Storefront Glass Types: Display Glass, Framing and Entry Doors
A storefront is a framing system holding fixed display glass, with the entry doors set into the same frame. Each part can be replaced on its own.
Display Glass Replacement
When only a pane is broken, the glass can often be swapped in the existing frame. Fixr's range for this glass-only job is wide because panes vary so much in size. In Broward, the replacement has to match what the system's product approval specifies, so ask for that approval number before the glass is ordered.
- Fixr range: $500 to $3,000 per pane, by size and type.
Impact Storefront Framing Systems
Replacing the whole front means a new storefront system carrying its own state or Miami-Dade product approval. Ground-floor storefronts sit below 30 feet, so they face the large-missile test, and the label shows the approval number and design pressure. A full front change also triggers energy rules, which cap fixed glass at U-0.50 and set an SHGC of 0.25 on most walls.
Aluminum Storefront Entry Doors
Framed aluminum doors with glass panels take the daily traffic. Florida's energy code calls a heavy-use glass door with latching hardware and an automatic closer an entrance door and gives it a looser U-1.10 limit. ADA rules reach the closer, the pull height and the threshold (listed below), so price those with the door.
Frameless Tempered Glass Doors
All-glass doors have no stiles. The ADA Standards normally want a smooth 10-inch surface at the bottom of a swinging door, but a stileless tempered glass door is exempt when its bottom rail's top edge is tapered at 60 degrees or more. In Broward an exterior glass door still needs an impact approval.
Why Pompano Beach homeowners call Pompano Windows
- One independent installer calls back, not a list of five
- The request costs you nothing
- Ask for approval numbers and design pressures on the quote
- Permit, removal and stucco patching priced in writing
What Moves the Price of Storefront Glass
Fixr ties a storefront pane's price to its size and glass type. Its glass-type table, material only, shows the spread for safety glass:
Tempered
$180 to $700.Laminated
$275 to $625.
An impact front adds the cost of a tested system, and an energy-code check if the whole front is replaced. Ask whether the price includes boarding up the opening until the new glass arrives, removal of the broken pane, and the permit.
ADA Checks for a Storefront Entrance
These come from the 2010 ADA Standards, which apply to at least 60% of a building's public entrances.
Clear width
At least 32 inches with the door open 90 degrees.Threshold
No higher than 1/2 inch; an existing or altered threshold up to 3/4 inch passes if both edges are beveled.Hardware
Operable parts 34 to 48 inches above the floor, usable with one hand, no tight grasping or wrist twisting, 5 pounds of force at most.Closer speed
At least 5 seconds to move from 90 degrees open to 12 degrees from the latch.
Safety Glazing Around Storefront Doors
Florida's building code counts all glass in swinging and sliding door panels as a hazardous location. Sidelites count too when the nearest edge of the glass is within 24 inches of the closed door and the bottom edge is under 60 inches above the walking surface. A big display pane over 9 square feet that starts under 18 inches off the floor, with a walkway within 36 inches, also needs safety glass. Ask the glazier which panes in your front fall into each group, and get the glass type for each on the quote.