Glass wall systems

[N8]

Does anyone have any experience with glass wall systems?
I am looking to do a future project that would open up the wall between a back room and the garage. The wall would be replaced with a glass wall system visually opening up the space for viewing into the garage. I would also need a access door to the garage.
Is there a specific system, name or manufacturer?
thanks,
Nate

 

[TONE]

You must either be single or have your wife brainwashed.

Kidding.

 

[Tyrol67]

Not cheap, but you could use the wall systems they use for offices. We just put one in with sliding door. There are many used office furniture dealers out there and they stay connected to each other to locate items for customers.

 

[N8]

You must either be single or have your wife brainwashed.

Kidding.

Na, my wife and I are just "in tune" so she is down for it. She loves the cars almost as much a I do.

 

[D.J.]

Your talking glass walls and not glass block walls, correct? Nice idea be sure to include pictures! PLEASE!
________
Buy vapezilla

 

[Charles (in GA)]

sliding glass doors?

Biggest problem is, you may be dealing with a structural wall, where you will have to install a rather heavy header and supports for the header to make this large of an opening.

Charles

 

[N8]

D.J. - you are correct, Glass walls. Not brick
It is not a load bearing wall. I am dealing with a single story home and in this case the wall runs parallel with the attic joists. The wall spans approximately 30' connecting perpendicular to the homes perimeter walls. (make sense?) Sliding doors may be an option as I may use this room as an office witht h garage.
The wall is currently covered in floor to ceiling glass and was originally intendeed for a work out room.

 

[Stuart in MN]

There are going to be fire code issues as well - a regular sliding glass door probably won't be rated for that kind of use between a living space and a garage space.

 

[N8]

There are going to be fire code issues as well - a regular sliding glass door probably won't be rated for that kind of use between a living space and a garage space.

Good point. Fire barrier wall had not even entered my mind yet.

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

If you want to have a view of your garage from your living room, then your garage must really be something to look at! Post a picture if you can.

 

[krooser]

My garage would look great if you had a glass wall in a junkyard....

 

[Curt_pnw]

I was thinking of something like this for our build to separate the main shop space from the hangout/drinking room. I was thinking of some kind of frosted glass on a slider.

 

[VC-Racing]

I've been contemplating on installing a swim spa and was looking at something similar to what you want. I found a company that makes sliding/folding glass partitions, can't remember the name but if you'll give me a few hr's , I can probably find the literature they sent me and I will post he website.
I wanted a enclosure so in the winter we could close it up and still enjoy the swim spa and then in the summer open it up so it wouldn't feel confined.

 

[VC-Racing]

The name of the company I found was NanaWall . the website is http://www.nanawall.com . One thing I will say is these type of glass walls are expensive. Due to the extra cost , its going to put my project off for another year, but I'd rather be able to save as much cash as possible to get what I want.

 

[N8]

I hear ya about the cost. I am searching now to wrap this into the cost of the garage overhall.
No fancy pictures yet until I start the project.
Thanks all for the info.

 

[N8]

Back up for any more info.

 

[gman911]

Try WWW.NANAWALL.COM EXPENSIVE BUT COOL

 

[tstang90]

They do make fire rated glass called fire lite it is ridiculous expensive though.
It also has a yellowish tint to it and it is laminated.


Glass wall systems are generally 3/8- 3/4" glass. You could easily just run a top and bottom track( channel). And order glass from a local glass shop just do your math carefully and include a door into it lay out the necessary notches needed to accept the patch fitting( hinges for the door( kinda like a frameless shower enclosure Im sure company such as that could help but I dont see it being cheap.) . Try contacting a company called CRL they supply tons of glass related pieces and if you give them dimensions maybe they will help you out.


Good luck

 

[tstang90]

Try WWW.NANAWALL.COM EXPENSIVE BUT COOL

Wow that is really nice. Perhaps you can just go to your local big box store and order a set up simliar to the pic. like a set of sliders with 2 fixed panel or something along those lines and you can probably get as fancy as youd like with them custom sizes too. Best part is you install it yourself without getting raped.

