The Historical Glass Installation Experts

When it’s time to renovate your historical glass flooring, why is it critical to enlist the help of an expert glass manufacturer? From safety to historical integrity, here are the key reasons to only entrust your project to an experienced, proven glass expert.

4 Reasons Antique Glass Flooring Updates Are Best Left to the Pros

When you get estimates for your historic glass floor renovation, don’t jump at the lowest bid. Take your time to vet the glass manufacturer. Here’s why.

1. The Manufacturer Is There to Make the Glass Flooring Safer

One of the main tasks in a historic glass renovation is bringing that old glass up to today’s modern safety standards.

Cutting corners on your renovation could lead to a project that isn’t compliant or safe in several ways:

• Missing or insufficient antislip glass treatment
• Miscalculations on maximum panel size or allowable weight load
• Improper support, framing, and other engineered details
• Incorrect type of replacement glass for the architectural glass flooring
• Lack of a built-in failure redundancy

With glass flooring, safety always needs to be your number one concern. A lower bid is never worth putting you or anyone else who’ll use the glass floors at risk.

2. Proper Safety Protocols Reduce Your Liability

When you undergo renovations on your historical glass flooring, you and everyone who worked on the project are liable if something goes wrong.

From a legal, financial, and personal standpoint, working with an expert glass manufacturer can give you peace of mind.

Prioritize manufacturers who can offer a proven track record of success in glass flooring. Give special consideration to those who can do so specifically for historical glass replacement and renovations.

“In these historical projects, it’s our job to take an old, damaged glass and bring it up to today’s standards,” says Tim Casey, founder of Jockimo Architectural Glass Products. “These original pieces are not safety glass in any way. Our work on historical glass ensures everyone stays safe and liability is reduced.”

3. Retain the Historical Integrity of the Project

The original foundation of the Jamestown Statehouse (1665–1698).

Technical expertise is only one part of this equation. You also want to work with a glass manufacturer who has an artistic eye and an appreciation for the integrity of the historical project.

When the renovation work is done, everything should be brought up to today’s most stringent building codes and safety standards. The aesthetics of the project, however, should retain as much of the original look, feel, and integrity as possible.

4. Invest in the Project Now, and Save Money in the Long Run

If you choose your glass manufacturer based on price alone, it’s easy to receive subpar results.

Depending on the extent of the issues, this can end up costing you a lot more over the life of the project.

This can happen through:

• Excessive wear and tear on improper or inferior anti-slip treatments
• Broken, chipped, or otherwise damaged glass panels (over time or through poor shipping practices)
• Improperly designed and noncompliant glass flooring, resulting in rework, additional permits, or the outright hire of a second glass manufacturer

While it’s sometimes hard to look past that initial quote, it’s important to think about the lifetime value you’re getting with each manufacturer.

Are you confident you’ll receive a high-quality, safe, compliant product that proves its value over time? If not, it’s time to go back to your bids and reevaluate that group of manufacturers.

Don’t Hire Just Anybody for that Historical Glass Floor Renovation

Do you have a historical glass floor or a walkable skylight in a museum setting that’s in need of renovation or replacement? Curious about what that project would cost? Interested in the specifics of what your job would entail?

Then don’t hesitate to reach out.

We’re Jockimo, and we have decades of experience in custom architectural glass products, including historical glass projects.

Whether you’re still gathering information or you’re ready to get an estimate, we’re always here to answer your questions!