Is this the right service for your job?
Choose this for a new glass shop front with an entrance door.
- If the existing glass is sound and only the door misbehaves, see the Glass Door Repair. It checks the movement and fittings before replacing the front.
- If only one pane is cracked or broken, see the Broken Glass Replacement. It replaces the damaged glass while keeping sound frames and fittings.
Why shops move to a full glass front
Two reasons come up again and again.
The first is being seen. A shutter or a part-glass front hides your stock. A full glass front means people can see everything inside from the street.
The second is the feeling of space. A small unit with solid side walls feels tight. Replace the front with glass, and the shop borrows the space outside it.
We fit these in every city we work in: market units, showrooms, clinics and food outlets. The job varies, but the need is always the same. It has to look clean from the street, and it has to survive being used all day.
Built for a street, not an office
Shop front glass is normally thicker than inside partition glass. How thick depends on the size of each pane and how open the front is to the weather.
The entrance door needs the most care. It hangs on a floor spring, the part under the door that pulls it shut. That spring is rated for the weight of the door and the traffic it will see, with a top pivot and clamps to match. The lock is a patch lock, a fitting clamped to the bottom corner of the glass that bolts into the floor. The handle is a bar or D handle, chosen for constant use.
Home-grade fittings look almost the same in a photo and cost less, but they are not made for this. So we set out the glass thickness, the spring rating and the lock type on the price. Then you can compare quotes on what is really included.
We seal the joints with a weather-grade silicone. Unlike an inside partition, this one has to keep rain and dust out.
Fitting without losing trading days
We plan around your business. Wherever the opening allows it, the old front comes out and the new one goes in on the same day. So the shop is boarded up for hours, not days.
Before that day, we measure with care and check whether the opening is square. Very few shop openings are. We also agree what happens to any shutter, sign board or old frame.
If your shop is in a mall or a managed market, check whether the management must approve a new front. It is best to ask early.
On fitting day the glass arrives, the front goes up, the door is hung and set, and we clean the site before we leave.
What your final price depends on
The area of glass first. For a shop front that is usually easy to work out: the width of the opening times its height.
Then the door fittings. A heavier floor spring costs more than a lighter one, and it is the right choice on a busy entrance. This is not a place to save money.
Then the shape of the opening. A simple rectangle is the cheapest thing to glaze. Angles, curves and stepped openings all need more panels, more edge work and more time.
Last come the fitting conditions: whether the old front has to come out, whether the opening needs repair, and whether we work at night or on a Sunday.
After we measure, you get a written price. Most jobs are done in 3 to 4 days from measuring to fitting.
