Warranty and product care

 

Well Hung Joinery warranty

Well Hung Joinery window, door, kitchen and cabinetry products carry a five year warranty and hardware products carry a 10 year warranty from the date of delivery and are warranted to be of good material, workmanship and free from defects, which render them unserviceable or unfit for the use for which they were intended. 

Well Hung Joinery is not liable for any defects or faults that are the result of reasons out of our control. Exterior timber joinery is not guaranteed to be totally weather proof. 

Warranty claims will be honored at the discretion of the manufacturer as to whether the joinery is repaired, replaced or a monetary refund is given. Well Hung Joinery is not liable to reimburse any costs for products repaired or replaced without prior written consent from the manufacturer. 

No consequential losses will be considered. This warranty does not apply to defects caused by negligence, misuse, accidents or alterations by the purchaser. It is limited to the original purchaser and is not transferable.

 
 


Colour matching and timber grain variation

All timber has natural variations in both the colour and grain. This is considered normal and is not a defect for which we will warranty against. While we make every effort to try to get as close a colour match as possible, there will always be variations in the colour and grain pattern for which we consider as being acceptable. If you would like to see your timber before the job is built, please contact us and we can arrange to show you the timber we have selected for your job.


Prevention of water leakage through joinery

It is a recognised trade practice that exterior timber joinery is not 100% wind and rain proof. In locations where extreme weather conditions are found, additional installation precautions may be taken to improve the product’s performance, which are not considered normal trade practice. 

If you feel you may be installing your joinery in a situation that’s exposed to harsh elements, we recommend you seek further professional advice. We can add additional seals to our joinery to assist with exposed situations, but there may still be other items required to prevent water leaking around the joinery.

Joinery installed where there are no eaves can create situations where rain can be driven into the top of the opening door or sash, causing leaking into the home. It is always recommended that there is some form of eave or overhang above a door or window to prevent this. Without suitable cover over a door or window opening, we cannot guarantee that water won’t be driven around the door or sash.

Exterior joinery is constructed for sheltered exterior use and should not be exposed to driving rain, direct sunlight or humidity. Minor warping or twisting up to 6mm can occur and is expected as norm. Shrinkage and or expansion does occur from seasonal changes in temperature and moisture.

 

Installation, painting and maintenance information

The following information may help with the painting, installation and maintenance of our joinery. The information forms part of our warranty requirements and must be met in order for our warranty to apply.              

 
 


Painting

Joinery should be painted in clean, dry conditions prior to installation and exposure to weather. This ensures 100% coverage and sealing of all surfaces (sides, tops and bottoms). Exterior cedar joinery should be painted or sealed with an oil based product that’s resilient to UV and follows the coating manufacturer's instructions and advice. 

A four coat paint system is recommended, including one primer coat, one undercoat and two topcoats, and must be applied to all 6 surfaces. (Failure to paint all 6 surfaces will void any warranty claims). All of our timber joinery is supplied primed before it is delivered to you. We use Resene’s Alkyd Oil Based Primer for our cedar doors and sashes. Our pine frames are also supplied pre-primed with a light primer coat. We suggest a further primer coat over the pine frames prior to any topcoats. Additional light sanding is recommended prior to sealing and painting any subsequent coats. 

Once the joinery leaves the joinery shop, it is up to the builder or home owner to ensure that it is painted immediately, and with the correct paint. The primer coats that are factory applied are not waterproof. It is therefore vital that the topcoats be applied as soon as practical. 

Without the topcoats, water can soak into the door or sash, and can sit there unable to evaporate out of the timber. This can cause the door or sash to swell as well as prevent any subsequent coats from adhering to the timber.

Dark colour paint should be avoided on any joinery that gets direct sun or heat. A darker surface will get hotter than a lighter surface. This extra heat can cause the timber to expand and contract, creating splits and causing serious damage to the joinery.

If you have ordered timber joinery with a raw, unsealed surface anywhere, it is vital that you apply a sealer coat before it is installed to prevent any water soaking into the timber and causing permanent staining, or at least immediately following our installation. It is up to the owner to ask Well Hung Joinery to apply a primer coat to any stain quality joinery prior to installation, as we would need to know what product to use. Failure to seal the raw Cedar will result in your joinery soaking up water, and having water staining occur.

