Blog Archives - Page 13 of 26 - Aluplex Glass and Skylights

Porch Windows That Benefit Indoor Gardens

September 30, 2021 By Webmaster

If you’ve got a garden in an enclosed porch, we’re sure you want the best for your plants. Fortunately, there are some ways you can improve your plants’ environment. The first way is, if your enclosed porch was built more than ten years ago, it might be time to replace your enclosed porch windows. Here are some of the reasons you should consider replacing your porch windows and how it benefits indoor gardens.

Insulate Your Home

To start, your porch enclosure windows are a vital part of insulating your home. All windows in the house are weak points for insulation. Because your porch enclosure has a lot of windows, it’s easy for it to become the weakest link.

The reason why windows are so important to insulation is because of how they’re made. Old windows are often made of a single pane of glass. These single panes do very little to keep out heat or cold. More modern windows are made with two panes of glass with a layer of insulating gas between them. This insulating gas is heavier than air, making it harder for the heat or cold to travel through it.

People frequently forget that porch windows matter. So, it’s not uncommon for homeowners to have all of the windows in their home replaced only to forget to replace the porch windows. The porch is considered more outside than inside, especially if it used to be a patio space. If you’ve put an interior door where an external door used to be, or if you leave the door to the enclosed porch open often, the windows there are just as inside as the ones in the living room.

Even if your porch enclosure windows were put in a few decades ago and are double-paned and insulated, this insulating gas leaks out over time. Once the gas has escaped the windows, they no longer insulate much at all. This is why replacing old windows is so important.

Stabilize Temperature

When you replace old windows with those of higher quality and better insulation, your porch windows help to stabilize the temperature of your porch. The fluctuating temperature outdoors won’t affect indoor gardens negatively if the fluctuation is kept to a minimum. Nighttime cold and noontime heat will be held at bay with proper insulation.

Block Out UV

Something else that people don’t often consider about porch windows is that they have the power to protect your indoor gardens from UV. Regular windows don’t necessarily come premade with UV blocking features. However, a window film, in combination with good, insulating windows, can mean better plant growth and longer plant life.

Shop Aluplex

If you want a new set of porch windows to benefit your indoor garden to improve your indoor gardening experience, get Aluplex glass. Our windows are high quality and affordable, making the ideal replacements. Call us today if you have any questions about replacement and installation services.

Extend Summer Gardening with an Enclosed Porch Garden

September 1, 2021 By Webmaster

With the summer coming to an end, so are many of our wonderful summer plants. It’s always a sad sight when the temperature begins to drop and our favorite plants begin to wither. So, instead of saying goodbye, consider extending your gardening season with an enclosed porch garden. Don’t have an enclosed porch? Aluplex is here to help.

Quality Windows

If you want to keep gardening into the fall, and even in winter, you need to start with some quality windows. If you have an existing porch or patio, turning it into an enclosed one is easier than you think! While some contractors will be needed to prepare the surrounding walls, the main event is the addition of new windows.

If you want to get the most out of your enclosed porch garden, you should consider floor-to-ceiling windows. Windows that reach from hip to ceiling will also work. However, there’s something about the way floor-to-ceiling makes you feel surrounded by nature that we just can’t ignore.

Greenhouse Porch

With some big windows lining the walls of your new enclosed porch garden, you can begin reaping the benefits. Your porch will work just like a greenhouse. The windows will take in all of the sunlight that the sky has to offer while insulating your plants from the cold. Without additional appliances, this can extend your gardening season by a month or two.

Winter Oasis

However, if you want to garden year round, all you have to do is buy a few appliances. Mainly, you’ll want some plant lights and a humidifier. Plant lights produce heat and offer light on a spectrum that encourages photosynthesis – that is, they keep your plants alive. The humidifier will ensure your plants don’t dry out in the winter air. A space heater may also benefit your plants, but you’ll want to try going without first to see if that’s necessary. Monitoring the temperature of the enclosed porch garden will tell you everything you need to know.

With your garden growing happily throughout the winter, your enclosed porch garden will become your own little winter oasis. Did you know seasonal depression is often brought on by a lack of vitamin D due to staying indoors more? It’s also pushed forward by a lack of life surrounding the affected person. Surrounding yourself with large windows and beautiful plant life is a great way to keep up your mental health during the long, winter months.

Quality Glass from Aluplex

If you’re in the GTA, you can get all of the glass you need right here at Aluplex. We specialize in windows and glass, just like you need. Our quality is unbeatable and will leave you with a lasting porch garden for years to come.

Windows, Doors, and Frameless Systems for Your Dental Office

September 1, 2021 By Webmaster

If you want your dental office to stand out from the rest, it’s time to invest in windows, doors, and frameless systems for your interior. What are frameless systems? Aluplex is here to shed some light on these fantastic design pieces. Let’s take a look.

What Are Frameless Systems?

Frameless systems are the interconnecting, glass walls and doors that help to divide an office space. These can be used in any type of office. What makes them different from standard office walls is that they’re completely glass and have no metal framing. That means there’s a seamless transition from one glass panel to the next. Cool, right?

What Are the Benefits?

The real question is, what’s the point of frameless systems for your dental office? There are actually a lot of benefits to having a frameless system in your office. Let’s take a look at some of those benefits:

Having no frame helps your frameless system feel unobtrusive and “lightweight.”
Because frameless systems provide glass wall panels instead of solid walls, light flow is better. This can increase productivity, improve employee morale, and make the entire office a happier place to be.
One of the biggest benefits of having a frameless system installed is the increase in privacy. Offices with many people working in them tend to have little privacy. You can overhear everything being said on the phone next to you. This can make touchy topics difficult to discuss between high level employees.
There is also a decrease in noise levels. When you have many people working in an office together, noise levels can get quite out of hand. Not only can high noise levels lower productivity due to loss of focus, they can also increase stress and blood pressure.

Frameless Systems for Your Dental Office

While there are many benefits to frameless systems, in general, we want to take a moment to show how those benefits translate to a dental office. Frameless systems for your dental office mean:

Dentist/patient conversations can be kept private, with each chair in its own glass room.
The inside of the mouth is easier to see with more natural light flow.
Loud tools, like drills, will be significantly quieter outside of the room they’re being used in. That means a notable decrease in general patient anxiety.
Opting for fogged glass between treatment rooms improves patient privacy as well.

Take the Next Step

If you want to improve your dental office by installing a frameless system, your next stop is giving us a call at Aluplex. We offer high quality glass for windows, doors, and frameless systems. You know when you order from Aluplex, you’re getting the best in Toronto.

Is Window Film a Worthwhile Investment?

July 30, 2021 By Webmaster

If you’ve ever heard of window film, you may be wondering if it’s worth considering. After all, it comes with a number of benefits. Are those benefits really true? Are there drawbacks? Is window film a worthwhile investment? Your local window and glass experts are here to break it down for you.

Privacy Without Blinds

Before we address the drawbacks, we want to talk about the benefits of window film and what most people agree makes window film a worthwhile. The first thing is that many types of window film provide privacy without you having to install blinds. This is really great for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, even if you enjoy having curtains, there is a period in the evening when many people’s homes are visible to the outdoors. If you open and close your blinds each day, you likely wait until it’s already dark to close them. Between the sun setting and the blinds being closed, anyone walking down the street can see inside your home. That’s a huge breach of privacy that most people aren’t fond of. If you get a one-way window film, you’ll be able to forego closing the blinds or curtains entirely or close them at your leisure.

The ability to forego blinds is especially useful to those with floor-to-ceiling windows, as they’re hard to cover. Not needing to find specialized blinds or curtains saves a lot of time. Plus, you can enjoy those huge windows at all times of day without sacrificing privacy.

UV Protection

Window films typically come with UV protection, often with some tinting. This protection is extremely beneficial to the home’s occupants, including plants and animals. Minimizing UV exposure helps prevent skin conditions, including cancer, and more.

Glass Reinforcement and Security

Privacy and UV protection are great quality of life updates, but the reinforcement of glass is probably the most important feature of window film. Window film is thick and adds a significant amount of strength to glass. Breaks are way less likely to happen and, if they do, the film holds the broken pieces of the window together. This prevents injury on broken glass, but it does something else as well.

Because breaking a window coated in window film is so much harder, break-ins relying on windows are no longer viable. Even if a would-be intruder can manage to break your window, they’ll be unable to pass the barrier window film provides. The additional time it would take to get past the window film makes entry impossibly risky. Would-be intruders will flee to avoid being caught.

Drawbacks

Now that we understand the benefits of window film, the question becomes, is window film a worthwhile investment? Is there something I’ll regret? The answer is pretty straightforward. The main and drawback to window film is that installation can ruin your windows. That is, it can ruin your windows if installed incorrectly. If the installation is messed up and someone attempts to remove the film, it will leave behind a messy coating of adhesive that’s literally impossible to remove effectively.

The second and final drawback is that installation, even if not botched entirely, can lead to imperfections. Window film is covered in a strong adhesive on one side. When the film is applied to the window, any dirt or air that gets trapped between the film and window will be stuck there permanently. This can be quite unsightly.

Because of these two drawbacks, the most important thing to understand is that you need professionals to install the film. Ensuring you hire competent window film installation specialists will save you from needing window replacements. If, in the end, you do make a mistake in installation, or the professionals you hire do, Aluplex is here and waiting with window replacements. Though, in the end, we hope you don’t need them.

