c/glaziers

Question about using the wrong glass for high wind zones

I keep seeing guys in coastal towns like Gulfport put in standard 1/4 inch annealed glass for big picture windows. In a Category 2 storm zone, that's just asking for it to blow in. You need at least a 3/16 inch laminated or a properly rated insulated unit. How many times do we have to see the same broken glass photos after a storm before this changes?

Just realized I've cut over 5000 pieces of glass in the last two years

It hit me when I was cleaning my Fletcher cutter and saw the groove was almost worn smooth. Anyone else keep a rough count of their cuts?

Rant: An architect told me my mullion joints were 'visually heavy' on a storefront job

I was installing a big commercial storefront in Columbus last year, using my usual 1/2 inch structural silicone. The architect came by and said the joints looked 'visually heavy' and broke up the glass line. He pushed for a 1/4 inch bead, arguing it was cleaner. I pushed back, worried about long term strength. We compromised on a 3/8 inch joint with a specific black silicone. It actually looks way better and passed the engineer's review. Has anyone else had a client's aesthetic note make you adjust a technical detail you thought was set in stone?

That 8-foot tempered glass panel in the stairwell took me a whole afternoon to get right

The client wanted it flush with no visible clips, so we had to custom grind the edges on site. My usual diamond wheel kept chipping the corners, and I went through three before switching to a slower speed. What should have been a two-hour install turned into six, mostly because I was too stubborn to call for a pre-polished piece. Anyone have a better method for field edge work on tempered?

The number of guys I see using a standard razor blade to clean up silicone on a shower door instead of a proper silicone shaper is honestly baffling.

I watched a new guy at the shop yesterday spend 20 minutes trying to get a clean bead on a frameless unit, and the result looked like a kindergartner's art project, which matters because a bad seal means callbacks and water damage down the road.

Wasted a full day trying to save $200 on a custom shower door install

Had a job in Phoenix last month where the client wanted a frameless shower door on a wall that was out of plumb by almost an inch. I tried to fudge it with shims and a thicker hinge, thinking I could avoid the cost of a wall repair. Ended up spending 8 hours on site, the door never sat right, and I had to eat the labor and redo the whole wall anyway. Lost the whole day's pay, about $800, and looked bad to the client. Should have just called a drywall guy from the start. Anyone have a good rule for when to just say no to a tricky install?

Showerthought: I tried using a heat gun to soften old putty on a 1920s window and it worked too well

The glass itself got hot enough to crack along a lead line, which I've never seen before. Learned that on really old, thin glass, you gotta keep the heat moving fast and never focus it. Anyone have a better method for removing century-old glazing compound without risking the pane?

Used to think those little suction cup handles were just for show

Had a nightmare week installing a custom shower door in a high-rise condo downtown, kept dropping the panels trying to get them through the narrow hallway. My partner, Mike, finally grabbed his set of those cheap-looking suction handles and showed me how to get a solid grip on the glass. We got the whole thing in place without a single scratch after that. Anyone else have a simple tool they wrote off that actually saved a job?

TIL about the 'glass floor' at the Willis Tower in Chicago

I was reading an article about how they keep those clear ledges clean and safe. They use a special non slip coating that gets reapplied every 18 months, and the cleaning crew has to use specific, non abrasive cleaners. It made me think about how we handle big commercial jobs with special coatings. What's the most unusual glass maintenance job you've ever been on?

Just saw a stat that the average glass panel in a modern skyscraper is replaced every 15 years, not 30 like I always assumed.

I read it in a trade journal article about stress cycles on high-rise curtain walls, and it makes me wonder how many of you guys are seeing that replacement timeline in your own commercial work.

TIL I've been cutting my own glass wrong for years

I was helping my buddy on a big storefront job in Tacoma and he saw me score a piece. He just said, 'Dude, you're pushing that cutter like you're mad at it.' I realized I was using way too much pressure, which is why my cuts were always so chippy. I tried his lighter touch and the glass just snapped clean. How did I go this long without someone telling me?

That one time a custom beveled edge took three days instead of three hours

Had a job last month for a fancy bathroom mirror with a 45-degree bevel. The client supplied the glass, some imported 10mm stuff. My first cut went fine, but when I started the bevel, the edge kept chipping every single time, like it had a hidden flaw. I tried slowing the feed, changing the grit, even a different machine. Nothing worked. I finally called the supplier and found out this batch had a weird temper, basically making it impossible to hand-bevel cleanly. Ended up having to send it out to a shop with a CNC waterjet, which added two full days to the timeline. Anyone else run into glass that just WILL NOT cooperate with a specific process?

