up would help. the roof panels are long and heavy and I sure want to be able to take those down without a lot of fooling around. anyone got an installation manual for these? anybody ever install these? anybody ever uninstall these? I’m getting way to old to think my way through jobs, by know it should all be rote, or at least repetition. thanks guys ray

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  1. User avater
    dieselpig | Apr 11, 2006 05:41am | #1

    I don't know, but damn that sounds frustrating.  Nothing aggravates me more than when I can't figure out how something went together.  Good luck with your search, hopefully someone can help you. 

    View Image
  2. DanT | Apr 11, 2006 01:08pm | #2

    I worked on one last year.  The doors faced south and the sun ate the seals out them, then water and snow took over.  Ate the doors and the south facing panels up. Pella came out and looked at it for this couple and said "sorry, we don't service those anymore".  So good luck there.

    I had to take the entire wall out and once I removed the inner wood trim it was just bolted together.  I cut the bolts with a sawzall and it was screwed into the concrete also.  And you are right, man do they use caulk on those things.  Sorry to not have a magical solution. 

    I ordered a Pella patio door and two narrow doors without frame to use as panels and build a new wall.  Then trimmed it out and match the stain.  It looked good when I was done.  The only thing I couldn't duplicate was the color of the Aluminum that I had to break and use so that had to be painted to match.  DanT

     

    1. raybrac | Apr 12, 2006 03:07pm | #3

      Hey Dan thanks for the reply. pella it the pits period. I have removed all interior trim. no bolts. Its in large wall sections, like three or four window, thats a unit. attachment to next unit is some funky aluminum extrusion??? man I have sawzalled everything I can next is a grinder..the roof is another heartbreak, I should make some sort of scaffold to work on it, going to try and span the windows w/ staging , YUM peace ray

  3. woodroe | Apr 13, 2006 02:26am | #4

    I put one together about 20 years ago and as I recall there are extruded aluminum mullion strips and corner pieces that are placed (pounded) into the window frames. The corners were bigger pieces that wrapped around. I think there was a piece that had a drip edge that went at the joint between the roof windows and the wall windows. It was in a similar type of groove. I would be surprised if you could remove them without damaging them beyond usability. Are there some aluminum support "beams" between window sections? I think these were capped with the same type of system, an aluminum cap piece that went over the supports and went into the groove in the windows. It's the same groove that Pella windows (and others) still have today.

    If you could post or e-mail me a picture or two it might refresh my memory.

    1. raybrac | Apr 13, 2006 02:53am | #5

      thank you, I'm going out tomorrow email you pictures i think your recollection is right on. this thing is going to be toast when I take it our. any recollection on how the roof was attached. I've already hit on that mullion between windows, can't see how that function. I think everythin is held together from the top. thanks and I'll be back

      1. User avater
        dieselpig | Apr 25, 2006 04:41am | #6

        How's it going with that thing?View Image

        1. raybrac | Apr 25, 2006 01:10pm | #7

          its a complete disaster. this was not made to be uninstalled. much much caulk and beaten metal trim. and no help from pella. I got what I coud get, advice people to not go there. got a lot of sashes for casment windows some roof sections etc, spent too much time thanks for asking best ray

          1. User avater
            dieselpig | Apr 25, 2006 01:14pm | #8

            Sorry to hear it didn't work out so good Ray.  Hope you didn't spend too much on them.View Image

          2. raybrac | Apr 26, 2006 03:02pm | #9

            Yeah I did. but I finally got one sunroom down, mostly. I got to find out what pella used for caulk and flashing tape. after 20 yrs it still stood up, probably illegal now. had to leave another perfectly good sunroom, my guys threatened to quit. oh well half a loaf I guess take care

          3. JulianTracy | Apr 26, 2006 11:24pm | #10

            If you've never used one - the Fein Multimaster has a scraper blade that'll tackle some of that caulk pretty good.Simple tool - but saves a lot of elbow grease.JT

          4. raybrac | Apr 26, 2006 11:38pm | #11

            sounds good but the problem was that it had U shaped double channels w/ a beaten seam w/ caulk as an adhesive. try that with the fien? this was a one way unit... it goes up it dont come down... I even tried blow torch it was too slow .. only traction I got was on a really sunny day, made a little difference in the tackiness of the caulk.. god I luv being a contractor, in my next life I'm coming back as a dentist, anything. thanks

          5. rez | Apr 29, 2006 04:55am | #12

            Vulkem has a track record for longevity like that.

            http://www.rpm-belgium.be/coatings/vulkem.html

            Cheers

             

            half of good living is staying out of bad situations

          6. User avater
            IMERC | Apr 29, 2006 05:18am | #13

            VulkemLife is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->

            WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->

            Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!

          7. raybrac | May 01, 2006 05:31pm | #14

            well thats done got down all but two frames on one unit left the other for J.C.... its hard to get burned when you buy it for $100, however the labor was probably what it was worth. again I HATE PELLA!! thanks for the info at least kept up my spirits. this will be a total reconstruction job when I get around to it, stay save ray

  4. RustyDodge | Dec 07, 2017 05:05am | #15

    How to disassemble the ceiling window panels

    I was beginning to think like you did, that they were monolithic (good choice of words). After prying off the U-shaped thick aluminum channel that connects each window to the other I tried lifting one window out but they were still very firmly connected. I didn't care about reusing them so I got my Milwaukee sawz-all with a metal cutting blade and all that happened was the teeth on the blade wore flat. I don't know what kind of metal those windows are constructed of but it's untouchable.

    That's when I searched and found this forum and your post which left me feeling defeated because my windows were on a second story, 18 feet above ground, and I'm working alone, from a ladder. Then by accident I lifted on one end of the assembly and it began to fold up like an accordian and next thing I knew the first window separated from the remaining ones after folding to about a 90 degree angle. So the panels must interlock at the sides in a hinged fashion. I didn't study it too closely because it was getting dark and I needed to close in the huge opening in my roof.

    If you're still interested, which I doubt since this post is from 2006, I can send photos of the interlocking attachment cross section.

    1. calvin | Dec 07, 2017 06:56am | #16

      Rusty

      Post your pictures here, it might help those who stumble on this thread.

      thanks

    2. patj99 | Mar 09, 2018 04:39pm | #17

      pella sunroom

      I would be interested in photos of the interlocking system

      Thanks

      Pat

  5. AnneLesley | Dec 18, 2019 04:27am | #18

    I've just found this forum. Lucky! I'll be uninstalling my own Pella sunroom next spring/summer. It's basically rotting. My builder has no experience with them so I'd also appreciate seeing the photos of the interlocking system. Please post them again, if they are still available. Thanks.

    Anne

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