The Glass Guru

"[removed member name] has a very old home with wooden windows that she asked to preserve. To keep the costs down, I offered to bring a friend to help out with some of her window issues. [removed member name] paid him directly and supervised him directly, I made no money from his services. That was the arrangement that [removed member name] agreed to. I worked on her screening issues, in identifing and fitting her old screens to make them fit the openings. She worked with Walter directly, and told him exactly what to do. As far as the window she mentions goes, I believe it was a very problematic window, with weights missing and insulation in the weight space making it virtually impossible to fix without taking the whole jamb apart. It appears that she finally told Walter to do the best he could, and get the job done, as she was getting concerned with the time spent/dollars earned. She hurried to make out the checks, (one to Walter directly) so as not to have to pay for our clean-up and putting the tools away. Frankly, I learned a lesson from this job. Today I would politely decline from doing a job like this again. As for the meeting in the bank, [removed member name] said we would drag my name through the mud if I didn't come back and do the work she told Walter not to do because of finances. So she did do that. God Bless her."

"[member name removed] windows are of a type that the glazing bead that holds the glass in place is almost impossible to get out without damaging it, no matter how careful you are. His particular glazing beads were also very brittle, the windows being 20 years old or so and being in direct sunlight for most of the day. In doing the first window, I quickly saw I would not be able to reuse 90% of the glazing beads, so I postponed the installation to order new glazing beads, so as not to leave the windows at risk without beads, while waiting for the glazing bead to come in. I am very happy I did that, because it took at least 2 weeks to my suppliers to come up with a bead that matched, and, on top of that, the bead was back ordered for another 3 weeks to a month. Frankly, I was happy that we could match them at all. My original price did not include new glazing bead, so it was an upcharge to him. I rarely have to replace glazing bead, since I make every effort to not damage it, and am almost always successful: this time I could not do it. The upcharge was based on actual price of the bead. The window installation took 3 times longer than expected because of the brittle glazing bead, but I kept to the original estimate. I followed safe practices, and no mishaps occured. I don't know what he means about a window being upside down, the new glass fits in either way, there is no upside down. The glass fit snuggly, as it should. Since I use silicone on the outside of the glass to guaranty the units will not move, and the seals fail, silicone inevitably gets on the glass, and cannot be cleaned off, until it fully cures, smudges will appear on the glass. Also, my price does not include window washing. I get them as clean as I can, but smudges will probably occur that cannot be cleaned off immediately."