Overheard a guy at the hardware store in Tacoma say his glass cutter was 'just a fancy pencil'

He was buying a cheap cutter for a DIY job and said it didn't matter what you used. I had to bite my tongue, because my Fletcher 3000 is NOT just a fancy pencil. That thing has cut over 500 linear feet of 3/8" plate for me without a single bad score. What's the most ridiculous thing you've heard a customer or DIYer say about our tools?

Back in the day I swore by that cheap, generic glass cleaner from the big box store.

I went through three whole cases of the stuff before realizing it was leaving a haze on every tempered shower door, costing me over $300 in callbacks and re-dos before I switched brands.

Showerthought: The worst tempered glass job I ever had was in a 1920s apartment building downtown.

We had to replace a huge transom window last month, and the old frame was so out of square. The glass guy before me just forced a standard pane in there years ago, and it finally gave out. What's your go-to method for measuring in those old, warped openings?

Had a job in a 1920s building that made me rethink old glass

Got called to replace a broken pane in a downtown office from 1923. The original glass was wavy and had a slight green tint, which I always thought was just poor quality. When I took it out, the client said, 'That's not a flaw, it's character.' I had to source a new piece of cylinder glass from a specialty supplier in Chicago for $450 to match it. Anyone know a better source for that kind of historic glass?

My wife said my shop looks like a 'museum of broken glass' and it made me think about scrap.

Honestly, she came in yesterday and pointed at my scrap pile, saying I was keeping every offcut 'just in case' but it was mostly just taking up space. Tbh, I've always saved anything bigger than a 6-inch square, but now I'm wondering if that's smart or just hoarding. Do you guys have a hard rule for what scrap you keep versus toss?

PSA: Check your bevel gauge before you start cutting that expensive glass

I was installing a custom shower door in a new build, a big 3/4 inch thick piece of tempered glass. Spent an hour getting the frame up, everything looked square. The second I went to set the glass, the top corner was a solid 1/8 inch off. My helper just said, 'Boss, your level looks crooked.' Turns out the vial in my 48 inch aluminum level had shifted. I'd been trusting that thing for probably three years. How many other jobs did I fight with because of that? What's your go-to method for checking your tools are actually true?

Just had a 4x8 sheet of 3/8 laminated glass slide out of my clamps on a windy rooftop in Chicago last week.

The wind caught it right as I was positioning it, and I had to let it drop onto the deck to avoid getting cut, which cracked the whole panel and cost me $600 out of pocket because I was rushing the setup. What's your go-to method for securing large sheets in sketchy conditions?

Why does nobody talk about the humidity in a Florida bathroom during a shower door install?

I was doing a frameless door install in a Tampa condo last month, and the client insisted we work while their bathroom was still steamy from a shower. The sealant just would not cure properly on the glass, it kept beading up and sliding. I ended up having to tape a small space heater in the doorway for an hour to dry the air before it would take. Has anyone else had to get creative with curing conditions on a job?

Update: That trick with the suction cups on a tricky curved glass job

I had a job last month in a fancy downtown office building where they wanted a big, curved piece of laminated glass installed in a reception area. The radius was tight, maybe 18 inches, and the piece was heavy. My usual method with two guys and a lot of grunting just wasn't going to cut it without risking a chip or worse. I remembered an old-timer I worked with in Tampa years ago talking about using multiple small suction cups instead of the big lifters for control on curves. We had a set of those little 3-inch cups in the truck. I placed six of them in a line along the curve's edge, spaced about a foot apart. It let me and my partner walk the glass into place with way more control over the bend, like handling a big, stiff piece of tape. It went in smooth on the first try with zero drama. Has anyone else used a bunch of small cups for control on a bent lite, or do you have a different method for those jobs?

Why does nobody talk about the right way to handle tempered glass scraps?

I keep seeing guys just tossing the small pieces into a regular trash can, which is a huge safety risk. A guy in our shop last year needed stitches after a piece shot out when the bag was moved. What's your shop's specific rule for disposal?

Had a job last week where we had to replace a 12-foot curved glass panel in a downtown hotel lobby... the crane rental alone was $3,500.

I was reading an old trade journal and found out glass used to be way thicker for storefronts.

I was looking through some old Glazier's Journal magazines from the 1970s at a used bookstore. One article was talking about the standard for commercial storefront glass back then. It said they often used 1/2 inch thick plate glass as a minimum for big windows. That really surprised me because now we're mostly putting in 1/4 inch tempered or maybe 3/8 inch for bigger lites. The article said the shift started in the 80s with better tempering and laminating, which let them use thinner glass safely. It makes sense when you think about it, but I never realized the change was that big. I guess the old stuff was a beast to handle. Has anyone here actually had to remove and replace some of that original thick plate from an old building?

Walked past the old bank building downtown and the replacement glass just looks wrong.