Commercial glazing — Baltimore, MD
Commercial storefront installation in Baltimore, MD
Complete aluminum storefront systems — framing, glass, doors and hardware — installed as one scope by one contractor.
- 24/7 emergency service
- Commercial glazing specialists
- Serving Baltimore and surrounding counties
What you are actually trying to solve
A storefront is the only part of a commercial building that a customer touches before they decide anything. It is also a structural assembly that has to carry wind load, take thousands of door cycles a year, keep conditioned air inside and stay watertight at every joint.
Most storefront problems trace back to the same place — the opening and the system were never properly reconciled. A frame gets ordered to the wrong depth. A door is hung in a jamb that is out of plumb. Glass is specified without checking whether the location requires safety glazing. The result is a front that leaks, drags, fogs, or fails inspection.
Why this is glazier work
Aluminum storefront is a system, not a set of parts. Center-set framing in the common 2" × 4-1/2" depth carries glass in the middle of the frame; offset and flush-glazed systems change where the glass sits and how the perimeter is sealed. Choosing wrong is not a detail — it changes the anchoring, the sealant joint and the thermal performance.
Then there is the glass itself. Glass in and around doors, near walking surfaces, and above certain pane sizes can fall under safety-glazing requirements — tempered or laminated rather than annealed. The exact triggers depend on the opening and the applicable code, so we verify them before ordering. Insulating glass units add a sealed airspace and a whole second set of failure modes. A contractor who does not glaze for a living tends to find this out after the glass is already on site.
Storefront systems we install
Center-set aluminum framing
The standard commercial storefront condition. Glass is captured mid-frame; suits most retail and office ground-floor openings.
Offset and flush-glazed framing
Used where the exterior needs to read as a flatter, more continuous plane, or where the glass line has to align with adjacent construction.
Thermally broken framing
A non-conductive barrier inside the frame that limits heat transfer and condensation. Worth specifying on conditioned space in a Maryland winter.
Commercial entrances
Medium and heavy-stile aluminum doors, hung and adjusted with the closer, pivot or hinge set, threshold and weatherstrip that the traffic level calls for.
All-glass entrances
Tempered glass doors with patch fittings, for interiors and showrooms where the frame should disappear.
Window wall and curtain wall
When the glazed area runs past a single story or carries floor-to-floor, the system changes. We will tell you when a storefront system is the wrong answer.
Glass make-ups
Tempered
Heat-treated for strength and required in most hazardous locations. Breaks into small pieces rather than shards. Cannot be cut or drilled after tempering, which is why measuring first matters.
Laminated
Two panes bonded to an interlayer. Stays in the opening when broken — the reason it is used for security, sound and anywhere a fall-through risk exists.
Insulating glass units
Two or three panes with a sealed airspace. Reduces heat transfer and condensation. When the perimeter seal fails you get the classic permanent haze between the panes.
Low-E coatings
A microscopically thin coating that reflects heat back to its source. Different coatings for different orientations; the wrong one on a south elevation is a comfort complaint waiting to happen.
Tinted and reflective
Solar and glare control, and a visual decision about how the building reads from the street.
Spandrel
Opaque panels used to conceal floor slabs, plenums and structure while keeping the exterior grid continuous.
How Stonewing runs a storefront
- 01
Field survey
We measure the rough opening ourselves — every time, including on new construction where the drawings say one thing and the framing says another. Plumb, level, square and diagonal all get recorded before anything is ordered.
- 02
System and glass selection
Frame depth and finish, glass make-up, and door hardware are chosen against how the opening is actually used. A restaurant entry with 800 cycles a day is not specified the same way as a back-of-house door.
- 03
Shop drawings and submittals
On contracted work you get elevations, sections and a hardware schedule to review before fabrication. Resolve the details on paper before fabrication begins.
- 04
Fabrication and staging
Framing is cut, machined and assembled to the measured opening. Glass is ordered to the fabricated sizes, not the drawing sizes.
- 05
Installation
Frame is set, shimmed, anchored and sealed. Glass is set on the correct setting blocks and glazed. Doors are hung, and closers, thresholds and weatherstripping are adjusted under load.
- 06
Walk-through
We operate every door, check every seal, and hand over a front that works the way it will still work in five years.
Where this work happens
What tells you a glazier knows the work
Ask any contractor bidding your storefront three questions. What frame depth are you pricing, and why. Which openings require safety glazing under code. What is the lead time on the glass, separate from the lead time on the aluminum.
A glazing specialist can walk you through all three. The answers also tend to explain why two bids that look similar are not.
Where we do this work
Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Harford, Howard, Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
Straight answers
How long does a commercial storefront installation take?
Many straightforward single-bay storefront installations can be completed in roughly one to three working days once materials and site conditions are ready; larger or more complex projects take longer. The schedule is usually driven by lead time, not labor — aluminum and standard glass are commonly a few weeks, while custom sizes, special finishes, laminated make-ups and insulating units run longer. We give you the material date and the install date separately so you can plan around the real constraint.
Can you replace the glass without replacing the aluminum frame?
Very often, yes. If the framing is straight, properly anchored and not corroded, reglazing it is faster, cheaper and less disruptive than tearing out the system. We replace the frame when it is bent, when the anchoring has failed, when the system is obsolete enough that parts are unobtainable, or when you are changing glass make-up to something the existing frame cannot physically hold.
Do you work from architect drawings and submit shop drawings?
Yes. We take off from your elevations and details, produce shop drawings and a hardware schedule for review, and coordinate with the general contractor on sequencing. We also field-verify the opening rather than trusting the plan dimension, which is where most storefront conflicts get caught.
Can the work happen outside business hours?
Usually. Most storefront replacement in occupied retail is scheduled evenings, overnight or on a weekend so the business trades normally. If an opening cannot be closed up the same night, we secure it before we leave.
What is the difference between storefront and curtain wall?
Storefront is a non-load-bearing glazed system installed between floors, typically at ground level and typically up to around a single story. Curtain wall spans continuously across floor lines and carries its own weight back to the building structure. They look similar from the sidewalk and are engineered very differently. If you are being quoted storefront framing for a multi-story glazed elevation, get a second opinion.
Do you handle permits and inspections?
We handle glazing-related permitting where it applies and we install to meet safety glazing and egress requirements. On larger projects permitting is normally the general contractor or owner responsibility, and we supply the documentation that supports it.
Related services
Start the project
Send the opening.
We will send the scope.
Drawings, dimensions or a photograph on your phone — any of them are enough to start. If it is broken right now, calling gets a faster answer than a form.
- 24/7 emergency service
- Commercial glazing specialists
- Serving Baltimore and surrounding counties