Greenberg Glass & Glazing Blog - Glazier, Frameless Glazing Systems, Aluminum Shopfronts, Curtain Walling, Emergency Glazing & Boarding Up

Saving The World One Pane of Glass at a Time!

Posted: June 7th, 2010 in Glass & Glazing Advice, Glaziers Leicester, Glaziers Manchester, Glaziers Northampton, Glaziers Preston, Glaziers Rotherham, Glaziers St Helens, Glaziers Warrington, Greenberg Glass & Glazing, Product Spec | No Comments »

Windows can be one of the major causes for heat and energy loss in the home if installed incorrectly or with the use of older glass techniques. Most people tend to go for the regular option of installing double glazed units and fitting UPVC frames to stop wind getting in. But having aluminium or wooden frames doesn’t necessarily mean that this will be a source of energy loss. The fine people at Pilkington can provide us with the perfect range of glass which has many benefits for residential and commercial properties.

As you can see from the picture to the left, a double glazed unit works on the principal that heat comes in from the sun to permeate through the glass and heat up the room, whilst the heat from the radiator only bounces back from the pane of glass so the heat is kept inside the room. This is also widely known in the trade as solar gain. A new window scheme has been created by the Government to show us what the best type of efficeny you can have for your glass is.

The main three benefits are:-

Reduces the amount of energy you use inside the home
Can save you money on your heating bills
More environmentally friendly

It is more effective to use double glazed units than single glazed as you have the two layers and it is also protective for instance if an outer or inner pane breaks, you still have the second pane to protect.

The Pilkingtons range of energy efficient glass is called energikare and it is highly popular for double glazed units in residential properties. They claim that by replacing your glass with their energikare range can reduce your by 90%, if this is something that is quite possible then I say that this could be the way forward. With ever advancing techniques of glass making I am quite sure that there are plenty of new techniques and products to be explored within this energy saving era.

If you want to know more about this type of glass or more about energy securing your property with glass then please get in touch on 0800 269437 or info@greenbergglass.co.uk for more information.

Clean Clean Clean….

Posted: June 4th, 2010 in Glass & Glazing Advice, Glaziers Birkenhead, Glaziers Chester, Glaziers Dewsbury, Glaziers Harrogate, Greenberg Glass & Glazing | No Comments »

Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to wash your windows all the time or even pay someone to do it? Wouldn’t it just be nice to look out of the window and actually see what is ahead of you? Well…this is very much a real possibility now thanks to the clever people in the glass industry!!!

Self cleaning glass is all the rage at the moment and something that is constantly changing in the glass industry. All the big glass makers are trying to come up with bigger and better ways for glass to clean itself using natures resources to help along the way.

It works by a transparent tough and permanent coating on the glass that uses the sun and the rain to clean the glass of any dirt that has appeared. The sunlight activates the coating which in turn helps breakdown the dirt deposits left by mother nature. Like solar glass panels, it will still work on a cloudy day. When it rains (which in Britain is quite often!) the water slides of the sheet instead of forming water droplets, as seen in the picture on the right. The best places to use self cleaning glass are usually conservatories, roof glass, glass doors, skylights, galleries and balconies.

Why have self clean glass you may wonder? Well look at the advantages and see for yourself:-

Great for hard areas to reach i.e. roof glazing
You can save money of the cost of cleaning
Environmentally friendly as you have to use less chemicals and cleaning agents than usual
Coating is permanent so it will last as long as the glass
Much easier to clean – the glass isn’t 100% clean free so there is a little maintenance involved such as hosing the glass down after a long spell of sunshine
Safety – as you wont need to get up that rickety old ladder to reach those awkward places you are less at risk of hurting yourself

Pilkington have extremely good products available for this type of glass and Greenberg in particular are proud to use Pilkington Activ. If you want to talk to us here at Greenberg about self cleaning glass and how it can make your life easier then please email us at info@greenbergglass.co.uk or call us on 0800 269437.

Curtain Wall(ing)

Posted: May 21st, 2010 in Glass & Glazing Advice, Glaziers Pontefract, Glaziers Retford, Glaziers Scotland, Glaziers Wakefield, Glaziers York, Greenberg Glass & Glazing, Product Spec | No Comments »

Today we are going to talk about curtain walling and benefits of using this system within the construction trade to produce magnificent structures. Curtain walling is used as an alternative to a structural outer wall which uses your regular concrete/timber/brick and instead using glass panes to keep out the wild weather of the world!

