Abricos Glass is a commercial glazing contractor working with property managers, general contractors, architects and business owners across the Denver metro area. We handle field measurement, system coordination, product supply through established manufacturers and fabricators, and professional installation.
Our scope covers storefront and entrance systems, curtain wall assistance, interior office glazing, glass partitions, glass doors, mirrors, railings, and replacement glazing in occupied buildings — planned around your operating hours rather than against them.
For an initial review, send photographs, approximate dimensions, the project address, and any drawings or specifications you already have.
Commercial glazing rarely arrives as a single, tidy scope. A building owner calls about one cracked insulated unit in a lobby, and by the time the site walk is finished the list also includes a sagging entrance door, an interior partition for a new tenant, and a run of spandrel panels nobody has cleaned since the building changed hands. Splitting that work across three vendors creates three schedules, three sets of measurements, and three parties pointing at each other when something does not fit.
Abricos Glass exists to consolidate that work. As a glazing contractor we measure existing conditions in the field, translate them into an order that a manufacturer or fabricator can build correctly the first time, manage lead times, and install the finished product. We do not fabricate, temper or laminate glass ourselves — those processes belong to the specialised plants we buy from — and being explicit about that boundary is exactly why our orders come back right.
Most of the commercial work we do in Denver, Littleton, Aurora, Lakewood and the surrounding metro falls into four buckets: replacement glazing in existing buildings, tenant improvement glazing on a construction schedule, entrance and hardware work, and new storefront or facade packages coordinated with a general contractor. Each of those has a different rhythm, a different set of failure modes, and a different way of going wrong when it is priced from a photograph instead of a measurement.
Requirements vary with the adopted code edition, occupancy, building height, the approved project documents, and the Authority Having Jurisdiction. Treat the guidance on this page as general background, not as a code determination.
Center-set, front-set and back-set aluminum framing for ground-floor retail, restaurants, offices and mixed-use bases. Storefront is the workhorse of Colorado commercial facades: economical, widely stocked, and straightforward to repair panel by panel when a unit fails.
Stick-built and unitised facade assemblies spanning multiple floors, installed in coordination with the design team and general contractor. Curtain wall carries its own dead load back to the structure and typically requires more design input than storefront.
Aluminum medium-stile and wide-stile entrances, all-glass doors, closers, pivots, thresholds, panic devices and pulls. Entrance doors take more cycles than any other glazed component in a building, and hardware is where they usually fail first.
Replacement of failed, fogged, cracked or vandalised insulated glass units in existing frames. We measure the daylight opening and glazing pocket, confirm the makeup and any coating, and order to match the surrounding elevation as closely as the product line allows.
Demountable and site-built partition walls, glass fronts to conference rooms, sidelites, and full-height interior glazing that lets daylight travel deeper into a floorplate. Interior work is measured against finished floor and ceiling conditions, which move during construction.
Opaque panels that conceal floor slabs, plenums and mechanical zones between vision glass. Matching an existing spandrel colour is often the hardest part of a partial replacement, and a physical sample beats a colour name every time.
Interior and exterior glass guard systems at stairs, mezzanines, balconies and rooftop terraces. Structural review, anchorage and glass makeup are project-specific determinations made with the design team.
Gym, studio, restroom and back-of-house mirrors, cut and installed to the wall condition. Substrate, adhesive, safety backing and moisture exposure all influence how a large mirror is mounted.
Laminated makeups selected where forced-entry resistance, fragment retention or repeated vandalism are concerns. Performance depends on the complete assembly — glass, interlayer, frame and anchorage — not on the glass alone.
Temporary securing of broken openings followed by permanent replacement once the glass arrives. Most oversized or coated commercial units are not stocked locally, so a temporary phase is usually unavoidable.
Glazing scopes bid and built against a construction schedule, with submittals, lead-time tracking and coordination with framing, drywall, ceiling and electrical trades.
Door adjustments, closer replacements, gasket and sealant repairs, hardware swaps and small glass replacements bundled into a single visit for property managers with multiple sites.
Owners and property managers usually describe a symptom rather than a scope. This table maps the symptom to the work that typically follows, and to the information that lets us price it without a second trip.
| What you are seeing | Likely scope | What we need to price it |
|---|---|---|
| Fogged or hazy glass between the panes | Insulated unit replacement in the existing frame | Daylight opening dimensions, photos, frame type, coating and tempering markings |
| Cracked or shattered storefront panel | Board-up, then glass replacement | Opening size, glass thickness, whether the frame is damaged, street access |
| Entrance door dragging, slamming or not latching | Hardware service or door replacement | Door type and stile width, closer model, photos of hinges or pivots and threshold |
| New tenant needs offices and conference rooms | Interior partition and glass front package | Floor plan, ceiling height, finish schedule, construction dates |
| Whole facade looks dated or performs poorly | Storefront or curtain wall replacement study | Elevation photos, existing drawings, energy goals, phasing constraints |
| Repeated break-ins at the same opening | Laminated or security glazing review | Incident history, opening sizes, frame capacity, insurance requirements |
Scope calls are made after a site visit. Anything listed here is a starting point for the conversation, not a diagnosis.
