Window Gilding in Winter

[Dan Seese]

Technical question here.
I have a job coming up in January that involves doing some storefront window painting and gilding for a few windows in Telluride, Colorado. It's a high-mountain resort town and gets pretty cold there.
I've had experience on a few occasions to do window gilding in the dead of winter, with mixed results. Here in Fort Collins, we're at the base of the foothills and the mean-temperatures aren't as severe. A couple of years ago I did some window gilding in another mountain town and had to go back a few months later to patch some areas that were coming off.
I'm pretty meticulous in my surface prep and trying to use correct materials and techniques but am always finding out better ways to do our craft. Has anyone had experience with doing this when the temperatures are really cold. Should I suggest that we wait until Spring?
Any experiences, thoughts & advice would be appreciated.

[Jeff Lang]

Dan,
What I have done in the past when doing a window in winter, I attach a sheet of 2" foam insulation panel to the outside of the window. I try to cover the whole window if possible & what that does is let the warm air inside of the building warm up the glass & allow a more moderate temperatore for lettering & applying gold.
I consider it a small cost to add to the bill, but it sure makes the job go faster than waiting for size or paint to dry.
It has helped me.
Good luck,
Jeff

[Mike Jackson]

Hi Dan,
On most of the glass signs we worked on here in Jackson, we had the owner buy a new piece of glass to fit his window and did the work in our shop. The glass company then installed it in the business and the customer usually stored the original glass in case they ever moved and wanted to take the glass. Overall, it was cheaper than the cost for us to be in their business for several days with paint fumes, mess, and so forth. We could alsways promise a better job if doing it in the shop, too. On balance, the price wasn't that much different and most issues were plus ones.

It would be an easier decision for us now we don't have all the shop overhead, but still, working on cold glass in the Winter time is much tougher than warm glass. I never tried Jeff's suggestion, but I think it sounds like a good one. I always like to inspect the front side throughout the process, so I'd have to figure out how to hinge it on one end and give it an occasional quick glance.

Mike Jackson

[Dan Seese]

Jeff & Mike,
Thanks to both of you for your great suggestions.
Mike - one of the windows is a large transom. I may be doing some glue chipping on it so we are looking at doing that as a panel in my shop and having a glass shop install it. But for the other ones, Jeffs suggestion sounds like a good possibility.
When I've had the opposite problem, (i.e. - hot sun hitting the glass) I've put white butcher paper up to shield the sun or even large aluminum foil. So some way of insulating the cold out / heat in would make sense. I, too, like to go around front to check it periodically so a hinge system would be in order. It also seems like it would darken the entire area considerably making artificial light essential.
Jeff - with regards to covering the entire glass with insulation, do you find that too much cold is conducted from the uncovered portions to the covered portion to make it effective? I wonder if having only a portion insulated and some of it not insulated could increase the possibility of the glass cracking from uneven heat distribution. So, covering the entire glass is probably a good idea.
If anyone else has any advice (since I'll probably still be doing some of this on location) I'll devour it eagerly and thank you kindly.

[Tony Segale]

Hi Dan,
Only thing I can think of is ... move to California.
sorry, I'm not much help. I just finished a job Friday though, the weather here has been about 42 in the am and 64 in the peak afternoon.
fortunately, being in a small town and the job 4 blocks away, i worked for a few hours each day until the job was complete. Lodi's first operating microbrewery. Even got a photo in the paper while working on the project.
Enough of my rambling, doesn't help with your concerns. I can't help but love our mediteranean climate, until it hits above 101 in the summer.
Good luck.

[Jeff Lang]

Mike,
Good idea about getting new glass, sometimes I overlook the obvious.
Dan,
As to covering the entire glass, like you said about breakage.
I have never had one break (yikes, now I've done it), & have read about expansion & contraction from hot to cold, that is why I have done it that way. I have had to check & simply hinging it with tape is what I have done. I suppose you could build a box from the styrofoam & put a mirror on the inside of the box a few inches away.
Let us know what you end up doing.
Good luck,
Jeff

[Rick Sacks]

One of my fears would be the cold glass cracking when bathed with warm size. Not knowing cold climates, I'm shooting in the dark.