Curved Glass - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

hatchet · 04-17-2005, 11:35 AM

Thought I would show you a picture of my "little" project. The picture shows 4 pieces of glass - and from what I know some of the largest continuously curved, low E, insulated glass, made in the US. There's another curved piece that isn't shown to the right of the image. The far left piece (12'5"x8'4") is, as you probably noticed, not curved but still pretty big.
Each of the units weights between 1200 and 1500 lbs.

We started out and the biggest we could find was 93" pieces of glass. We dug a little deeper and found some people in Pennsylvania that just built a large enough oven to handle this large of a piece. The inside and outside glass is 2 pieces of 1/4" glass laminated together with 9/16" air space between them. There is no capturing system attached to the window themselves - it's made up of 2 1/2" x 2" angle with setting blocks and gaskets which is then wet-sealed to the window itself.

mdshunk · 04-17-2005, 12:51 PM

Hatchet, can you PM me or repost with the name of the outfit in PA that bowed the glass for you? Thanks!

hatchet · 04-17-2005, 04:24 PM

Dlubak - www.dlubak.com
I think the price for our glass was around $190-200 / sf.

shopdust · 04-17-2005, 04:26 PM

Based on the vent below floor line i see in the photo, it looks like your within 18" of Fin. Flr. That glass is tempered i'm certain, or did you have to place a guard rail in front?
Thanks
(And I'm impressed)

hatchet · 04-17-2005, 06:02 PM

No vent shopdust - it's where the plywood couldn't go over a piece of plate steel that ties the column steel to the window structure. Anyway - bottom of glass is 24" AFF.
When standing inside of the circular structure (pool/spa) it feels like you're in an aquarium - kind of eerie - but it gives a great view of the mountains.

Glasshousebltr · 04-17-2005, 09:30 PM

Well Rich, you got one up on me, years with glass here and I've never pulled a fish like that in the boat, some close in size and even curved polycarb, but never an install like that.

What the hell kinda glazing extrusion did you use?

Bob

mdshunk · 04-17-2005, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glasshousebltr

What the hell kinda glazing extrusion did you use?

Yeah, what he said. Did you have to send off some regular straight extrusion to be roll bent? Did you do it with wood somehow?

Mike Finley · 04-17-2005, 09:41 PM

Looks like a sweet place to each lunch and enjoy the view!

hatchet · 04-17-2005, 10:10 PM

No extrusions. Literally it came as glass only in some very large foam filled boxes

The angle we set down was rolled to the radius - with straight angle on the sides. We will cover over glass with a 5" x 1/4" rolled plate on top and bottom and straight on the sides. No wood. Between steel and glass are some rubber spacers which then are used as backer rod for the caulking and for receiving a copper flashing.
Should've seen the rigging we used to set it with - 2 - 4" straps and a 28 ton crane. You'll notice we had to cut the roof to get the straps in far enough to set the glass. This was planned that way from the beginning - that's why the fascia is unfinished also. We'll actually build the soffit over the glass - set the head angle - and then tie the fascia from curved to straight roof.

shopdust · 04-18-2005, 01:45 AM

Thanks, the old eyes...well my HMO allows one trip to the doc each month, so I guess it's optomerists(sp?) vs. Viagra Clinic LOL !!! Again, Nice work.

Glasshousebltr · 04-18-2005, 08:44 AM

Rich, somtimes it's amazing the power we give to a kid with a pellet gun.

Bob

hatchet · 04-18-2005, 03:19 PM

Yeah - I couldn't watch when they were setting them. Told them to call me when they were done

The owners have 3 grandchildren - I would imagine it's going to be a full time job keeping them from throwing/shooting something at them in a few years.
Makes me nervous thinking about framing a soffit over them.

theworx · 03-18-2006, 09:57 PM

Might seem like a silly question but, how do they bend the glass. You mentioned the use of an oven, but how do they maintain the thickness and height if they heat it to the point of being able to bend it?? Must be quite the process..

hatchet · 03-19-2006, 04:48 PM

Not a silly question at all - I honestly don't know much about the whole process.. from what I gathered they setup a form and used spacers to bend the subsequent layers. But as far as heating it - they must have it at the perfect temperature.

Big Dave · 03-19-2006, 05:18 PM

I saw a home inprovement show one time that showed how they bowed large sheets of glass. They have an oven where the bottom of it is filled with sand. They make a template to your specifications and screed off the sand to that shape. Then they lay the glass in the oven and slowly heat it until it falls to the shape in the sand.

Dave.