A restaurant, a medical suite and a warehouse all tolerate disruption differently. Occupied-building work is frequently staged after hours or over a weekend, which changes crew cost but often saves the tenant more than it costs.
Reglazing an intact frame is dramatically cheaper than replacing the framing. We check for corrosion, racking, failed sealant, damaged glazing beads and stops before assuming a frame can be reused.
Clear stock tempered glass in common sizes moves quickly. Coated, low-iron, oversized, laminated or custom-fabricated units are made to order and can take weeks. Lead time, not installation, is usually the long pole.
U-factor, solar heat gain and visible light transmittance are traded against each other. Colorado's altitude also matters: insulated units shipped across a large elevation change may require capillary tubes or a breather, which affects the makeup.
Offices next to arterial roads, light rail or mechanical rooms often need laminated glass or asymmetric makeups. Acoustic performance is a whole-assembly property — perimeter sealing frequently matters more than the glass itself.
Doors, sidelites, low glazing, wet areas and guards are commonly reviewed as safety glazing locations. The determination for a specific opening belongs to the design team and the AHJ on the approved documents.
Upper-floor and setback glazing may require lifts, swing stages or street permits. Access planning drives more of the price on high work than the glass does.
Replacing one unit in a long elevation means matching tint, coating, reflectivity and edge appearance. Coatings are discontinued over time, so a perfect match on an older building is sometimes not achievable and is best discussed early.
The Front Range asks more of a facade than most of the country: intense sun, wide daily swings, hail, wind and altitude all appear in the same building.
Insulated units assembled near sea level and shipped up to Denver can bow or stress from the pressure difference. Fabricators serving Colorado address this in the unit design, which is one reason locally supplied units behave better here.
Strong high-altitude sun makes coating selection a comfort issue, not only an energy one. West elevations in particular benefit from a lower solar heat gain coefficient than a north elevation of the same building needs.
Daily swings of 40 degrees or more move aluminum noticeably. Expansion allowances, correctly sized joints and properly tooled sealant are what stop that movement showing up as leaks and stressed glass.
Hail damage across the metro is a routine seasonal event. Laminated makeups and, on exposed elevations, thicker outer lites are worth pricing where the replacement history justifies it.
Open sites along the foothills and on the plains see sustained wind that drives water into joints. Weep paths and drainage design matter as much as the glazing itself.
Low humidity and UV harden gaskets and weatherstrip faster than in more temperate regions. Budgeting for gasket renewal as maintenance avoids blaming glass for a sealing problem.
Patterns from projects that came to us after another attempt. None of these are exotic; all of them are avoidable with a measurement and a conversation.
A photo shows the opening but not the pocket depth, the frame profile or whether the wall is square. Numbers produced without a field measurement change once someone actually measures, and the change is rarely downwards.
The install may take two hours; the glass may take four weeks. Schedules built around the install date rather than the fabrication date fail predictably.
Glass ordered ahead of an approved submittal or a verified field dimension is glass that may be scrapped. Nothing is ordered here until the two agree.
Parts from one framing line fitted into another sometimes physically go together and still fail to seal or drain. Systems are engineered as assemblies.
Assuming an existing panel is tempered because it is in a commercial building leads to the wrong replacement. We photograph the stamp; when there is no stamp, we investigate rather than assume.
Entrance hardware fails on a cycle count, so a facade project that ignores doors reopens as a service call a few months later. Doors are inspected during the same site visit.
Office Buildings
Lobby glazing, tenant fit-outs, conference room fronts, interior sidelites and insulated unit replacement in occupied floors.
Retail and Shopping Centres
Storefront panels, entrance doors, vestibules and after-hours replacement so the sales floor opens on time.
Restaurants and Hospitality
Patio windscreens, entrances, interior partitions and mirrors, scheduled around service hours.
Medical and Dental Offices
Reception glazing, privacy partitions, interior sidelites and acoustic-focused makeups for consult rooms.
Schools and Community Facilities
Interior vision panels, entrance hardware, and replacement glazing coordinated with the facilities calendar.
Industrial and Warehouse
Office-front glazing inside warehouse shells, mezzanine guards and durable entrance hardware.
Apartment and Condo Common Areas
Lobby entrances, amenity rooms, corridor glazing, mail-room fronts and mirrors.
Balcony and Terrace Guards
Glass guard systems reviewed with the structural design team for anchorage and glass makeup.
Unit Glass Replacement
Failed insulated units in individual residences, scheduled with the property manager and resident.
Mixed-Use Ground Floors
Retail storefront at grade below residential floors, where street access and construction hours are tightly controlled.
Fitness and Amenity Rooms
Wall mirrors, glass fronts, and interior partitions that separate amenity space without darkening it.
Parking and Service Areas
Vision panels, security glazing and durable hardware in high-traffic back-of-house openings.