Attic Skylights and Windows for Your Attic Remodel

July 30, 2021 By Webmaster

Doing an attic remodel can open the door to a lot of possibilities. You can add a new bedroom, an art studio, storage room, or even a full suite, if the attic is big enough. However, with an attic remodel comes the need for attic skylights or windows.

Providing Sunlight

Attics aren’t typically built to bring comfort to its visitors, as the visits are usually short. That means there usually aren’t any windows. If you have bigger plans for your attic than holding into some dusty old boxes, you’ll want to install attic skylights or windows.

Attic skylights are a great option, as there’s very little wall space in an attic, but plenty of roof and ceiling. These skylights will provide plenty of sunlight to anyone who will be visiting the renovated attic for longer than a few minutes. Whether that’s someone doing some crafting at their work station or a new inhabitant is entirely up to you.

Improving Safety

Attics are not the safest place in any house. In the case of a fire, the attic’s lack of windows can quickly lead to injury or death. Therefore, if you intend to use your attic space as something more, windows are a necessary safety feature. Attic skylights should be able to open to allow anyone inside to escape if worse comes to worst. Any regular windows on the walls of the attic should be able to open as well.

Regardless of what type of windows you install, you should also keep a rope or rope ladder somewhere accessible near the window. This ensures anyone trapped in the attic during an emergency like a house fire will be able to descend safely to the ground without using the interior stairs.

Buy Quality Windows

Quality glass is important no matter what part of the house windows are installed in, but attics have some quirks. Because they’re at the top of the house, attics are the final destination of any warmth in the house. During cold months, heat will quickly escape through low quality windows with bad insulation and cold will seep in. Ensuring you buy quality windows with good insulation and glass that won’t break during stormy weather means a better quality of life for anyone frequenting the renovated attic space.

Aluplex is Toronto’s favorite window and glass manufacturer. We offer a quality that’s hard to match and are happy to help you install your new windows. Get results that satisfy you for years to come by relying on us.

Aluplex Repair Services

In the future, if something should befall your new attic skylights or windows, Aluplex has emergency repair services that could save you a lot of money and trouble. Get help as soon as possible by calling our number. Rain or shine, we’ll head over and make sure your attic skylights are put back in working order. This prevents extensive water damage and a number of other interior casualties caused by a broken or malfunctioning skylight or window. Call us today if you have questions about our products or services.

Durable Frameless Shower Enclosures

June 30, 2021 By Ezra Vogel

Looking for an update to your bathroom? A built-in, stand-up shower is exactly what you need. Let’s take a moment to consider how a built-in shower with one of Aluplex’s durable, frameless shower enclosures can change your showering experience.

More Space to Shower

Switching to a built-in shower from a tub/shower combo is a massive difference in experience. While a built-in shower comes with a number of positive changes, the biggest ons is having more space to shower.

While a tub/shower combo allows adequate space for most people, there’s not a lot of room for your arms while you clean. This leads to bumping into your curtain or shower door throughout a shower. Or, if you know how to avoid knocking into those, then at least feeling cramped.

When adding a built-in shower, you have the opportunity to give yourself more space to clean. Even if the shower space is shorter than a tub, you can expand its width, creating a square space more suited to your body size. However, what’s to stop you from keeping the length of your old tub/shower combo and simply expanding the width as well? Let yourself shower in luxury.

Shower Together

One great bonus to a bigger showering space is that couples can shower together. A tub is hardly wide enough for two adults to comfortably switch places beneath the water. However, with a built-in shower, you can install multiple showerheads or simply use the additional space to switch places with ease. Having room to clean and also enjoy each other’s company without stepping on each other’s toes is a great experience for many couples.

Ditch the Curtain

Shower curtains come with a number of annoying downsides. When you switch to using durable, frameless shower enclosures from Aluplex, you can say goodbye to these shower curtain issues:

Having to adjust the ends of the curtain each time you shower to keep water from getting out
The bathroom fan’s airflow blowing the shower curtain into your space and against you while you’re trying to shower
The shower curtain coming unhooked from the curtain hooks
Low light levels when showering from the curtain obscuring it
Having to replace a moldy shower curtain every few months and creating plastic waste

Easy-to-Clean Frameless

Installing one of our durable, frameless shower enclosures comes with a bonus. Even compared to many other shower enclosures, these ones are easier to clean. Why is that? Well, a large number of shower enclosures come with frames around the glass. These metal frames make a shower enclosure cheaper to install, as you can use thinner glass and metal hardware to attach the door. However, the drawback is that they allow ridges for mold and mineral buildup.

A frameless shower enclosure is easy to clean with a standard foaming cleaner and a sponge, brush, or cloth. There are no difficult crevices to scrub at where grime has collected. Plus, that easy-to-clean frameless build makes it easy to keep your shower enclosure sparkly clean, allowing maximum light flow and a great view of the rest of your updated bathroom.

Call us today at Aluplex if you’re interested in getting one of our durable frameless shower enclosures and have questions about how to order.