This information is a guide only and we strongly suggest you talk to your paint supplier to give you advice on the best paint system to use for your location and colour design. We hold no responsibility for any painting that was not applied by us.


Painting putty glazing

If your joinery has been glazed with glazing putty it will require careful consideration before painting. The typical dry time period before painting the putty is 2-6 weeks. The putty should have skinned over and attained a firm set before painting. 

Curing times will change when the product is used under different temperature and humidity conditions. Painting before the putty has sufficiently cured may result in a slow level of oxidation, leading to a delay in the curing of the mass of putty and causing lengthwise cracking and peeling. 

When painting the glazing putty, the paint must overlap and seal the glass by at least 2mm. This is very important to prevent the egress of moisture, even from condensation.


Painting maintenance

A complete waterproof skin must be maintained at all times on all edges. Routine maintenance for joinery includes re-coating when wear or breakdown becomes apparent. 

Re-coats should be applied at an early stage of breakdown to ensure the integrity of the seal is maintained. Failure to do this will cause rapid deterioration.


Installation of joinery frames into an opening in a house

Before installing any joinery into an opening created for that purpose, ensure that no structural loading or sag will now or in the future be supported by the joinery. The joinery is not designed as load bearing and must be fixed permanently true to line, level and plum both vertically and horizontally.

The utility or structural strength must not be impaired by trimming or fitting any products, such as hardware. At best, no more than 5mm may be trimmed. Trimming should be undertaken with caution. Exterior doors should have at least three hinges and this practice is recommended for all doors.


Installation of loose fixed leaves into window or door frames

We often deliver fixed leaves (sashes or sidelites) that are loose from the frame in order to make the joinery item lighter for the builder to carry and install.

It is vital that these loose panels be sealed into the frame with careful consideration. Well Hung Joinery strongly recommends that a decent bead of silicone seal is applied into the back of the frame rebate, then the sash or door leaf is pushed tight into the rebate. We then recommend a gap sealer be applied to the outside perimeter of all fixed panels to ensure that no water will leak around the leaf and into the house.

 

Product care and general questions

Here are the answers to some common questions we receive about our joinery. If you don’t see what you need here, contact us – we’ll be happy to help.

 
 

  • Unless you are installing the new joinery unit within the same width as something existing (ie there is a lintel above the unit that is not changing), then you will require a building consent from your local council. Any new openings formed for a new window or set of doors will require the same consent.

  • We can use any timber as long as it is suitable for the situation. Typically we use premium grade cedar for our doors and sashes and finger jointed pine that is treated for exterior use for all our frames.

  • As cedar is a great timber for exterior use it can be left unfinished, however over time it will discolour and weather. We recommend you finish your cedar with some form of coating to protect it from the elements and to enhance its natural look. There are various products available on the market that can be used on cedar to keep it protected from the weather, but still leave it looking natural. Talk with your paint supplier to discuss these products in more detail. Please note too, that any raw timber left unsealed will soak up water, which will result in the timber being permanently stained. We recommend you seal any raw timber immediately to prevent this from happening.

  • While it is not mandatory to double glaze a door or window, an overall insulation value for the room/house must be attained, and this is usually done by double glazing your timber joinery.

  • This is typical with all French doors we supply. We leave these flush bolt plates for your builder/installer to fit. If we fit them, then when your installer installs the doors, the bolts may no longer line up with the holes, as the doors may be slightly misaligned during the installation process. You will achieve a far superior result if these plates are fitted after the doors are securely installed on site.

  • This is not actually rust, but a surface discolouration (also called tea staining) of the hinge or door hardware caused by contaminants in the environment.

    Like all surfaces, stainless steel requires regular cleaning to remove dirt and grime to keep them in pristine condition. The level of cleaning and maintenance depends primarily on the environment.

    In some exterior instances, normal rain washing is sufficient, but in more polluted or corrosive environments, eg coastal situations, the surfaces require regular washing to retain their good looks.

    Discolouration or tea staining most commonly occurs within five kilometres of the coast and becomes progressively worse closer to the water. Removal of the tea staining can be achieved using a mild abrasive cleaning product, or by using specialist stainless steel cleaning products.