Bad Window Replacement: Top 10 Installer Screw-ups When good windows happen to bad installers WARNING This article contains profanity, which is not gratuitous but rather fundamental to the art, as well as being a true and accurate expression of my frustration with aspects of the window industry. We can put a man on the moon, so why do we sometimes do bad window replacement?!? The…
Bad Window Replacement: Top 10 Installer Screw-ups
Bad Window Replacement: Top 10 Installer Screw-ups: Bad Window Caulk (Part 2)
Bad Window Replacement: Top 10 Installer Screw-ups: Bad Window Caulk When good windows happen to bad installers who don’t know how to caulk Part 2, continued from Part 1 #6. Bad window caulk: Joints too tight! Caulk is supposed to be a permanently flexible material that can stretch and contract when the substrates move, such as when an aluminum window frame shrinks in cold weather.…
Nickel Sulfide Inclusion and Spontaneous Glass Breakage
Tiny nickel sulfide inclusions (NiS) can cause spontaneous glass breakage Video: This large sheet of tempered glass was broken on purpose to demonstrate the appearance of spontaneous glass breakage due to a nickel sulfide inclusion. Spontaneous glass breakage might happen even when nobody is near the glass. Even though tempered safety glass breaks in small pieces, the pieces can remain interlocked with one another and…
Window Testing: Ultimate Quality Control
Window testing: Ultimate quality control A little known but fundamental part of the window, curtainwall and building facade industry is the testing of these products in laboratories and also in the field. The purpose of testing windows, curtainwalls and building facades is to ensure that the products will perform as intended, and if not, to find out why. Types of window testing 1. Window…
Mockup Testing: A Guide for Construction Professionals
This is Part 2 of a series. Part 1 is here:Window & Curtainwall Testing: Ultimate Quality Control Preconstruction Mockup Testing of Window and Curtainwalls:Considerations for Architects, Contractors and Owners The process of including preconstruction mockup testing in the project starts with the bid documents. These must include as much information as possible about the mockup testing program. If added later, it will cost far more…
Fix Window Air Infiltration Leaks in Cold & Drafty Windows
Winter is the time we rely on our windows to keep the cold air out and the warm air in. Sadly (and coldly) this doesn’t always happen. When cold weather comes, thousands of you will be asking, “Why are my windows cold and drafty? There can be many reasons for air infiltration leaks in windows. 1. Window thermal transmission (R value or U value) A…
Sudden Cold Snap Coincides with Window Condensation Web Traffic
Do you have window condensation or frost? Did the weather suddenly get cold? If you have wondered whether window condensation correlates with a sudden snap of cold weather, take a look at this chart. The inset chart shows Chicago temperatures for the week of November 18-26, 2013. Note the big temperature drop on Sunday. Now look at the traffic on Window Condensation: Top 10 Fixes…
Safety Glass: Is It Really Safe?
Safety glass: Is it doing what you think it does? The term safety glass inspires confidence, however sometimes that confidence is not really justified. The problem lies in the difference between what safety glass is designed to do, and what you might think it does. Since the late 1960’s, good people at such organizations as ANSI, CPSC and other groups have worked hard to develop…
Falls from a College Dormitory Window: The Tragedy of Taylor Cothran
Window falls from dormitory windows pose a real danger for students first learning to spread their wings Six years ago today, on October 5, 2007 at 2:54 am, 18 year old Taylor Cothran fell from his fifth floor window in the Capstone Residence Hall at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. He died a few days later from his injuries. Nobody could have imagined that…
Building Energy Benchmarking and Window/Curtainwall Retrofit
Building owners and managers will soon need to prepare for new building energy benchmarking ordinances that are sweeping the nation. Building energy benchmarking ordinances, enacted in Chicago, New York, Minneapolis, Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Seattle, Austin, Washington State, California and Washington D.C. will be coming your way soon. In Chicago, commercial, residential, and municipal buildings measuring more than 50,000 square feet will be required to…