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Bob Crager
Bob Crager of Lewis Street Glass is a 26 year veteran in the glass business. Lewis Street Glass is a leading Wichita Glass company, serving the entire Wichita/Sedgwick County area since 1919. They do anything and everything having to do with glass, both residential and commercial. They also do Auto glass. They are located at 743 South Market, facing Kellogg on the South, and you can reach them by phone at (316) 263-8259. You can email Bob Crager at bcrager@lewisstreetglass.com
Glass
2011-01-01 10:18:00
Building commercial buildings using a lot of glass?
Answer: We have seen a lot of unusually cold winter weather, with lots of snow, wind and freezing rain this year. And that’s been the case throughout most of the country! Even in the “deep south.” This global warming is just about to freeze me up! Seriously, if you take notice, those folks working in the “glass buildings” are staying pretty comfortable, as comfortable as those working in the ones with fewer windows and no views to the outside, in fact. That’s due to the fact that the significant building design elements of windows and glass walls used in this kind of construction are highly efficient today in preventing the loss of heat through the glass in the cold weather seasons, and preventing the gain of heat in the warm or hot seasons. The important challenge when selecting windows and glass systems for commercial building construction is balancing your structural requirements, cost/budget considerations and environmental requirements with your energy requirements. Enough money can overcome most problems, but sometimes that isn’t a good option. There are, though, some outstanding glass options that offer long term sustainable low maintenance features, while exceeding most all energy requirements and keeping your long term operational costs down. For example, there are some spectrally selective glazing technologies available that provide a great combination of high visible light transmission, UV blocking, and infrared reflection, by employing suspended film technology. There are too many options to discuss here, but with a good glass dealer, you can get just about whatever you want in your home or commercial building. Glass serves many uses in modern life. Insulated and specially treated glass can keep your warmed or cooled air in, while providing good condensation and sound control. Tempered and laminated glass makes doors and windows more secure. In those large commercial buildings, glass panels give office buildings a distinctive look, while reducing the need for artificial lighting and the high ongoing costs of that. The creative use of large windows, glass doors, skylights and sunroom additions can make homes bright, airy and inviting, and bring an unequaled look to a commercial building. In the business of glass construction and installation, our highly trained glaziers are responsible for selecting, cutting, installing, replacing and removing all types of glass. These specialists generally work on one of several types of projects. Residential glazing involves work such as replacing glass in home windows, installing glass mirrors, shower doors and bathtub enclosures. They also fit glass for tabletops and display cases. On commercial interior projects, glaziers install items such as heavy, often etched, decorative room dividers or security windows. Glazing projects also may involve replacement of storefront windows for establishments such as supermarkets, auto dealerships, or banks. We talked last month about people “parking” in the lobbies of business establishments after getting their foot on the accelerator rather than the brakes. It happens more often than you might believe. In the ensuing repairs of those incidents, and/or in the initial construction of small or large commercial buildings, glaziers, after reading and interpreting blueprints and specifications, build metal framework extrusions and install glass panels or curtain walls. For most jobs, the glass is precut and mounted in frames at a factory or a glass contractor’s shop. It arrives at the jobsite ready for glaziers to position and secure it in place. They may use a crane or hoist with suction cups to lift large, heavy pieces of glass. They then gently guide the glass into position by hand. Once glaziers have the glass in place, they secure it with mastic, putty, or other paste-like cement, or with bolts, rubber gaskets, glazing compound, metal clips, or metal or wood moldings. When they secure glass using a rubber gasket—a thick, molded rubber half-tube with a split running its length—they first secure the gasket around the perimeter within the opening, then set the glass into the split side of the gasket, causing it to clamp to the edges and hold the glass firmly in place. When they use metal clips and wood moldings, glaziers first secure the molding to the opening, place the glass in the molding, and then force spring like metal clips between the glass and the molding. The clips exert pressure and keep the glass firmly in place. When a glazing compound is used, glaziers first spread it neatly against and around the edges of the molding on the inside of the opening. Next, they install the glass. Pressing it against the compound on the inside molding, workers screw or nail outside molding that loosely holds the glass in place. To hold it firmly, they pack the space between the molding and the glass with glazing compound and then trim any excess material with a glazing knife. If you have a project coming up that will be more desirable if you include lots of glass, check out your options with a really good glass dealer who is large enough to handle your project details so that you end up with a fantastic result! Some information was researched on the worldwide web. More next month…
 
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