We ask for photographs, approximate sizes and the address. That is usually enough to tell whether the work is a same-week repair, a measured replacement, or a designed package that needs the architect involved.
Existing buildings are never as drawn. We measure daylight openings, glazing pockets, frame depths and out-of-square conditions on site, and photograph tempering stamps, coatings and hardware.
We propose makeups and hardware that fit the opening, the exposure and the budget, and flag anything that will drive lead time before it becomes a schedule problem.
The proposal identifies quantities, glass makeup, hardware, access assumptions, exclusions and the approximate lead time so the price can be compared like for like against other bids.
On construction projects we provide product data and shop information for review. Nothing is ordered until approvals and field dimensions agree.
Glass and framing are produced by our manufacturing and fabrication partners. We track the order and give the general contractor or property manager a realistic delivery window rather than an optimistic one.
Material is staged where it will not block egress or operations, and finished surfaces are protected before work starts.
Setting blocks, shims, gaskets and sealants are installed to the system requirements. Occupied-building work is sequenced so each opening is closed and weather-tight before the crew leaves.
Doors and hardware are adjusted under load, sealant is tooled, labels are removed and glass is cleaned.
We walk the completed scope with the owner or contractor, resolve punch items, and remain available for warranty questions and future maintenance.
Commercial glazing is priced per opening, not per square foot of building. These are the drivers we see move a Front Range number the most.
| Cost driver | Typical range of impact | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Insulated unit replacement | $45–$110 per sq ft installed | Coating, thickness, tempering, unit size, floor level and access |
| Single-pane storefront glass | $25–$60 per sq ft installed | Tempered vs annealed, thickness, opening size, street access |
| Aluminum entrance door | $2,500–$7,500 per leaf | Stile width, finish, closer and panic hardware, threshold work |
| Interior glass partition | $60–$160 per sq ft installed | Frame system, glass thickness, doors, acoustic targets, ceiling condition |
| Emergency board-up | $400–$1,200 per opening | Opening size, time of day, height, material and disposal |
| Curtain wall replacement | Priced per project | Design input, structural review, access equipment, phasing and permits |
Ranges reflect Front Range / Denver metro conditions in 2026 and are budgeting guidance only, not a quote. Final pricing depends on field measurement, access, glass makeup, hardware, quantities, and schedule.
Abricos Glass serves the Denver metro area and communities along the Front Range. Travel distance, access, parking, and building requirements can affect scheduling and pricing on projects farther from the metro.
No. Abricos Glass is a glazing contractor. We measure, specify, coordinate and install, and we buy glass and framing from established manufacturers and fabricators. Tempering, laminating and insulated-unit assembly all happen at their plants, not ours.
Yes. A large share of our work comes through GCs, construction managers, property managers and facilities teams. We can work from a bid set, from a punch list, or from a walk-through with a building engineer.
Usually. Most replacements are staged so one opening at a time is out of service, and larger scopes are commonly scheduled after hours or over a weekend. Tell us your operating hours early and the sequence gets planned around them.
Common clear tempered sizes are often available within days. Coated, oversized, laminated or custom units are made to order and typically take longer, sometimes several weeks. We confirm the lead time in writing with the proposal.
We try to. We photograph edge markings, note the coating and tint, and order the closest current equivalent. Coatings are periodically discontinued, so on older buildings an exact match is not always available and we will say so before ordering.
Yes. We secure the opening first with a temporary board-up or, when material is available, a temporary glass panel, then return with the permanent unit once it is fabricated.
Opening dimensions, clear photographs of the whole elevation and the affected area, the frame type, the building address, and any access constraints. That set is usually enough for a budget number ahead of the site visit.
No. We are not an engineering firm and we do not act as a code official. Structural determinations belong to the project's design team and compliance determinations belong to the Authority Having Jurisdiction on the approved documents.
We install both. Storefront covers most ground-floor and low-rise work; curtain wall is used where the facade spans floors and carries its own loads back to the structure. The choice is driven by the building, not by preference.
Often, but we measure everything again before ordering. Inheriting someone else's dimensions without verifying them is the fastest way to inherit their mistake.
We can bundle recurring door adjustments, hardware service and small replacements into scheduled visits for owners with several properties. It is arranged per client rather than sold as a fixed package.
The Denver metro area and communities along the Colorado Front Range, including Littleton, Aurora, Lakewood, Centennial, Englewood, Arvada, Westminster, Thornton, Boulder, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs.
Multi-storey facade systems, coordination and installation.
Read more →Office partitions, conference fronts and interior glass walls.
Read more →Repair and replacement for retail and commercial storefronts.
Read more →Entrance doors, closers, pivots and hardware service.
Read more →Board-up and rapid replacement after breakage.
Read more →Window replacement and door systems for Colorado buildings.
Read more →Background reading from our journal, written by the same people who measure and install the work. Useful before you request pricing.
Tell us about the project and we will follow up to confirm details, schedule a field measurement where needed, and prepare a written proposal.
