Anyone have any thoughts on a supplier for bowed aluminum storm windows? Allied and one other supplier are looking for around $1000 a peice for them. I once bought a good truck for about that amount.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Walt
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Bumping this up in the hopes that someone will have some thoughts...it's getting chilly in here.
Bowed...as in curved glass?
Aluminum frames or wood?
$1K per each....wow!
But maybe not unreasonable considering the scarcity of such a request.
.............Iron Helix
I pay from 220 to 880 for regul;ar flat ones, so that doesn't sound too outrageous to me.
but then, I've had to pay five grand for a good truck, too.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Maybe I'm just behind the times.....I must admit it was a few years, or maybe more than a decade, since I bought that truck. This house has 14 bowed double hung windows and 6 bowed transoms. At $1000 per double hung and $500 per transom that would be $17,000 in storm windows just for the curved stuff! It's also got two arch tops, an oval, a round and an eyebrow window. I think you can see the windup to the sticker shock that we experienced.
I'm running into sticker shock daily lately. Just gave the guys a two dollar raise that's a year overdue. Need to adjust estimations now.
Fuel is up
insurance is up
neither are done going higher yet
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Bowed for me is deformed (pushed out) in the horizontal plane...the glass panes would be a 1/2 barrel placed in a bowed sash!
Or is it and circle, or arch, or segment topped window which is deformed in the vertical plane and all the panes are flat glass?
Just trying to make sure I have not misinterpreted what I read!
If we are reading the same as you are saying then it is time for a bank loan!
................Iron Helix
It's time for the bank loan then....they are pushed out in the horizontal plane....in other words, the glass is not flat.
Dear Mr. Walt,
Since you are so perceptive as to visit us here at Tauton University, Breaktime campus, we have submitted your enquiry to the Department of Art History and Moral Hygine.
Professor Cat, the Human Cat, has presented this brilliant suggestion for your perusal.
The problem seems to be you are thinking of bending glass. This is hard to do. Have you considered something that is both transparent and flexible such as plexiglas or Lexan or Polycarboate. I think one of them is used for fighter jet canopies.
In any event, the stuff is relatively cheap. Considering the high cost of the alternatives, you could get a sheet for around $50, rig up some heating and bending system [heatlamps?] and, viola!, your done. Making the frames would be the hard and fun part.
~Peter
Making the frames would be the hard and fun part.
Bent laminations are within the grasp of pretty much anybody. Very uncomplicated, use the right glue.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
We are definately considering plexi in its various forms. It does tend to crack and yellow over time. But for the difference in cost, I can replace them quite a few times....and buy a good used truck.
Lexan willgive you better results concerning the "yellowing"problem!
It will lighten your wallet too. Ask at the local glass shop about what plastics are available to do this job.
Locally there is a company that primarily makes advertising sign faces by heating the big sheets of plastic and then vacuum forming over the constructed form/mold.
But they do other speciality forming.
Check your yellow gages....might be another place to pic kup materials(Scrap) or even contract out all the curves to be heated and formed.......just a thought.
...............Iron Helix
The Lexan is expensive. Allied Windows offers it as an option. I am leaning toward regular plexi. MonRay windows was out to the house yesterday. I'll see where they come in. There is some benifit in thier rep coming directly to the house. If the measurements are messed up in translation through the contractor to the folks who are making them it will be a big mess for everyone. Installing the windows will be pretty easy....just a little caulk and a screw gun.
When I was doing retail, one of the messes I got into was accepting a customer's measurements on 13 window units to retro into an old house.
He insisted I not come to his house, and his measurements were exact. I walked him through the drawings on how to measure...."Yes I did just that....I do know what I am doing!"
He picked-up and paid in full when the order arrived...Did not want us to deliver them either!
Next morning he was back with the windows...."They're all wrong...!"
I retreived a photo copy of his handwritten list....they matched. He went into a fit, and I had to ask him to leave, he was sooo livid and boisterous.
Several weeks later I recieved a summons. Called our lawyer.....did the court thing...paid some legal fees and won only because I had the owners handwritten copy.
Yes....let the reps do their thing!!!!
.............Iron Helix
PS...even some brands of plain-ol'-plexi fare better with yellowing than others, ask the rep if you have any choices. Maybe step up to lexan on the south and west exposures.
I know exatly what I am doing...kinda...most of the time. I definately step aside when someone who knows more than I do is willing to step up.
And then there is the job of sorting out the "good reps" from the "smoke & mirror-I only want your $$ reps"!!!
Stay on your toes.....30+ years of reps in the front door...and I can count the "good ones" on my two hands....the rest were quota/commission monkeys.
................Iron Helix
Thanks. Will do.