Glass Replacement for Strong Storm

October 6, 2016

Damaged glass is a threat to your safety, both in your home or in your office. It must be cleaned or replaced as soon as possible. You can trust our glaziers, as they are well-experienced and well-trained to handle all services in an efficient manner.

Transcript of the Interview:

Wayne Bucklar:  My guest today joins me from Brisbane in Australia. His name is Gerry Whelan and Gerry’s the Director of Archer Glass. Gerry welcome to the program.

Gerry Whelan:  Thank you Wayne, good morning.

Wayne:  Good morning to you. Now Gerry Archer Glass are experts in building glass and glass replacement, it’s coming to that time of year where glass replacement occupies a lot of people’s minds when storm season sets in. Can you tell us a bit about glass replacement?

Gerry:  Yeah, I can. It’s probably a good idea if you’ve got a cracked or broken windows already coming into storm season to get them repaired before the storm season comes and then you don’t get a panel that’s already broken maybe blowing in because it’s weaker than the others and that would be one preparation then make sure there’s nothing outside around that can be picked up by the wind and blown into a window either.

Wayne:  Is that the commonest reasons why windows fail during storms? Things being thrown at it by the wind and if they’ve got a preexisting weakness?

Gerry:  Yeah, well it’s the one that can be most easily avoided. The other one would be tree branches of course and the loose objects there’s the one you can do something about it, etc.

Wayne:  Gerry, with replacement glass are there standards that apply?

Gerry:  Yes, there are. We have to comply with the Australian Glazing Code with each panel we replace. It has to be brought up to the code even if the one that’s existing and is now broken doesn’t make the code, the new one must. So we have to match the code not the existing…

Wayne:  And essentially what are the main points in that code that would make a difference to a homeowner?

Gerry:  Anything that can be mistaken for an unimpeded pathway that you would walk through. A human impact would be the most important one where safety glass has to be used there like in a door, next to a door and a side panel beside the door that may be mistaken or might be misconstrued as an open door and somebody walk into it. So in those areas and in bathrooms, etc. safety glass has to be used.

Wayne:  So if you’re replacing cracked or damaged glass it has to be replaced with glass that meets the code?

Gerry:  Yes, correct. We have to bring it up to code.

Wayne:  Gerry that’s got to improve the safety around the household a lot too, hasn’t it?

Gerry:  It does, yeah. It makes things better that people can relax a little bit more because their children running etc. or people who don’t usually live there coming in and may be mistakenly taken the wrong opening by mistake, so it’s a peace of mind really for everybody.

Wayne:  And in fairness I have to say I’ve walked into glass pane, it didn’t open or I didn’t see them and I just put it down to me being a bit silly. Apparently it’s not that uncommon.

Gerry:  No, it’s quite common. And in the past before these rule came in people got badly injured as well by glass that wasn’t safety glass which was a second problem apart from a bump on the knee or the forehead, maybe a lot of stitches were needed.

Wayne:  Gerry how does this work? If I’ve got a window or a doorway in my house that’s cracked or damaged and I’m worried about the storm season do we just ring you up is that the easiest way to go about it?

Gerry:  Just give us a call. Give us an idea of size, etc. on the phone first and get an approximate prize and we’ll replace it for you.

Wayne:  So measure it first and give you the size is when I ring and you can give it approximate price over the phone?

Gerry:  Yeah, and that’s all that sizes for just approximately to get a price. We cut the glass on site when we come so you don’t need to worry about it having to fit or anything just give us  ideas only.

Wayne:  That’s a good thing too because I’m not very good with a tape measure but it could be close enough for a quote I’m sure.

Gerry:  Yeah, most people that’s the way it is. You get an idea for a quote, yeah.

Wayne:  Is it difficult to match the existing look of the glass in terms of tint or finish or those things?

Gerry:  No, most tints are readily available including the applied tint that which is on the surface of glass, we’ll replace that too if your window happens to have as opposed to actually tinted glass. But also then the old obscured types of glass that are around for a long time ago, we carry some bits and pieces of those and can match a lot of the old stuff too but that’s the unreplaced that poses a problem are old types of obscured glass.

Wayne:  Right, I’m pleased to hear that you can match even the older types most of the time.

Gerry:  Yeah, a lot of the time we can come up with a way to work at a close enough match to get that repair done for you.

Wayne:  Gerry once you’ve phoned with an approximate price and I’ve said ‘Yes, go ahead’ you come out on site. What about mess? Do I have to worry about disposing of anything here?

Gerry:  No, we clean up everything, take out the old glass from the window, clean up around the area and take the old broken glass away with us and we dispose it here with our bin.

Wayne:  I see, so it’s a full walk-in, do the job of way service?

Gerry:  Yeah, leave you with a new piece of glass and that’s it, no more to do.

Wayne:  And Gerry what about if you have storm damage rather than the pre-existing damage? Does the same process apply, just an approximate measure and a phone call?

Gerry:  Yeah, same thing but if you have a more than 2 or 3 panels broken obviously we’ll just come out and measure up and give you a appropriate measuring quote for it… when there’s storm usually you probably need one maybe for your insurance as well anyway and then we can do that quality. You can email them and get your claim process a bit more quickly.

Wayne:  That makes sense. Gerry when you’re replacing glass after a storm has been through, I imagine it gets quite busy. How do you get on for broken glass where it’s breached the security of the house?

Gerry:  Yeah, usually if a lot of, a whole neighborhood is badly damaged then obviously we can’t get to everyone at once. So we do a patch-up where we cover the holes and make it a bit more secure at least from the weather until we can… get it replaced.

Wayne:  That’s a very valuable service particularly if you’re going to have multiple storms as you often do in Brisbane in multiple days.

Gerry:  Yeah, that’s right. So we could be there and everywhere.

Wayne:  Gerry, do you replace a lot of glass with safety glass?

Gerry:  Yeah, we do. Anything that’s in a bathroom, a stairwell or a door or next to a door are all replaced safety glass automatically.

Wayne:  And I don’t suppose it matters if there are complicated things like pet doors or special openings, you can cope with all of those?

Gerry:  Yeah, that’s right. If it needs to hold for a pet door then we’ll take care of all that as well.

Wayne:  Gerry it’s very handy to talk to you because with the storm season coming shortly knowing, what to do in the event of some broken and chipped glass before the storm and knowing what to do with broken glass after the storm to get a replacement glass service – that’s very useful to know.

Gerry:  Yeah, that’s pretty handy if you have an idea of what your initial move is to be. Yeah, it’s just makes it a little bit easier.

Wayne:  Now Gerry I know your website is www.archerglass.com , what’s the best phone number for people to get hold of you?

Gerry:  Brisbane +07 and then 3849 2664.

Wayne:  And you mentioned or I didn’t ask you, is there a geographical restriction on where your service footprint do you service if people need replacement glass?

Gerry:  Yeah, we cover greater Brisbane, so anywhere in Brisbane and out to Ipswich really.

Wayne:  Gerry Whelan great replacement glass service, thank you for your time today.

Gerry:  Thank you very much Wayne, always a pleasure.