Curtain walling is defined by the use of mullions which hold each piece of glass together and give the effect shown in the image. Mullions can be and were made from aluminium, stone, steel, wood and fibreglass. Glass is mainly used as the infill between the mullions but other types of infill used include fabric, stone, metal panels, louvre, windows and vents. As most curtain walls are fixed, windows and vents are used for ventilation as well as louvres which are a type of ventilation styled like a blind or shutter which has slats pointed downwards which can be adjusted to keep intermittent weather out. The st0ne, metal and fabric panels are mostly used for architectural and aesthetic purposes.

There are many different types of glass you can use but the best type is single glazed laminated glass. The reason for this is mainly down to safety, ease of installation and environmentally sound. Laminated glass is an option mainly used for the safety factor compared to toughened glass and the way it shatters on impact (more on that subject another time). You can use different types of film on the glass sa well to keep out the sunlight to a certain degree or just to make it look nice.

Curtain walls fit another purpose in that there it only carries it’s own dead weight and not the entire building so it is not really used to support the main structure. Essentially a curtain wall acts as a surround to the main structure and with the inclusion of a curtain wall using glass it provides many exciting benefits including copious amounts of natural light, aesthetically pleasing (i.e. very good looking!), creative freedom and extremely reliable.

Some really good examples of early curtain walling systems are the Bauhaus Dessau, Oriel Chambers in Liverpool (the very first building in the world to have curtain walling installed) and the French Hothouse of Jardin des Plantes. I bet if you take a closer look at the way buildings are constructed in towns and cities that you can find quite a few modern day systems that you have never really noticed before!

Health & Safety

Posted: May 21st, 2010 in Glass & Glazing Advice, Glaziers Macclesfield, Glaziers Northampton, Glaziers Oldham, Greenberg Glass & Glazing | No Comments »

Everyone’s favourite two words, Health & Safety…..please don’t go away!!!
This is a very important subject to us at Greenberg and so it should be! We take pride in that we have a very comprehensive health and safety documentation set out so that we can let anyone who wants to know that we are serious about what we do and how we do it!!

We have various method statements, also known as ’safe system of work’ shows a detailed way of the task to be completed. We outline any hazards and include a step by step process of how the job is to be completed safely. We also state control measures to be introduced so the safety of others can be protected.

Each and everyone of us are committed to health and safety in the workplace and this is recognised by the clear track record we have at our company. Our safe working practices are simple and very effective. Our website has over 80 documents in relation to our commitment and you can read these at your leisure if you so wish! In the meantime our next objectives is to get our CHAS certification and to get ContracterPlus underway.

Our main principles of our Helath and Safety Policy are:-

We establish and maintain standards which incorporate good practice;
We provide safe workplace systems and practices for all our employees;
We require our employees to exercise personal responsibility for the health and safety of themselves and others;
We communicate with and involve our employees on issues affecting their health and safety;
We review standards regularly to encourage a continuously improving health and safety performance;
We protect all those who come into contact with our operations against risk to their health and safety;
We operate in international markets with due regard to the social, cultural and regulatory conditions prevailing
We require our contractors and suppliers to adopt standards, which are equal to or better than our own.

This is how we base our working commitment on our company, the environment, the customer and the public and with constant care and due diligence we hope to keep our record of accidents clean!

We do have another 60 odd pages on which I could go on but I will save that for another day!

What Can Storeplan Do For You Today?

Posted: May 13th, 2010 in Glaziers Ellesmere Port, Glaziers Halifax, Glaziers Leeds | 1 Comment »

Having Storeplan in your life gives you LOADS of benefits and fewer distractions so you can get on with the finer points of business. It is very helpful if you have lots of new works installations planned or an existing property portfolio whereby you need someone who can manage and take care off any glazing needs. By signing into a secure website you can:-

Log new jobs
Request, receive and manage any quotes
Track the progress of the job in question
Receive live job updates
Notification of job completion
Request and receive job sheets and invoices
Manage your account.

The main benefits of this system are:-

You will have access to a 24 hour freephone number which is permanently manned and operated from our national call centre. It is free to use and easy to remember and will be answered by one of our members of staff who will be happy to help and considerate to your needs.
We offer an around the clock property securing and boarding up service where we aim to be on the site within 60 minutes outside of the normal working hours. We prioritise the safety and security of the staff and your store’s merchandise above anything else.
Same next day emergency re-glazing service, ensuring that the property is repaired as quickly as possible.
We give a fully comprehensive repair, maintenance and replacement service for any type of shop, storefront, frames, glass, locks, ironmongery & shutters which will save you time and money when it comes to resolving such an issue with another company.
Your very own web page in which you can log into the job management system and which provides the latest information on your jobs.

