Commercial buildings account for a substantial percentage of our work.
Yes, this is a residential-category, but I thought we’d keep all the solarium projects together, since we don’t get called upon to do that many commercial solariums.

We install and repair Solariums, Skylights, Windows, Doors, Storefronts, Failed Glass, Aluminum-Glass Doors and Hollow-Metal Steel Doors…

…not to mention adjusting, repairing or replacing all the brands and types of commercial Hardware known to modern man.

I believe the problem here was that the property management company was growing tired of sending folks out to slather on another layer of caulking every time a leak developed.

So they hired us to remove the glass, clean off 20 years or so of caulking from the glass and the frame components and then reglaze the glass back into the jambs.

Another Revamped Solarium.

The Ellsworth neighborhood in East Vancouver, somewhat near the Hwy. 14 to I-205 interchange.

A very small aluminum-framed solarium-type window assembly tucked into the roofline on the back of the house.

This window assembly was manufactured to hold 1″ overall insulated glass which, as for anyone in the industry would likely know, “dates” the window-structure as being NOT all that old, as compared to many residential aluminum window assemblies these days.

With all the heavy evergreen cover around this house, it’s actually (in our opinion) a smart little architectural accent of light for what would otherwise no doubt be a fairly dark bathroom.

The problem: Water damage showing up at the interior, as evidenced by the discolored drywall. Don’t forget that you can “ENLARGE” these photos a little by clicking on them.

The solution, step one: Remove the drywall to allow inspection of the structural wall components to ascertain the extent of the damage,…

…while also allowing us opportunity to potentially discern the water’s point of entry.

Structural water leaks tend to carry an air of mystique among certain folks, but the fundamental principles are as elemental as anything could possibly be in construction.

Decomposition of some exterior materials due to a lack of maintenance aside, the vast majority of the water-leak problems we encounter are related to improper flashing technique applied during initial installation of the window and/or construction of the structure.

The solution, step two: This leak was resolved by means of the creative application of some augmentational after-market flashing materials between the roofing and the assembly, while also overlapping the original window frame for a measure of insurance.

We were primarily here to install new Vinyl Windows, as evidenced by the scaffold towers..

…but as we often do, we were also called upon to replace a failed insulated glass unit into an existing skylight.

We really can be someone’s one-stop shopping center for anything related to doors or windows…including skylights, suntubes, solariums and sunrooms.

Glass replacement is the most common repair we make on skylights, but we are also called upon to repair improperly installed flashing, re-glazing existing glass,replacing crank-mechanisms or remote control hardware replacement and weatherstripping repairs as well.

Wikipedia says a Solarium may refer to a Sunroom, a sun parlor, sun porch or sun lounge. Saying that these things are usually a structure…

…constructed onto the side of a house which allows enjoyment of the surrounding landscape while being sheltered from adverse weather conditions.

It goes on to explain that they can also be referred to as a patio-room, a conservatory, a garden-room or a Florida-Room. As you can see, this one has some foggy (failed) insulated glass.

And if you enlarge this photo, you may be able to make out the crack in one of the other panes of glass.

As you can see if you look back at the first photo, there is an adjoining roofline just above this sunroom structure. Bruce is shown here (above) dismantling some of the metal flashing that ties in the with…

…Solarium structure below. This accounted for most of the work on this project.

Dismantling the adjoining flashing components in such a way as to allow us to reuse them.

Once those components were removed, replacing the insulated glass units was a breeze, by comparison.

David & Bruce shown here putting everything back together with the new insulated glass units in place.

Note the delicate art of balancing upon the support components without breaking the glass, as they go about cleaning off the excess glazing compounds.

Solarium: Similar to a Sunroom, a room built largely of glass to afford exposure to the sun.

Solariums have glass roofs unlike sunrooms. Solariums are designed for warmth,…

…whereas sunrooms are designed for scenic view.
— Wikipedia

And sometimes you achieve the benefits of both!
Not a bad view for a master bedroom, is it?

Failed, foggy glass, water-intrusion and unmanageable heat generation created the motivation for this upgrade.

Low-E Glass means low emissivity, as it relates to the radiant energy (ultraviolet rays) of our sun.

It simultaneously filters out varying degrees of the heat generating & material damaging characteristics of this radiant energy…

…while also helping to keep the warm or cool air created by furnaces and air conditioners to the interior of the building, where & when you want it.

We’ve yet to meet a Solarium or a Sunroom that we couldn’t repair and substantially improve upon.

At the risk of sounding like we’re tooting our own horn, you will likely find that employing our services is a decision that will reflect well upon your judgment for years to come.

A stately property with a sunroom in the S.W. hills overlooking Burnside and nearby properties.

A vinyl sunroom to be exact.

Herein lies the reason for our being called. You might click on the photo if you want to see it a little better.

Tubes, electrical wires & after-market screws were the source of many of the water leaks.

