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Saturday, October 30, 2010
Avery Glass Gallery Getting Ready for the Holidays
In case you didn't know, Avery Glass & Mirror has an art glass gallery filled with beautiful, one-of-a-kind
pieces, including vases, lamps, perfume bottles, candlesticks, bowls, plates and jewelry, exquisitely crafted by master European
(specifically European) glassblowers. Artists and collections represented include Puscariu, Barna, Topescu, AMA Art
Glass and Inspira Cameo Glass. Styles range from Art Deco and Art Nouveau to Contemporary.
These pieces make
wonderful gifts and original home accent pieces. They are available for purchase in our retail store or our soon-to-be-completed
online store. Click here to shop online, or stop by and see them in person. We ship worldwide.
We are located in the heart of the
North Miami (NoMi) Art District, close the the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and a wonderful collection of art galleries
and Mid-century Modern furniture galleries. We invite you to visit the area. We're sure you'll find it fascinating
and full of surprises.
Here's a little sample of our offerings:
Friday, October 29, 2010
Jazz at MOCA tonight - NOMI Art District Galleries, Studios & Shops Open
The Mushy Widmaier Quartet will perform tonight at 8 pm at North Miami’s Museum of Contemporary Art “Jazz
at MOCA” monthly free concert series. Stop by for some great music and visit the MOCA galleries,
open by donation until 10 p.m. Stroll the neighboring galleries, studios and stores on NE 125th
Street and meet the dynamic, creative people behind them.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Does Your Door Look Like This?
 If so, you might want to think about replacing it with a beautiful hurricane impact full-view
French door. Hurricane season is almost over, so be prepared for next year! Add beauty, security and peace of
mind to your home, and get a break on your insurance rates.
Glass, Glass and More Glass
Tomorrow we have another busy day of delivering custom glass pieces both large and small. On the
small side, we will be taking 62 pieces of tempered glass to Macy's - Aventura Mall to be used in their holiday displays. On the large side we have a 3/4" x 84" round low-iron table top for Jalan Jalan Collection, weighing in at over 250 lbs. We're lucky we have some pretty strong guys to deliver it!
We continue to
work hard on several projects of custom tempered glass for export (railings, shower enclosures) and have picked up a
couple of very good new vendors. As always, there is a steady stream of customers coming through our doors looking for
glass, mirrors and advice for their do-it-yourself projects.
We have seen a significant increase in activity lately
from both snowbirds and locals. We hope it lasts!
28 oct 10 @ 8:15 pm edt
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Getting Ready for Miami Heat Home Opening
Today we spent all day replacing glass and acrylic in sneeze-guards on food carts and
tomorrow it's delivering 62 glass shelves to the executive chef. Why? Friday is the season home opener
of the Miami Heat vs the Orlando Magic at American Airlines Arena. Lots of food for players and fans! Will the
Heat win?
27 oct 10 @ 9:03 pm edt
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Avery Men at Work on Latest Glass Railing Project
Experience, precision and teamwork are essential for the successful installation of a glass railing
like the one in the photo below. Our technicians are true professionals, paying careful attention to every detail of
a project from beginning to end.
We wanted to show them in action, even though the project isn't completely finished. Stay tuned for photos
of the completed project!
26 oct 10 @ 6:50 pm edt
Custom Mirrors to Dress Up Furniture
An already-interesting bed frame was made even more original when we covered it completely with
1/8" mirror. There are 62 pieces in total, each individually cut and polished by hand. The customer,
a designer, was very happy with the result: a truly one-of-a-kind piece unlike any we have seen.
Just about any piece of tired furniture can be dressed up and given new life with mirrors. If you
have an idea for mirrored furniture, let us know. Ask us about antiqued and color mirrors, too.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Back-painted Glass Backsplashes, Walls, Table Tops
Back-painted glass gives a dramatic look and is a durable surface that is easy to clean and maintain.
It is available in all colors, but in order to obtain a true match, low-iron (ultra-clear) glass should be used. The
photograph below shows white back-painted glass which has a greenish tint because regular glass was used. The design
used individual pieces installed with standoffs for a very high-tech look.
Back-painted glass is also very practical for kitchen backsplashes. The backplash shown below was done with
low-iron glass, so the result is a much truer and less greenish white.
Back-painted glass is also an option for table tops. The photo below shows a 1/2 x 42 x 60 oval glass table
top back-pained white. It is available in our showroom for immediate delivery.
Please contact us if you would like to learn more about back-painted glass walls, backsplashes or table tops.