 

[1320stang]

you're talking storefront glass. Probably $10k for 24' with a door.

 

[N8]

Thanks Larry. Just did a look up for storefront glass. I am not even sure I would want to go that seamless on some of the applications they have.
I will be looking right around a 29' span.

TSTANG90: thanks , those are good ideas also. We use a lot of CRL with some of the display work and interiors I design.

 

[tstang90]

if you have an account to order the materials you can def do it for less then 10K all said and done assuming you want to use aluminum storefront tubing and of course the ability to fab it yourself also.
I actually do commercial storefronts I have been fabbing for the past 17yrs.
The mark up is pretty sweet for the owner not the customer though the mark up on glass is hefty.good luck

 

[N8]

if you have an account to order the materials you can def do it for less then 10K all said and done assuming you want to use aluminum storefront tubing and of course the ability to fab it yourself also.
I actually do commercial storefronts I have been fabbing for the past 17yrs.
The mark up is pretty sweet for the owner not the customer though the mark up on glass is hefty.good luck

Question then, If I fabbed up the channels or engineered a system using an extrusion and hired a glassier would all of this be within acceptable code assuming I use a 1 hour fire barrier rated glass?
(I know thats a tough question depending on local code)

 

[little d]

n8, to save on costs, have you given any thought to looking into salvage? my wife and i are redoing a 1867 cape cod right now, and we use recycled materials as much as possible, some times that is the only way to find what we need. just a thought, little d.

 

[bazzateer]

How a bout this http://www.smartglassinternational.com/?gclid=CLqNuPX_o58CFZJe4wod2G-zow

Clear glass one minute, flick a switch and it's frosted, flick it back and it's clear again. Straight out of James Bond - coolest glass there is. May cost a bit though!

here's a video:

 

[Bakounine]

How about a commercial aluminum/glass garage door? I’ve see one in an architect mag some time ago. The guy used it to open up his kitchen to his backyard (rails were hidden). Not too sure about insulation properties or in your application, if it meets fire code requirements.

 

[scotte]

color camera mounted in garage

projector mounted in ceiling

white painted wall to project image of garage

 

[N8]

Well it's almost time to revisit this quest.
Here are a couple shots of the wall in question.

This is looking out to the garage.

This is looking in.

Anyone have experience with this?

 

[lupinsea]

I'm thinking a glass store front system if you can find one that is fire rated. Just have to call around in your local market.

 

[idoine in toronto]

Look into Kawneer products. They are the "Standard" in commercial storefront and curtain wall systems in North America and have a wide range of products from the basic systems to high end systems.

http://www.kawneer.com/kawneer/en/home.asp

Or look in the phone book for storefront glazing and get a sales rep to give you some suggestions and pricing info. But keep in mind that commercial products will generally be more costly.

Here is a residential slider from Kawneer.

Residential sliding doors will be the most cost effective but will not meet you required fire ratings.

Another option may be to build up the walls in the adjoining space (the room where the photo was taken) with fire rated materials and in essence enlarging the fire rated area and have an unrated glass division within the newly rated area.

And if you are real handy you could build a custom glass wall system.
Here is a horizontal pivoting window in a steel frame that a friend & colleague engineered and fabricated in his shop.

Yours wouldn’t need to be as complicated as it’s stationary.

 

[N8]

Thanks very much for the responses guys.

 

[MG David]

I trust you do not own an angle grinder. The spark trail can make a mess of glass and you will need more than a paint brush to fix it.

 

[N8]

I trust you do not own an angle grinder. The spark trail can make a mess of glass and you will need more than a paint brush to fix it.

No worries there.
I have a 3200 sq. ft. fully equipped shop right behind my house for the messy stuff. This is intended to be more of a "showcase" garage.

