Top 5 Reasons You Should Use LearnGlazing.com

We’re asked almost every day,

“Who is LearnGlazing.com for and will this training work for my team”?

The focus of our training program is to bring existing employees and/or new hires from a basic background in project management or estimating into the Glazing world.

Our first set of courses, “The Core 10”, help students to become conversational and provide a foundation for deeper learning. The additional, monthly courses start to focus on a wider range of topics that seasoned glazing professionals like to brush up on. Currently, there is a total of 6 additional course right now with a full line up ready for next year (see the list).

It’s not a stretch to say that most of your employees, from different backgrounds, would benefit from this training.

Here are our Top 5 Reasons You Should Use LearnGlazing.com

1. There’s a lack of training tools for bringing new PMs up to speed.
2. To provide experienced, non-glazing new hires with a solid foundation for developing into an experienced glazing PM.
3. Hiring new PMs puts a time (money) burden on hiring managers and owners. LearnGlazing training tools alleviates that burden in a cost effective manner.
4. New PMs learn the foundation of:
   1. Glazing Systems
   2. Manual take off method for ordering stock lengths
   3. Creating a glass spreadsheet
   4. Required project close out items
5. What does a monthly membership include?
   1. Access to the “Core 10” courses – Go back and revisit sections even after taking the quiz.
   2. New, monthly courses – See the 2020 lineup
   3. Access to the Q&A discussion forum – Ask questions, get answers

Bonus – Not only can students print off of certificate once each course is completed, but group leaders have the ability to view student progress and quiz results.

 

 

As a project manager you won’t have the option of selecting the type or color of the finish for your material. This will be handled by the architect and will be provided in the specifications. That being said, it is important for you to understand the differences, and what an architect may review and consider when picking a finish choice.

Typically, your material will either be painted or anodized, however, we are seeing powder coating becoming an option that is more available. The following is a quick synopsis of each option:

• Painting is an easy-to-understand process where a liquid is sprayed upon the bare metal surface of the extrusions.
• Anodizing (according to www.anodizing.org) is an electrochemical process that converts the metal surface into a decorative, durable, corrosion-resistant, anodic oxide finish.
• Powder Coating is applied as a free-flowing dry powder, applied electrostatically and then cured under heat

Depending upon the finish of your material, there are certain considerations to think about for your project. As with most choices an architect has to make, there are many factors to consider when making the choice of finish for the glazing frames.

Repairs, and touch ups: Paint can be touched up, field fixed, and re-coated for certain applications. Anodizing on the other hand cannot be fixed when scratched or damaged. Powder coating can only be touched up with paint unless you can remove the damaged piece and send it back to the finisher.

Longevity: The longevity of these options (many times) comes down to the location and application of the materials. For example, in abrasive conditions anodizing will last longer than paint or powder coating due to its hardness and wear resistance. For areas where corrosion is an issue, paint has more longevity and can be touched up when required.

Price: Anodizing is typically going to be the winner with a lower initial cost over paint or powder coat. This is evident when sticking with standard color choices from your manufacturer.

Specialty finishes: Many projects are being specified with specialized finishes and paint is the clear winner. You can utilize metallic paints, an endless amount of color variations and other variations that give an infinite amount of options to the architect. Sun storms, and silvers are very popular right now.

Other areas of interest for a project include LEED credits, the environment and VOC’s, warranty options, protection of finishes during construction to name a few. It is important as a project manager to understand that the selection of the finish is not as easy as picking a color and moving on, but hopefully a well thought out decision.