Installing new uPVC window hinges?

[stinkwheel]

Had a thermal survey done on my house recently.

Upshot is, my windows are fine but they are draughty. They need new seals and new hinges and those block things fitting halfway along to pull them down onto the seals properly.

Happily, the parts for them are cheap as chips.

What I need to do now is fit them. Which seems at once easy but tricky.

I'll be taking the window out so I can put it on the floor to change the seals (tried with it in-situ but it's nothing short of a total ball-ache).

Actually fitting the new hinges is straightforwards, self drilling stainless screws for the win.

But how to hold them there while I fit them? Is there a special trick to it? From where I'm sitting, it looks like I'm going to have to hold a heavy double glazed unit in the open position while I install the top hinge? Especially on the upstairs, that's going to need a scaffold and I'm pretty sure they don't use a scaffold when they fit new ones.

Would it be easier to pop the glass out, replace the hinges and seals then refit the glass from the inside? Some other trick to it?
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Bikeless]

Take the glass out, still be awkward but easier. I used to fit windows but the units were pre built, we just fitted frames with openers then installed glass and handles.

[Pete.]

Do one by whatever means then make a drilling template for the rest.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[Jewlio Iglesias]

Pol Anorl would have known about these, had you not banned him.
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[stinkwheel]

[stinkwheel]

Had a go so I thought I'd report back. It's much easier after removing the glass. You can hold the frame in place with one hand and put a self-drilling screw in with the other. One screw is enough to support it while you get the rest in.

Cracked a double glazing unit by levering on the wrong part but I know what I'm doing now so I've ordered the correct tool and shouldn't break another barring accidents, the unit was blown and steaming up anyway (why I practiced on that one).

Removing the glass from a uPVC window is almost shockingly easy.

For some reason, half the windows in my house have the beads on the outside. Ironic how the insurance make a huge song and dance about the type of locks when you could break in, without actually breaking anything, using a paint scraper.

Luckily, most of the upstairs ones are beaded on the inside so I'll be able to lift the glass out from inside the room, undo the hinges, fit the new ones then pop the glass back in without my feet leaving the floor inside.

Two of them will need the glass putting back from the outside but I have a cunning plan involving a pair of suction cups, a bit of wood and some rope.

Essentially remove the window from the inside by attaching the suction cups to the glass and tying them to the curtain pole to support it as I remove the hinges. Lift the whole thing inside, remove the glass from the frame and replace the hinges and seals. Re-fit the frame (minus glass). Lift the glass into position using the suction cups then secure it in place using a lath across the inside of the window frame attached to the cups with rope. Finally pop up a ladder and refit the beading from the outside (quick and easy).
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.