This was one of the more fun projects we have worked on. A charming couple inquired about hiring us to create eight stained glass windows and two stained glass skylights for their new home.
They had definite ideas for very colorful windows with hand blown and machine-made translucent glass. They showed us some designs, and we adopted them to the sizes and added some design elements. Also, this was the first time we had encapsulated the stained glass in an insulated unit. The clients were very excited during the whole project, and asked for pictures, as well as coming into the studio to see the progress. They traveled a lot so sometimes there were delays as they were either unreachable or it was difficult to contact them.
Once the drawings were completed, and approved we picked out the glass. We used a combination of Lambert hand-blown, Spectrum water glass, and Kokomo cathedral glass. After we finished the windows, we let them sit for over two weeks so the glazing would dry. We needed to make sure the glazing had set and would not bleed once the windows were encapsulated. The finished thickness of the encapsulated windows had to be 3/4' to fit in the window sash.
To encapsulate we ordered 1/8" clear tempered glass for each side. With glass in hand, we took all the windows to Wholesale Glass in Van Nuys, California. Tyler at Wholesale glass is fantastic, and the whole team does excellent work with a tremendous attitude. Once in Wholesale's clean room we gave the windows one glass cleaning and then we set one sheet of the tempered glass on the bottom and another on top of the stained glass. The encapsulating process involves wrapping an enclosed spacer around the window and then placing the top tempered glass in place. We allowed 3/8" on each side of the window for the spacer and hot encapsulating sealant. The process is relatively fast, and we were gone in about 2 1/2 hours.
The next step was to deliver and install the windows. The existing new window sash had insulated glass in them. We removed the sash from the window frames and set them on our working tables. It took about 45 minutes to remove the glass from each sash and install the new windows. Finally, we installed the sash back in the windows and waited for the applause. The entire project was an overwhelming success. The owners loved them, and we were also very happy.
Let me know what you think.