 

[amorrow]

Digging up an old thread, I was wondering if any of you pursued these ideas, or if anyone else here has installed a non-supporting interior glass wall in a garage - one having a door or not.

I've been thinking of putting a dividing glass/clear wall with one or two doors in the center of my 40'x30' garage, just to give it a more open feel but still allow me to keep one bay fairly clean while doing dusty/dirty work on the project cars. Has anyone put something like glass panels like those found in racquetball courts in a garage? The brackets used to attach those panels and doors look like it could be a realistic DIY job, and I was wondering if these panels are made in standard sizes to keep costs relatively low...just wondering if anyone here has explored this idea.

 

[6768rogues]

Most codes have a requirement for a fire rated wall system between the garage and living space. They typically run from 45 minutes to an hour of fire resistance. Openings in fire rated assemblies must have opening protectives (fire rated doors and windows) to maintain the fire resistance of the wall assembly. Fire rated doors and windows must be self closing and labeled. In the case of windows, the frame would generally be steel and labeled by UL, FM or similar testing facility. The glazing will be wire glass or firelite (or equivalent). Firelite is about $80 per square foot. There are also limitations in most codes about what proportion of a fire rated assembly can be openings, limiting your glazed area to much less than you would like. Instead of a rated opening protective, you can install a fire rated drop shutter connected to smoke detectors on both sides of the wall; that is what they do for a service window in a rated wall. Some codes allow sprinkler heads spaced 6-feet apart on each side of the wall in lieu of fire rated opening protectives. Even an existing pre-code house is required to conform as far as renovations are concerned. The short story is that if you want to do it legally, you will probably end up with an expensive small window or series of windows with wire glass, not a glass wall. Do I do everything legally myself-I will decline answering that question.
Tom-former county code enforcement officer.

 

[amorrow]

Thanks for the info, Tom. But what about a wall simply dividing two garage bays? This garage is also detached from the house. Would mentioned fire restrictions not apply to interior walls within a detached garage that has no living space?

 

[onewaydave]

Mom was an artist and wanted the light so she had one built in. When I remodeled the house for me, I moved it about 10' to the left (to the right if you stand on the other side). Basically they are about 3x6' glass panels framed into a wall. 4x4 studs between the 3 panes. About a foot above and below. Just regular framing and trim work. A glass panel that size needs to be tempered glass.

I also knew a former ********* in El Paso that had a Corvette in her garage that she had a similar glass wall built so she could still look at it.

Dave.

 

[PAToyota]

As several people have said, you'll need a fire rated assembly between a living space and garage space. That won't be a requirement for what amorrow proposes - separating spaces within a garage space.

Several years ago we did a door between a parking garage and an atrium area. For security reasons, they wanted the door to be glass so that people could see out into the parking garage before opening the door. We went with a Technical Glass Products door assembly - the FireLite that a couple people have mentioned. The "glass" is actually a ceramic material. A single 3' x 6'-8" door weighed a ton and cost several thousand dollars. The door was heavy enough that we had to install an opener on it because even an average person had difficulty opening it.

 

[Jazz]

My wife and I are also apparently in "tune" with each other because our garage remodel includes a full light door with a single side light which will allow me to look through the back of the garage into the new addition and through the sliders into the backyard.

The additional family room uses two Pella sliding doors to give a large view out the back. The doors are right and left openning. Because we used 2 separate doors there is a pillar between them. Total cost for these was about $1600 for both doors. Pella does make a single large door with two sliders in the center that open left/right with no pillar. Cost for that door is about twice as much though ($3400 special order).

What I was told (possibly incorrectly) was that any exterior door should be fire rated and should be allowable.

 

[PAToyota]

What I was told (possibly incorrectly) was that any exterior door should be fire rated and should be allowable.

Generally incorrect. An exterior door does not need to be fire rated except in certain instances. So many are not rated. Others may be rated. And typically any exterior door with glass in it is not going to have a fire rating.