Some Useful Information About Tempered Glass
Tempered glass, a type of safety glass, is created from regular float glass through a controlled
process of extreme heating and rapid cooling. It is 4 to 5 times stronger than regular glass and and more resistant
to heat. When it does break, tempered glass shatters into lots of tiny pieces, rather than large
sharp shards, and is much less likely to cause injury. Glass shower doors and enclosures are made of tempered
glass, for obvious reasons, as are glass railings, stairs, partitions and commercial storefronts and car windows.
Tempered glass is also recommended for table tops and shelves that will be subject to heavy use.
The weak spots
of tempered glass are its corners. Hitting the corner with a hammer will cause the entire piece to shatter, as will
hitting the corner on a sharp surface, such as a marble floor. This is exactly what happened to the glass panel in the
photo below (this was NOT an installation by Avery Glass & Mirror!):
For additional information on tempered glass, please
click here or contact us.
24 oct 10 @ 12:19 pm edt
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Using Metal Cladding to Change the Look of a House or Building
We've been doing a lot of metal cladding lately on different types of storefronts for a modern,
attractive look. A thin layer of metal is applied to an existing surface as a sort of "skin" to protect
against the elements or for strictly aesthetic purposes.
The photo below shows hurricane impact
sliding glass doors which originally had white frames. The customer had wanted stainless steel, which was unavailable
for these doors. We clad the entire exterior metal frame in stainless steel, covering the white and resulting in the
sleek,
modern look you see here. For the moment, the interior metal is still white, but the customer is so happy
with the look that she is intends to clad the inside, too. In addition, we clad several unattractive and uneven
concrete and steel structures inside the house in stainless steel. Combining the stainless steel clad with the interior
glass doors and frameless shower enclosures (also installed by us) helped to create very futuristic and clean interior spaces
in a truly unique house.
Metal cladding is particularly useful for covering up worn storefront metal and giving
it a fresh new look. It's a lot less expensive than installing a new storefront!
Monday, October 18, 2010
A Wonderful (and Happy) Customer
Today we had one of the nicest and most gracious customers ever. He was a 92 year-old former Air Force
pilot and World War II hero who had broken the glass on his medal display frame and wondered if we could fix it.
He was very worried that we might cut ourselves on the broken glass, so we assured him that we were experienced
in handling broken glass and not to worry. We replaced the small piece of glass (not much larger than 8 x 12"),
returning the display and the medals inside it to their former splendor. Our customer couldn't contain his delight
and wanted to pay us extra! (we declined politely). He told us he was very happy with our service would call us
about installing a frameless shower in his condominium as soon as he talked it over with his wife (of 70 years).
Granted, this was a small project and not very expensive, but after hearing "can you do better?" so
often, regardless of the size of the project (whether $20 or $20,000), it was refreshing and encouraging to come
across someone who appreciates quality and puts it first. We hope to see more customers like him!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
A Busy Week Ahead
Our most important project this week is finishing the installation of a stair railing system in South
Beach that was abandoned by the previous glass company before they even began it. They had gotten off to a questionable
start by installing "hurricane impact windows" which were simply impact glass installed in regular frames. The
building inspectors must have loved that! It's not the first time we have been hired to fix a project that was botched
by a company offering to do a project for a price that was just "too good to be true." Here's a photo of the
work in process: 
Other projects for the week include two complicated mirror jobs, one using antiqued mirror made in Louisville,
KY (much nicer but also quite a bit pricier than the Chinese-made stuff) an the other with sand-blasted mirror.
We
plan to complete another 1/2" glass railing on standoffs in the next few days and are keeping our fingers crossed
that the glass will cooperate by not exploding during tempering (always a possibility, especially when there are holes).
These projects require extreme precision and care when measuring, placing the holes in the glass and installing the standoffs
in the wall. If they are off just a little it means wasting an expensive piece of glass and a lot of time. You
can see details of some of the glass railings we have completed on the "" page of our website.
The Region 3 Annual Planning Conference of the National Association of Women in Construction
(NAWIC) will be hosted by Miami NAWIC Chapter 41 at the Mayfair Hotel and Spa in Coconut Grove this coming Friday to
Sunday, Oct. 22-23. The event will present The carnival-themed event promises to be full of many opportunities
for networking, education, business and FUN. For information see the NAWIC-Miami website: http://nawicmiamifl.org/home. We plan to attend!
Twitterfeed Issues with Facebook
Twitterfeed is working from blog to Twitter but not to Avery Glass Facebook page. Any advice?
The settings look OK on both sides.
Getting Blog, Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin to Work Together
This is a test. How did we do?
17 oct 10 @ 6:20 pm edt
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Copyright 2008 by Avery Glass & Mirror, 1831 NE 146th Street, North Miami,
FL 33181. Glass & Glazing Contractor Licensed by the State of Florida: SCC131151374. We carry Liability and Workers Compensation Insurance as required by state law.
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