Glass Up Your Home (Part II)

Glass Railing

The next item we want to feature on the American Glass & Mirror blog is the glass railing system. This product is useful both in the home, giving your staircase a contemporary edge, or outside on the deck, opening up your view to the backyard. In your home’s interior, glass railings allow the charm of surrounding materials to shine through and create light, clean lines that subtly break up a space. Outside the home, glass railings are the perfect way to enjoy a vista unimpeded by wood or metal railings – if you live lakeside, or on a hilltop, it’s a must! We installed a system in our family home about five years ago and have been thrilled with the results. Now, in the mornings I watch the birds frequenting the feeders with ease, and can enjoy the backyard football matches without rising from my deck chair.

Styles

With an impressive variety of styles and designs to choose from, glass railing systems can be used to fit into any design scheme; it’s just a matter of finding the one that will work for you. If your tastes tend toward minimalist, there is an assortment of austere systems that lack top and bottom rails and are secured only by utilitarian hardware at the base of the glass panels – well-suited for a chic loft or modernist dwelling. If you want something warmer and more resistant to abuse (kids love to climb…), go with wood or metal on the rails and framing posts.

Glass

You also have options in terms of glass – thickness and style. We went with ¼” glass at our home because it was the cheapest, and we chose a system with a metal top rail, where the top and bottom of the glass were not exposed. If you want something more regal, or if the top and bottom edges aren’t secured in a channel, you might want to go with 3/8” or ½” (remember: the thicker the glass you use, the more cost the project will incur.) In addition, you can choose from a multitude of glass designs. There are endless varieties of pattern, tinted, and cast glass that can be used in your system, not to mention the option for customize sandblasting. That said, clear glass is by far the most popular, because of its pellucid properties and the reasonable price.

Glass Up Your Home

Glass Counter Top

We've been seeing a lot of non-traditional uses of glass in new homes, of late. Gone are the days when glass was relegated solely to the realm of windows and picture frames. People are incorporating it into their interior design in inventive ways and achieving bold and captivating results. The popularity of this material has grown in recent years because of state-of-the-art scratch-resistant coatings and a slew of new products on the market. Of course, the timeless appeal of glass is the ease of maintaining it (just need a mild cleaner and a rag) and its luminous surface that reflects and amplifies the character of surrounding materials. This month our blog will feature a series of stylish glass items that can give your home a contemporary edge. First up, the backsplash.

Clear Glass

Backsplash

Glass is a great solution for keeping your kitchen or bathroom walls grime-free. You have a couple of options to consider with a “glass splash” – you can either let the glass merely protect what exists behind it or you can make it the star of the show. Say you have chic wallpaper or the perfect paint color behind your oven range and you don’t want it getting steamed, spattered with grease, and the like – clear glass is the ideal barrier between the destructive by-products of cooking and your kitchen’s aesthetic. It allows you to have the design elements you want to bring you décor to life, yet keeps your cooking area functional.

Cast Glass

The other direction you can take is imbuing the glass with character and making it an integral part of the kitchen’s look. Back-painted glass is simply clear glass painted on the reverse side with a color you select. It offers a space the same qualities of a painted wall, while adding a lustrous sheen and, of course, the protection you require. Another option is using a pattern or cast glass, which can give your wall surface a subtle or arresting effect, depending on your personal tastes and the style of glass you choose. Because these types of glass offer a variety of patterns and textures, you can match them to a paint color, wall paper, or back-paint to create a staggering range of effects.

Back-painted Glass

Glass tile can also serve admirably as a backsplash – it looks really sharp and can create a nice accent on your kitchen walls. There are, however, a couple of drawbacks to using glass tile, the first being price. Glass tiles exceed the cost of ceramic, porcelain, and even natural stone, so you can image how quickly the bill on a sizable job adds up. Another disadvantage of glass tile is that it needs to be grouted in. Without special attention from the person cleaning it, that grout line can become discolored with time, or a breeding ground for bacteria. Glass panels, on the other hand, don’t have seams that harbor gross elements, like mildew, or cooking grease.

Go Down This List, and Watch the Price on Your Frameless Shower Fall

We get a lot of people contacting us, here, at American Glass & Mirror, undertaking a bathroom remodel, who want the modish design of a frameless shower, but don’t want to invest an exorbitant amount of money in it. I offer these customers a few simple pieces of advice that can keep prices from ballooning.

First, go with clear glass. It’s drastically less expensive than pattern glass, but that’s just half the story. I can’t tell you how many customers have come to the sobering realization that they want to show off the brilliant tile they’ve lined the shower enclosure with, only AFTER they shelled out for obscure glass (and even after we warned them!) Pattern glass can create an amazing effect, but think long and hard about the end result it will produce in your bathroom.

Second, make sure walls, seats, and curbs are plumb. Costs can grow considerably when doors and panels need to account for imprecise framing. Square panels are simpler to manufacture, so the cost of labor is cheaper and you’ll see that on your end.

Third, keep fabrication to a minimum. Here again, the less labor intensive the job, the more you’re going to save. We can help you design your frameless shower to reduce the number of claps, hinges, etc. that require special notches to be cut in the glass and drive up cost.

Lastly, use 3/8” over ½” glass when possible. Customers are often curious whether there are benefits to one thickness over the other. Mostly, it is a matter of personal taste. Some people like the look of a thicker panel; others value a lighter door that requires less effort to swing open. One case, however, where ½” should be used over 3/8” glass, is when an enclosure contains large panels (45” to 60” wide), because thicker glass has reduced flexibility and is less susceptible to roller distortion (a wave-like aberration occasionally found in very large panels.) Special circumstances aside, if you want to save money on your frameless glass enclosure, 3/8” is the obvious choice at roughly 20 percent less the price of ½” glass per square foot.

You don’t need to pawn the toilet in order to afford your ideal shower enclosure. Keep these valuable tips in mind and you’ll have a unit that was reasonably priced but looks like a million bucks.

When your shower needs a bath...

Back in June, we turned you onto the clarity preserving power of Clear Shield for your frameless showers. That’s well and good for those of you in the market for a new unit, but others might have been left wondering what can be done with the mucky shower currently uglying up your bathroom.

In this posting, we’d like to introduce a winning solution for recapturing the original brilliance of your glass shower door. Bio-Clean Water Soluble Stain Remover, available for retail at American Glass & Mirror, is a mild abrasive gel capable of removing even the most extreme water and mineral stains. Simply apply the product to a cloth, sponge, or brush and rub it firmly into the surface using a massaging motion. Rinse the surface clean and repeat the process if necessary.

Bio-Clean is useful beyond shower glass restoration. It can be applied to any glass surface, such as windshields, windows, and table tops, in addition to various other materials, including tile, stainless steel, chrome, and hard vinyl. Contact us today to learn more about the rejuvenating properties of Bio-Clean and how your shower door can be restored to its former luster.

Divining Mirrors

Robert Morris - Four Mirror Cubes

Have you noticed mottled black spots forming around the edges of your mirror? Don’t be too quick to chalk that deterioration up to aging or cheap material; you yourself might unknowingly be the perpetrator of this diminishing effect.

For those who don’t know what gives a mirror its magic, allow American Glass & Mirror to shed some light on the subject. Mirror is constructed by depositing aluminum or silver nitrate on normal plate glass creating the material’s reflective luster. The thin metal layer forms the backing of the mirror and is generally topped with two protective coats of paint.

Aluminum, and to a lesser-degree silver, is susceptible to tarnishing when exposed to various elements, like sulfur, which is a common pollutant in the air. This means it is critical that the paint layer remains intact in order to form a buffer between the metal and corrupting elements.

Be careful what kind of cleaner you use on your mirror! Many household cleaners contain ammonia, an astringent compound, which precipitates the breakdown of the mirror backing. Instead, opt for an alcohol-based cleaner. You can even mix up your own at home by combining denatured alcohol and water (50:50) in a spray bottle. Simple, cheap, and effective.

Don’t be so quick to point fingers when you notice your mirror going bad. First, think about your choice of glass cleaner. Does it contain ammonia? A long look in the mirror might hold the answer to your tarnished image.

DIY Meets AGM

Tune in Monday night to DIY Network’s bathroom revamp program, “Bath Crashers.” For those of you not familiar with the show,  basically the host, Matt Muenster, provides some randomly selected folks shopping for remodeling supplies, the opportunity to have their bathroom done up by his team of professionals. This episode features an Eden Prairie couple getting their claustrophobic basement bath 180'd into a sleek, gym/spa inspired sanctuary, complete with sauna, juice bar, and various other amenities. The American Glass team provided the double-doored, steam shower for this reinvented space. Heavy glass and multi-paneled, this shower will emit an aura of calm after a vigorous workout, especially when filled with an enveloping, sensuous mist. Dial-in DIY Monday night and see what’s possible for your tired bathroom design.

The American Glass & Mirror episode of “Bath Crashers” airs Monday October 1, 2012 at 9:30 PM.

Windshield Repair - Chips on the Table

Composite Chip (Star + Bull's-Eye)

It’s hard being a windshield in Minnesota.  Extremes in weather force the rigid glass to contract and expand like water, while the hail and ice that follow these swings in temperature pummel your vehicle without mercy.  Then, of course, there are the vehicles on the road which seem bent on destroying your defenseless auto glass.  You know the ones:  summertime gravel trucks bouncing along, sharing their load with the cars in their wake, or winter’s snowplow, keeping our roads safe, but pitting your windshield in a whoosh of rock laden slush.

Few Minnesota drivers escape more than a year or two without finding a chip or a crack in their vehicle’s glass.  Although a small chip can appear benign enough, if it goes unrepaired, an afternoon baking in the sun or a morning frost can cause that little star to spider out into a major problem for you – a potential $118 fine in this state, not to mention the safety hazard it poses.

Star Chip

Half Moon or Half Bull's-Eye

American Glass & Mirror can help you avoid the need for replacement by repairing the chip or crack before it expands.  Our technicians drill a hole into the blemish and inject a clear acrylic resin that cures by UV light.  This process restores the integrity of the glass, thereby preventing further damage, and generally reestablishes its clarity.  It should be noted that several factors could diminish the chances of achieving complete transparency, including the age and type of chip.   If you are not pleased with the outcome of the repair, then the cost will be credited to a windshield replacement.

Bull's-Eye Chip

Interspersed throughout the blog have been photos of common types of repairable chips – star and partial bull’s-eyes being the best candidates for complete restoration.  Below is a photo of an irreparable chip, referred to in the industry as a “coke bottle” chip.  Two other instances that would prevent repair are damage that is larger than two to three square inches (roughly the size of a credit card) and damage occurring within the driver’s line of vision.  Aside from these minor restrictions, any chip or crack should be repairable.

Coke-Bottle Chip  (Irreparable)