Commercial storefront glass and doors in Phoenix

We replace storefront glass, entry door glass and the hardware that carries it, across the Phoenix metro. A technician measures on site before anything is quoted, because storefront openings are cut to the building and there’s no such thing as a stock size.

What a storefront system is

Storefront is extruded aluminum framing assembled into a grid, with the glass held in a glazing pocket by gaskets or wet sealant. The part that matters when something breaks is the depth of that pocket, because it decides what glass can go back in.

The common shallow systems run a 1-3/4 inch face with a 4 inch or 4-1/2 inch depth, and they accept up to about 3/8 of an inch. Deeper systems, typically a 2 inch face at 4-1/2 or 6 inches, take up to about 1-1/8 and will hold a 1 inch insulated unit.

Thermally broken framing has a poured polyurethane barrier separating the outside aluminum from the inside aluminum. Without it, the frame conducts heat straight through, which in Phoenix means the metal around your glass is doing the opposite of what the glass is doing. Some systems run two barriers rather than one.

None of this is visible from the sidewalk, which is why we identify the system before quoting rather than after.

All-glass entries and the hardware that fails

A frameless entry door is usually half-inch tempered glass with metal patch fittings clamped at the corners. The patches carry the pivots, the lock and the closer. Everything else is glass.

What we get called about, in rough order:

• Floor closers. The closer lives in a cement case under the threshold and it takes every open and close the building sees. When one starts letting the door slam, or the door stops returning to square, that’s the closer rather than the glass.
• Pivots. Wear shows up as a door that drops, drags on the threshold, or sits proud at the top.
• Patch fittings. Gaskets compress and the glass starts to move inside the fitting. A patch that has gone loose will crack the glass eventually.
• The glass itself. Break-ins, vehicle strikes and thermal stress. Tempered glass in a door goes completely when it goes, which is by design.

Because the hardware is machined into the glass, a patch or pivot change is often a glass change too. Holes and notches are cut before the glass is tempered and can’t be added after.

The ADA requirements a glass job can quietly break

Swapping a door or its hardware can put an entrance out of compliance without anyone noticing until an inspection. The requirements that come up most on entry doors:

• Clear width of 32 inches minimum, measured with the door open 90 degrees from the face of the door to the stop. If the doorway is deeper than 24 inches, it goes up to 36.
• Maneuvering clearance. Approaching head-on from the pull side needs 60 inches perpendicular to the door plus 18 inches on the latch side. From the push side, 48 inches.
• Floor slope within that clearance no steeper than 1:48.
• Thresholds at 1/2 inch maximum in new work, beveled above 1/4 inch. Existing thresholds up to 3/4 inch can stay if they’re beveled at no steeper than 1:2.
• Hardware operable with one hand, no tight grasp, no wrist twist, mounted 34 to 48 inches above the floor, and no more than 5 pounds of force.
• Closing speed of at least 5 seconds from 90 degrees to 12 degrees. Spring hinges, at least 1.5 seconds from 70 degrees to closed.
• The bottom 10 inches of the push side must be smooth, with any joint within 1/16 of an inch of the same plane.
• At least 60% of public entrances must be accessible in new construction.

Two of those deserve more than a bullet.

Bottom patch fittings and the 10 inch rule

On an all-glass door, a bottom patch fitting stands proud of the glass by more than 1/16 of an inch, which puts it in conflict with the smooth push side requirement. Building officials reject this regularly. A continuous bottom rail solves it, and it’s better hardware anyway, because it spreads load across the width of the glass instead of concentrating it at two corners.

If you’re replacing an all-glass door that currently has bottom patches, that’s the moment to change it, not later.

There is no opening force limit on exterior hinged doors

The 5 pound figure gets quoted as though it applies to every door. It doesn’t. In the ADA standards it applies to interior hinged doors and to sliding and folding doors. Exterior hinged doors are excluded, because an exterior door needs enough closing force to latch positively against wind and building pressure.

We mention it because we’ve seen buildings weaken an exterior closer to hit a number that was never required, and end up with a door that won’t latch.

What goes back in the opening

For most storefront work the glass is quarter-inch tempered, which is the standard for monolithic storefront and for entry doors. Where the framing is deep enough and the building wants the thermal performance, a 1 inch insulated unit goes in instead.

If your framing is one of the shallow non-thermal systems and you want insulated glass, the framing has to change. That’s a bigger job than a glass job, and we’d rather tell you at the measure than at the invoice. See commercial glass for how the two get scoped differently.

Safety glazing

Glass in a door is a hazardous location with no size exemption, and so is glass within a 24 inch arc of a door where the bottom edge is under 60 inches. That covers every storefront entrance and its sidelites. The glass has to carry a permanent etched or sandblasted manufacturer’s mark, and an unmarked lite fails inspection. Tempered and safety glazing goes through it properly.

Our warranty

Storefront glass and installation carry a lifetime limited warranty on our workmanship, for as long as you own the property.

Common questions

Who repairs commercial storefront glass in Phoenix?

We do, and we’ve been doing commercial glass since 2010. Call (602) 777-3717 with the address and we’ll arrange a site measure.

Can you replace just the glass, or does the whole frame come out?

Usually just the glass. The frame comes out only when you’re changing what the frame has to hold, which in practice means going from monolithic to insulated glass in a system that’s too shallow for it.

My storefront door won’t close properly. Is that the glass?

Almost never. A door that slams, drags or won’t return to square is the floor closer or the pivots. Send us a short video of it swinging and we can usually tell you which before we come out.

Why is my storefront glass tempered?

Because it’s in or beside a door, which building code treats as a hazardous location. It has to be safety glazing regardless of size, and tempered is the usual answer.

How long does storefront glass take?

The measure is quick. The glass is fabricated to your opening after that, and tempered glass can’t be cut once it’s been through the furnace, so it’s made to the measurement rather than trimmed on site. We give you the timeline with the written quote.

Do you take a deposit?

Yes, once you approve the written quote and before the glass goes on order. Your glass fits your opening and nothing else, so it can’t be resold. Hardware and stock sliding door glass are the exceptions.

Get a site measure

Call (602) 777-3717 Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 5:00pm with the property address and what’s broken. A technician measures, you get a written quote, and nothing is owed before that.