Looking for tool recommendations — suction cup window lifters
jonny_h
| Posted in General Questions on
My new triple-pane windows are going to be arriving later this month, so I’m trying to get ready for install! One thing I don’t have, that looks like it might be helpful, is the suction cup window lifter things. But, I really don’t want to buy some random thing have it drop any of my windows…. so, does anyone have specific ones they’d recommend (or recommend to avoid?)
Aside: It’d be cool to have a “recommended tools” post, but I suppose that also tends to be highly personal and would definitely be spam-bait :-/
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Replies
The kind with the lever-operated suction (you squeeze a lever to "suck" in the suction cup) are lots more reliable than the kind you just stick with pressure and the handle only causes them to release. Make sure you get the kind that has the sucking power of the lever.
Note that there is another application for these things: suction cup lifters are commonly used to move access (raised floor) tiles around in datacenter facilities. These tiles are typically 2 feet square and weigh around 50+ pounds (they are usually steel or steel over a concrete core). Some of the lifters sold into this market are pretty good quality, so you might try looking into those too.
Bill
You can look at CR Lawrence o Richelieu glazing supplies. Both sell hand tools for handling glass.
If your windows are tilt and turns, lot of times it is easier to remove the operable section and the glass from the fix sections to install the window frames. If you do take the fixed glass out, make sure to not the spacer size and location so they can go back to the same spot.
Follow-up on this for posterity:
I bought a pair of 8-inch "Wood's Powr-Grip N4000", the less-expensive plastic-handled version available for ~50 on Amazon. Although my new windows haven't showed up yet, they've been great so far removing old windows -- would recommend these if anyone else is looking in the future!