Glazing Questions Answered

[Nick]

Hi All.

 

For those of you I haven't had the pleasure of speaking to yet, I'm planning a self build but during the day I'm chief technical at a fairly large manufacturer of windows/doors/glazing based in London/Herts. A few of you have PM'ed me with glazing questions so I thought it best to make a separate thread for sharing any info.

 

If anyone needs help with technical details, specification, getting trade prices, e.t.c. fire away. My way of giving back for all the great construction advice I've already received here.

[ProDave]

I'll ask one.

 

Our landing window, wants a stained glass pane.

 

So my question is do you know anyone who can make a tripple glazed unit, ordinary glass outside, stained panel in the middle, and toughened glass on the inside, with a reasonable U value?  Willing to take a stock design rather than bespoke.
 

[Nick]

Dave,

 

I'm sure one of our suppliers would be able to do it. They're all in the Midlands or further south though and couriers won't take glass (unless it's a tiny unit and you can wrap it up sufficiently to disguise it as something else). If above normal parcel size, do you have a way of getting it to you in the Highlands? If so, PM me details and I will try to sort you out a price.

 

When it comes to U-value, no-one will have specifically simulated a TG unit with a stained glass middle pane but for triple glazing generally, you can get the u-value as low as 0.2W/m2k by adding a heat mirror pane and Krypton fill. All depends on how much cavity you have and what you're willing to spend. To get to 0.2 you're generally looking at a 60mm unit!

[ProDave]

There's only one glazing company up here that can do it (and even then I have not looked into any detail with them)  but I am not necessarilly happy with their product (largely because we had two 2G panes replaced by them ant their performance is abysmal) I would have to be a lot more clear about our requirements if we used them again.

 

Other than that I can only find "artists" who want to make a bespoke unit at a bespoke price.
 

[Siochair]

How about having your "stained" window design printed onto a plastic film you can then stick to a normal window. It might be easier for you to source where you are and also gives the opportunity to easily change it if you want a different design at a later stage.

[ProDave]

That won't cut the mustard with SWMBO, it has to be a proper 3G unit with the stained glass bit in the middle.
 

[Nick]

29 minutes ago, ProDave said:

There's only one glazing company up here that can do it (and even then I have not looked into any detail with them)  but I am not necessarilly happy with their product (largely because we had two 2G panes replaced by them ant their performance is abysmal) I would have to be a lot more clear about our requirements if we used them again.

 

Other than that I can only find "artists" who want to make a bespoke unit at a bespoke price.
 

 

1 minute ago, ProDave said:

That won't cut the mustard with SWMBO, it has to be a proper 3G unit with the stained glass bit in the middle.
 

 

Won't be a problem to get it made. Getting it up to you cheaply is the only issue.

 

If you want, give me the sizes and I'll let you know when I'm back in the office.

 

 

[Jeremy Harris]

Just a thought, and not directly related to this thread, but probably more generally applicable, but how many of us travel around the country and could volunteer to relay items like this around?

 

Obviously it would be slow, and rely on goodwill, but I'd happily act as a relay to help move/store something that otherwise would be difficult to transport.  Sadly I don't see me driving up to the Highlands again for some time, but I wonder if we could see if there are people travelling around who would be happy to help someone out by moving something like this?

 

Years ago, on a flying forum, I started a thread (it's still there as a "sticky" called something like "Do you have a spare seat?").  The idea there was that anyone going flying with a spare seat, and who didn't mind taking a passenger, could post there, and it evolved into a place where people, like student pilots, or just those interested in flying, could ask if anyone was flying near them, and if so could they give them a ride.  It worked very well indeed, in fact I had no idea when I started the thread many years ago that it would work as well as it has.

 

Perhaps we could think of doing something similar here, to overcome problems with moving things like a glazing unit?

Edited February 5, 2017 by JSHarris

[joe90]

I travel from Bristol to Devon on a very regular basis so am wiling to volunteer for my bit of the country. I fancy a visit to the highlands but frankly I am way too busy to consider that for a while.

[Nick]

That's a v.good idea. In practice, it may only make sense for things which will fit in a car or small van but which couriers won't take. Very heavy or very delicate items spring to mind.

 

There are a lot of great collection-only deals on eBay which this could help with.

 

Will do what I can for the Herts area.

Edited February 5, 2017 by Nick

[Jeremy Harris]

Perhaps we should ask the mods/admins here to create a "sticky" post, where people can post requests and then try and sync up volunteers to carry things?  Before now I've done this with people here, or arranged some half-way meeting place to hand something over, but it's always been arranged offline.  A single thread just for volunteer transport would, in my view, help to kick this off.

 

It goes without saying that I'm happy to help around the West Wiltshire/Dorset area, plus I travel to South Devon from time to time, and up to Swindon, or across to Basingstoke, occasionally.

Edited February 5, 2017 by JSHarris