Apparently, someone at some time installed electrified operators to open these roof-hatches for ventilation. See the water draining out from screw-holes made to install the hardware?

Installing the fans on structural components into which water was meant to be channeled back out to the exterior was also probably not the best idea. Our client told us water was pouring out of the fan assembly.

One of the other problems we identified was a lack of proper flashing between the roof-structure shown here, and the upper-most portion of the sunroom structure.

So we had Schmeer Sheet-Metal fabricate some custom flashing to our specifications and tucked it up under the composition roofing and installed it all along this roofline between the sunroom and the house (flashing not shown).

We were surprised how well the roof-hatches were designed to catch and route water back out to the exterior.

As long as you don’t drill holes in them, they’d probably work fine.

It’s somewhat difficult to see it from the street, but the value of this Lake Oswego home is significantly derived…

…from the view on the back side. This photo does not do the view any justice, but the view does help explain…

…the existence of this modest solarium structure & a number of other window structures on the backside

…of this home. Built in the 1980s, this solarium is constructed of your basic aluminum window…

…components and is glazed by means of aluminum snap-bead. It’s amazing that it hasn’t leaked before.

Several insulated glass units had failed (fogged-up) and our client chose to have us up-grade all the insulated glass to the latest 366 Low-E glass to help manage the heat…

…generation and the material fading properties of ultraviolet rays. We did this job in late December in the midst of some cold rain and even more daunting,…

…brisk wind gusts, which as you may be able to imagine, presents more than a little challenge for our crew to wrestle such large insulated glass units up onto a roof…

…without injury to self or damage to the glass. Projects like this in weather like this, tend to remind us of the years and years of cumulative experience and expertise…

…that we’ve garnered. Our crew is quite practiced at dealing with just about any weather contingencies. Even if it involves opening up a roof in the rain.

Foster, Oregon. South East of Albany in the Cascade foothills. Oregon native that I am, and having traveled extensively and camped throughout the State, I still had never even heard of it before this project. To get a slightly better look at this house, you might try clicking on the photo to enlarge it.

Some fairly creative architecture in my humble opinion. The house is 20 years old and time to reglaze the glass in the Pella sunroom roofline.

These are but two of many points of entry where water was beginning to show up on the interior side of the structure.

We spent 9 days in Foster with a three man crew and learned a thing or two about Pella sunroom structures. That’s Foster lake in the background.

Our client wisely allowed us to convince her that the insulated glass should be replaced at this juncture. And so Sean Miller & Phil McNair are shown here in the process of removing the original glass.

After which Sean goes about cleaning off the surfaces upon which the new insulated glass shall sit.

The new insulated glass.

Step one of the new glazing system.

Step two. Pressure bars sitting atop step one after the Polyurethane caulking is applied beneath the step one components.

Of course there are many other steps and other work that our limited number of photos will not allow us opportunity to discuss extensively here, such as the work we were contracted to do to refurbish the Pella windows installed vertically, like these in one of the basement walls, as well as those directly beneath the Pella sunroom roofline windows. Or the Pella skylight glass we replaced.

No, this isn’t a residential project, but we wanted to include it anyway. The Veritable Quandary…what has no doubt become a Portland Icon and landmark.

In fact, V.Q. has been a mainstay of the Downtown Eatery and Refreshment scene for so long that some of the surrounding terrain has begun to show its age. You might gain a better view of the damage on the tree and the size of the limb that detached itself, if you enlarge the photo.

Resulting in the four broken panes of glass and the need for a new gutter.

The laminated wire glass pretty much held together despite the damage, as per design.

As is the idea behind safety glass.

Fortuitously, the event occurred after hours, and no one was hurt.

After removing the damaged glass, our technician Phil prepares the aluminum structure for glazing in the new glass…

…while Brandon carefully oversees the process from his lofty and floral-laden perch.

The replacement glass is carefully lifted up to Steve Hilt for installation. You might enlarge the photo to get a better view of the “wire-glass,” if you so desire.

The pre-lunch-hour, early morning mission is completed; the site cleaned-up and all evidence of our little covert endeavors are removed before the civilians begin to show up, as was the plan. Officially…we were never there.

Lake Oswego. Founded in 1847 and named by Albert Alonzo Durham after Oswego, New York, was incorporated in 1910.

It was the hub of Oregon’s brief iron industry in the late 19th century and is today an affluent suburb of Portland.

We do a lot of work in Lake Oswego, as with many other surrounding Portland & Vancouver communities.

Such as this solarium Reglaze & glass replacement.

We are experts at handling glass. We are what is known as glazers.
A Glazier is a construction professional who selects, cuts, installs, replaces, and removes residential, commercial, and artistic glass

Glaziers also install aluminum storefront frames and entrances, glass handrails and balustrades, shower enclosures, curtain wall framing and glass and mirror walls.

We also know a considerable amount about the differing types of glass.

Not to mention the differing window & door products in which glass is used.

Isn’t it fun to be good at something?

Another happy client.