A storefront installation looks like a day or two of work. Most of what determines whether it succeeds happened weeks earlier, and in a specific order.
1. The field survey
Somebody measures the rough opening — the structural hole the system goes into. Not the drawing dimension, the actual opening. Width and height at head, center and sill, plus both diagonals to establish whether it is square.
This matters because tempered glass cannot be cut, drilled or notched after tempering. Any attempt releases the stress and the whole pane granulates. The measurement is not a formality before the real work; it is the work.
2. System and glass selection
Frame depth, finish, glass make-up and door hardware get chosen against how the opening is actually used. A restaurant entry taking eight hundred cycles a day is not specified the same way as a back-of-house door, even at the same size.
Safety glazing requirements are established here too. Glass in and around doors, near the floor, and above certain pane sizes has to be tempered or laminated. Finding that out after the glass arrives is expensive.
3. Shop drawings
On contracted work the glazier produces elevations, sections and a hardware schedule for review before anything is fabricated. The details get resolved on paper, before fabrication — not on site with a crew standing around.
4. Fabrication
Framing is cut, machined and assembled to the measured opening. Glass is then ordered to the fabricated sizes, not the drawing sizes — the frame is real and the drawing is an intention.
This is where the lead time lives. Aluminum and standard glass are commonly a few weeks. Custom sizes, special finishes, laminated make-ups and insulating units run longer. No contractor can compress it much, which is why the material date and the install date should be quoted separately.
5. Installation
The frame goes in first: set, shimmed plumb and square, anchored, and sealed at the perimeter. Shimming is what accommodates an opening that is not perfect, which is most of them.
Glass is then set on setting blocks — small load-bearing pads that carry the weight of the pane at specific points, usually at the quarter points of the sill. Glass resting directly on aluminum will eventually crack. Stops and gaskets go back and the perimeter is sealed.
Doors are hung last, then the closer, threshold and weatherstripping are adjusted with the door in place and under its own weight.
6. The walk-through
Every door operated, every seal checked, every latch tested. This is the difference between a front that works today and one that still works in five years — and it is the stage most often skipped when a job runs late.
What to expect as the customer
On site, many straightforward single-bay storefronts can be completed in roughly one to three working days once materials and site conditions are ready; larger or more complex projects take longer. Most of the calendar is fabrication, not labor. If a contractor quotes a single date without separating the two, ask which one it is.