Replacement windows and doors usually arrive on a supplier’s own lorry, but not always. Trade customers collecting a single job, self-builders buying direct and anyone whose delivery has slipped past the week the fitter is booked all end up going to fetch them. Arranging van hire in Warrington handles it comfortably, and collecting windows and doors is one of those loads where doing it the obvious way is exactly the wrong approach.
Sealed Units Travel On Edge, Not Flat
The instinct with anything flat is to lay it down, and with glazed units that instinct is wrong. A sealed double or triple glazed unit is strong across its edge and weak across its face, so a unit laid flat is supported only where it touches and flexes everywhere else, which is how glass arrives cracked or a seal arrives broken. Frames are the same, since a uPVC or aluminium frame laid flat will bow under its own weight over a journey and a bowed frame does not fit the opening it was measured for. Everything in this category travels standing on edge, leaning at a slight angle against a padded surface, resting on battens rather than directly on a metal floor. Suppliers know this and their own vehicles have proper glass frames for it, which is worth remembering before assuming a hired van will do the same job unaided.
Load Length Decides The Vehicle
Patio doors, bifolds and large picture windows are long, and the question is simply whether the load area takes them standing on edge along one side with room to strap them. An extra long wheelbase van gives a load length of four and a third metres, which takes most domestic door sets and large units in one piece with room to work alongside. Where the job is a set of standard casement windows rather than anything oversized, a long wheelbase high roof van is easier to park at a house and still gives the height for taller frames to stand upright rather than leaning far over.
Padding, Battens And Strapping
Build a bed before anything goes in. Lay battens or a length of timber along the floor so units stand on wood rather than steel, and pad the side wall they will lean against with blankets or offcuts of carpet. Put padding between every unit, not just at the ends, because glass against glass with a fleck of grit between them is a scratch at best. Strap the whole row back against the side wall so nothing can fall inwards, and use a batten under the strap so the ratchet pressure spreads along the frame rather than crushing one corner. Handles, hinges, trickle vents and glazing packs travel separately in a labelled box. Our advice on how to load a hire van safely covers the securing side in more depth.
Checking The Order In The Yard
Glazing is made to measure and a mistake is expensive, so check before you drive away. Confirm the sizes against the schedule rather than trusting the labels, check the handing on every opener since a door hung the wrong way is useless, and look at the glass specification where obscure, toughened or coated units are involved. Inspect edges and corners for chips, which is where transport damage shows first and where a supplier will replace without argument while you are standing in the yard. Count the packs of trims and fixings. Photograph the load before you set off so any later question about damage has an answer.
Getting Them Off The Van And Into The House
Unloading is where most breakages happen, usually because the fitters have not arrived yet and somebody decides to make a start. Large units want two people minimum and glazed door sets frequently want three. Stand units on battens rather than on a hard drive, lean them against a wall at a slight angle rather than upright, and put them somewhere they will not be knocked, which is not the hallway everyone is walking through. If they will wait more than a day, keep them out of direct sun and out of the rain, since heat builds inside a sealed unit standing against a south-facing wall. Trade customers working around Great Sankey van hire and Penketh van hire often collect the day the fitters start for exactly this reason.
Timing Around The Fitting Date
Collect close to the fitting date rather than as soon as the order is ready. Units stored badly for a fortnight are at more risk than units that spend an hour in a van, and a house with a window out is not a job that tolerates a delay. We are open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 4pm and closed on Sunday, and most glazing suppliers keep trade counter hours with an early Saturday finish, so plan an early collection. Short and long term hire are both available with no deposit required on most vehicles, and there is free secure parking on site at our Tilley Street depot beside Asda at Cockhedge.
Taking The Old Frames Away
Every replacement job produces a set of old windows and doors, and they have to go somewhere. Old uPVC frames are bulky, awkward and full of glass, and they cannot simply be broken up in a garden. Glass and frame material go down different recycling routes, some suppliers and installers operate a take-back scheme for old frames, and waste arising from installation work carried out as a business is trade waste with its own duty of care rather than something a household site will accept. Establish who is taking the old units before the new ones arrive rather than after. If they are travelling in the same vehicle, load them last and keep them away from anything new, because a broken sealed unit sheds glass into a load area and the fragments then find the next job.
Tell us the largest unit on the order and whether any of it is a door set, and we will make sure it travels on edge and arrives square. Call the depot on 01925 396 222 before you go to collect.
