Glass Aluminum Doors and Windows in St. Catharines: A New Plaza Storefront Finished Before the Holiday Shutdown

A new building was going up in a plaza at 286 Bunting Road in St. Catharines, and Canuck was the glass and aluminum subcontractor, working for Avcon Construction as general contractor. The package covered the storefront, the windows, the doors and an automatic handicap operator.

The target was to finish before Christmas. That is a hard date for glazing in Ontario, because it is exactly when manufacturers are busiest.

Four decades of doors for names Ontario knows — Canada’s Wonderland, Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire, the LCBO, Metrolinx, Marriott & Hilton hotels, the University of Toronto — plus thousands of businesses across the GTA. Dependable people, quality products, since 1979.

What went in

The storefront glass runs close to full height along the base of the building, in dark aluminum framing set against the brick.

Before the winter shutdown

The manufacturers were overloaded ahead of the winter holidays, which made it very tough to have everything produced and installed before the shutdown. The items needed for a successful opening were completed.

In December, every glazing manufacturer is trying to clear its orders before the holiday closure. Lead times stretch, and a job that needs its frames and glass in the last weeks of the year is competing with everyone else's. On this job, the schedule was arranged around that, and the work needed for the building to open was completed before the shutdown.

The finishing touches

A few small items were put right after installation, all of them routine on a new storefront:

• Door sweeps adjusted, so the seals along the bottom of the doors close properly.
• The handicap operator relocated, to where it works best for people using the entrance.
• Caulking touched up around the frames.
• A drip cap installed at a sill, to throw water clear of the frame below.

Questions this job answers

Can a storefront be installed before the winter holidays?

Yes, but it needs early ordering. In December the manufacturers are at their busiest, and lead times stretch. On this job the work needed for the opening was finished before the shutdown.

What is a drip cap?

A drip cap is a small formed flashing along the top or sill of a frame that throws water away from the joint, so it runs off rather than into the wall. One was added on this job during the final rectifications.

Can an automatic operator be moved after installation?

Yes. Where an operator or its push button sits decides how easy the door is to use, and it is sometimes moved once the entrance is in use. On this job the handicap operator was relocated after installation.

Where this sits

This was storefront and aluminum door work, with a handicap operator, on a new plaza building in St. Catharines. For the same work on your building, start with the commercial glass doors in St. Catharines page.