Project Overview & Homeowner Objectives in Sewickley Village & Franklin Park

In luxury residences across Sewickley Village, Blackburn Road, Old Orchard, and custom estates in Sewickley and Franklin Park, PA, thin aluminum-framed shower doors with greenish standard float glass detract from custom marble and porcelain stonework. In this dual-scope architectural glazing project, our clients wanted to enclose a newly tiled primary steam shower with floor-to-ceiling ultra-clear frameless glass, while also constructing a glass-walled, climate-controlled wine room in their finished lower level.

Property Profile & Pre-Renovation Challenges

Standard 3/8-inch clear glass contains iron oxide that casts a heavy green tint against white Calacatta marble tile. Furthermore, mounting 180-pound frameless 1/2-inch glass doors without pre-installed solid wood framing blocking or precision digital templating results in sagging hinges and leaking perimeter seals.

Scope of Work & Turnkey Trade Coordination

• Structural wall framing with solid 2×8 kiln-dried blocking and sloped marble curb engineering prior to tile installation.
• 3D digital laser templating and installation of custom glass and frameless enclosures using 1/2-inch Starphire Ultra-Clear tempered glass.
• In-house licensed plumbing steam generator rough-in, HVAC wine room cooling split system, and electrical low-voltage display lighting.

Structural Blocking, 3D Digital Templating & Starphire Low-Iron Glazing

Engineering the Wall Substrate Before the Glass Arrives

Because Dependable Home Solutions handles the carpentry, tile, mechanicals, and glazing under one roof, we engineer the enclosure from the studs out. Before setting the marble wall tile in the primary bath, our carpenters installed triple 2×8 solid wood blocking at all hinge and clamp locations and pitched the marble threshold curb inward at 1/4-inch per foot so water drains back into the pan rather than pooling against the door sweep. Once tiling was complete, we used a 3D digital laser templating system to map every micro-variation in the walls and ceiling to within 1/32 of an inch.

1/2-Inch Starphire Ultra-Clear Tempered Glass & Forged Brass Hardware

We fabricated and installed 1/2-inch thick Vitro Starphire Ultra-Clear low-iron glass—eliminating 90% of the greenish tint found in standard glass so the true veining of the marble shines through. Fixed panels were recessed into concealed tile kerf channels so no chunky metal clamps interrupt the sightline, while the 32-inch steam door and operable overhead transom were hung on C.R. Laurence heavy-duty solid forged brass pivot hinges and sealed with clear polycarbonate steam bulbs. Every lite was factory-treated with Diamon-Fusion hydrophobic coating to repel hard-water mineral spotting.

Climate-Controlled Glass Wine Room & In-House Mechanical Integration

Insulated Glazing, Steam Plumbing & Wine Cooling HVAC

In the lower level, our crew installed thermally broken double-pane insulated glass panels set in matte black anodized aluminum channels to isolate the 55°F wine cellar from the 70°F recreation room—preventing condensation during humid Western PA summers. Our in-house plumbers piped a Mr.Steam generator with an auto-flush drain into the master shower, while our HVAC technicians installed a WhisperKOOL split-system cooling unit and our electricians wired 2700K LED bottle-rack ribbon lighting—all compliant with Sewickley and Franklin Park PA UCC safety codes.

Dependable Home Solutions | PO Box 23, Worthington, PA 16262 | (724) 243-2553 | https://www.dependablehomesolutions.net | PA HIC #PA212478 | EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm | Hours: Mon–Fri 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM