Installations involving jumbo glass are always challenging. Planning is one of the keys to a safe and successful installation and experience in making and executing that plan is essential to being able to move quickly when called upon by contractors and building owners that need help on very short notice.
On Tuesday July 16, 2013 E1 received a call from and contractor with a challenging installation that his residential window installer was not prepared to handle. A meeting ensued the same day between the contractor, owner and E1 at the site. The owner was in the middle of an extensive renovation to his up-scale home in midtown Toronto and was adamant that the 2 oversized IG units and window frames at the back of his house be installed so that the project could move forward.
The problem for the contractor was the residential window installer didn’t have the equipment or the experience to handle the two oversized windows. E1 was up to the task.
Within hours of the meeting the contractor and owner, E1 had created an estimate and an outline of the plan. The only way to get these large windows in place on the second and third stories of the home was to use a 35 ton crane from a narrow alley way beside the house. E1 work closely with the contractor and owner to obtain the necessary permissions to use the ally while simultaneously arranging to have the frames and glass delivered to E1’s workshop for assembly and glazing.
By late Wednesday E1 had the frames and glass and were preglazing the IG units into the frames and heel beading them using DOW 983 two part silicone. The two part silicone dispensed from a specialized pump meant the frame with the glass could be moved much quicker than usually because the two part silicone cures in just 24 hours. Regular sealants could take up to a week or more to cure before the glass and frame could be moved and the schedule just didn’t allow for that kind of time.
By Friday of that week the frames were on the truck ready for delivery and all permissions had been acquired. The logistics of the who, what, when and where were all in place and on Saturday morning at 9:00 E1’s crew was on site guiding the crane into position, preparing the openings and setting up the vacuum cups for the installation.
While the glass was big, it wasn’t huge by E1 standards. Our mid-sized 6 cup vacuum lifter with an 1100 lbs capacity had more than enough power to do the job and a skilled 4 man crew had the 2 windows in the openings in less than 3 hours as a very happy home owner look on.
The experience E1 has gained installing Jumbo Glass and Jumbo IG Units is unparalleled in the industry. E1 has installed over 200 IG units weighing 2500lbs or more in every imaginable situation which, in this case allowed us to move very quickly to meet the clients very tight schedule.
Categories: Custom Homes, Contracting, Jumbo Glass