When The Glass Ceiling Literally Breaks: Problems With Glass Commercial Ceilings And Repairing Them
Architectural glass is used to create dramatic and decorative touches to many commercial buildings. There is just one major issue — as these buildings age and they begin to shift, sink, or weaken, the architectural glass develops its own set of commercial roof repair problems. Here are those problems that can develop, and how the repairs are commonly made.
Fogged Glass
Fogged glass results when the architectural glass in the roof is made up of two or more panes layered on top of each other. Condensation or humidity sneaks in between, and it fogs the glass when the condensation tries to evaporate. The result is foggy ceiling glass that looks dirty, despite every effort to clean the glass and keep it well-maintained. To fix this issue, a commercial roofer has to find where the moisture is getting in, remove the steel frames that hold the glass in place in the roof, and then remove the frame pieces in order to remove the humidity and recreate a vacuum seal between the two panes of fogged glass.
Cracked Glass With Heavy Leakage
This is a very serious problem with commercial glass roofs. Something has caused the glass to crack, possibly something very heavy, or a series of weather-related events that have placed a heavy burden on the glass. Whenever it rains, snows, etc., you end up with a lot of leaking water coming through the cracks and puddling on the floor below or on the heads of people sitting in this area. It can destroy mechanical and electrical equipment, too. The whole area has to be roped off so that the contractor can remove most of the steel framework and the damaged glass before rebuilding the roof.
Shattered Glass
This is very rare, considering that you would either A) have not maintained the roof very well for a long time, or B) something of immense size and weight at an accelerated rate of speed has crashed through this architectural glass roof on a commercial building. However, if shattered glass does result, it means that the entire roof may need to be removed and replaced. Until a contractor can be hired to do the work, several wood boards would have to be secured over the shattered areas, along with some heavy, rain-proof work tarps. As for the glass that has fallen all over the floor beneath these areas, hire a cleaning crew to get it swept up and cleared away for both public and employee safety and rope off the area to prevent anyone from entering this space.
