Glass Replacement

A handsome lair near the Lake Grove portion of Lake Oswego. About a hop, skip and a jump from where I was born.

You’d think from the view that this was up in the mountains somewhere. I think that’s Mt. Sylvania there in the background.

What we’ve got here is a glass project with some logistical challenges. Although not unlike what we face on a regular basis.

This was primarily a “re-glaze” project. This is one example of the preventative maintenance practices that would save folks money if they followed suit. This client wanted to ensure that the…

…glazing on their wood-clad windows was in good condition. The photo above is actually at the opposite end of the house. We had two scaffold bays installed on this project.

Of the ten insulated glass units we installed here, only one was a replacement unit due to seal failure. For the uninitiated, the “glazing” is the means by which the glass panel is sealed to the window sash, or as in this case…the “jamb-assembly.” Above, you can see Bill, our technician applying Silicone caulking directly to the jamb.

When the glass is sealed to the jamb (frame), instead of to a sash…the type of glazing-process is called “direct-glazed.” Several of the advantages to “direct-glaze” is that you maximize the daylight opening while minimizing the number of components, and thus “seams” and “joints” in the window assembly on the exterior.

But this is only an option for “non-operable” window openings…or what most folks call “picture windows.” If you want an operable window…one that opens…then you need a sash. The sash is that portion of the window that wraps (like a sash) around the glass and moves with the glass when opened…like a casement, an awning or a double-hung window, among others.

Getting two or three or more technicians who know how to work together to handle and install large glass units up on ladders and scaffolds without damaging the glass or injuring themselves is a skill-set that deserves the admiration generally associated with it.
For reasons you can probably understand, one of the most important yet difficult to define skills that we look to develop in our trade is called “finesse.”

Here we see Bill & Jared applying pressure to the glass so that the bed of caulking is form fitted to the glass and the associated jamb. The blue tape you see on the jamb and the glass in these photos is to make cleaning off the excess caulking mucho easier after it has oozed out from between the two components. Those gloves aren’t a fashion statement…they’re Kevlar gloves for handling glass.