If you are interested in Storeplan and the services we have to offer please get in touch with one of us at Greenberg on 0800 269437 or email us info@greenbergglass.co.uk.

The Body Shop Contract

Posted: May 12th, 2010 in Glaziers East England, Glaziers East Midlands, Glaziers Humberside, Glaziers North East England, Glaziers North West England, Glaziers Scotland, Glaziers South East England, Glaziers South West England, Glaziers Wales, Glaziers West Midlands, Glaziers Yorkshire, Greenberg Glass & Glazing, Showcase | No Comments »

New Branch Open – By Demand – Newcastle!!

Posted: May 10th, 2010 in Glass & Glazing Quotes, Glaziers Newcastle, Glaziers North East England, Greenberg Glass & Glazing | No Comments »

We are pleased to welcome our three new members of staff – Colin Edgar, Derek Clark and Jason Allen! Colin was an Ex Greenberg / Wadds Business Development Manager. Jason and Derek were also old employees of Ex Greenberg / Wadds and they have all teamed up to take over oop north! They have started a new base in Newcastle due to the demand for glazing work, especially with regards to contractual work, new builds and shopfronts.

If you would like to get in touch with Colin in our Newcastle branch please email colin.edgar@greenbergglass.co.uk.

PS. Keep an eye out for our new Staff Profile segment each month where we will be viciously grilling each member of staff and putting up an unflattering image so you can see what we are like! We aren’t that scary I promise! :p

FIRE!!!

Posted: April 30th, 2010 in Greenberg Glass & Glazing, Product Spec | 1 Comment »

Fire Proof Glass

“Oh my god did you see the window explode in that fire? Didn’t look very safe did it!??”

OK you might not say that very often but have you ever though about how glass can protect you from fire or how it behaves? Fire-proof glass or fire-rated glass, however you want to say it, is useful mainly for commercial properties rather than domestic. This is because of the main purpose of the glass being to protect people from any fire emergency.

The glass helps protect you from smoke and heat. The glass can resist heat of up to 1500^oC and can help keep smoke isolated in any one room. So if you ever get “caught short” you can be safe in the knowledge that this glass will protect you long enough for you to get out of the building.

One of our main suppliers of glass, Pilkington, recommend that these types of glass are best used in entrance doors, fire escapes, internal partition walls, roof glazing, curtain walls, glass floors and atria. What on earth is an atria you may ask? Well it is the plural word for atrium (yes I didn’t realise atria was a real word either)! All types of fire glass are tested to high standards and more importantly to meet and exceed the building regulation standards.

If this is something you want to use or you want to know how much more the glass can handle then get in touch nick.dunn@greenbergglass.co.uk or 0800 269437.

Where In The World…..

Posted: April 27th, 2010 in Glaziers Barnsley, Glaziers Cardiff, Glaziers Derby | No Comments »

Whhhherrreee's Greenberg?!?!

Ok maybe it should say where in the UK!! Global domination is our game but we must have somewhere to start first! Currently we serve all of the United Kingdom including Ireland. We have a large “house” in Rotherham where we cut all the glass to size and make sure that the glass is right for what you want and then we deliver the glass to you! We can also fit the glass for you if you like! From Southampton to St. Andrews and Aberystwyth to Aldeburgh we can get to you! Even if you want someone to come out and do a survey so that we know what sort of glass or mirror you really need. Even if we are busy and can’t get to you then we can send one of our friends out to help you instead!

Our next “house” will be in Newcastle shortly so we will have two “houses” to dispatch lots more of my people to help those who have accidents with their glass or want some nice new shiny exciting glass for their new buildings! Glass is the future, who wants privacy anyway!

Got Glass???

Posted: April 23rd, 2010 in Glaziers East England, Glaziers East Midlands, Glaziers Humberside, Glaziers London, Glaziers North East England, Glaziers North West England, Glaziers South East England, Glaziers South West England, Glaziers Wales, Glaziers West Midlands, Glaziers Yorkshire, Greenberg Glass & Glazing | No Comments »

Glass is essential to us humans being safe and secure and warm and cosy but does anyone ever think about what might happen if something happens to it? Who do you call, what do you do with the glass, how does it get replaced, how fast can it get replaced? Where is my nearest glazier that can help me get sorted? What about insurance, am I even insured?

Well we can’t answer some of those questions but what we can do is give you a quote, get your order for supply only or supply and fit and bring it to you ready to be replaced. We can also secure your property so that no one can get in. If you have a special decoration on the glass or some sign writing that you want to have we can also get that arranged for you.

You won’t have to go to five different companies for each and every thing, if there is something else that you need help with, then look no further! Being centralised in the UK we can go North, South East and West of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.