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THE CHALLENGE
The path to stopping scratched glass starts with the choices and decisions every general contractor makes when selecting material suppliers and subcontractors for their projects. Selecting only quality window suppliers and competent subcontractors will have a direct effect on the resulting quality of any house or building. Most scratched glass is related to, or is a directly result of, the following areas.
Window Protection
The best solution for any problem is prevention. The general contractor and all subcontractors have a responsibility to insure all windows are protected during the entire construction process. This will help prevent harmful construction debris, such as paint, texture, plaster, and concrete from coming into contact with the glass surface. The more construction debris that is present on the glass, the higher the possibility of scratching when that glass is cleaned. Protecting windows during all phases of construction must be implemented and enforced if scratched glass is to be significantly reduced or eliminated.
Window Cleaning
The selection of a skilled window cleaner is a vital step in the prevention of scratched glass. It is important that the general contractor understands that this is a very specialized type of window cleaning. Construction window cleaning should never be attempted by anyone who is not qualified or specifically trained to safely remove construction debris from glass. Often plasterers, painters, and other tradesmen unsuccessfully attempt to fill this role.
Glass Quality
All builders should know the difference between high and low quality tempered glass so they can make an educated decision about what is used in the windows installed on their projects. It is frequently encountered in the field, and has been repeatedly confirmed by experts, that some tempered glass will scratch during normal construction window cleaning. This scratching is a direct result of fabricating debris which was not properly removed from the glass surface prior to the tempering process. As a result, these particles are detached during normal construction window cleaning and cause major scratching, usually over the entire glass surface. During the past several years, defective tempered glass has been the leading cause in most cases of excessively scratched glass. The general contractor has a responsibility to select quality window manufacturers that will stand behind their products, if and when scratched glass problems arise.
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