Yes — Abricos Glass works as a commercial storefront glass contractor in Fort Collins: new and replacement aluminum storefront framing for retail and office frontage, entrance assemblies with sidelites and transoms, single broken or fogged lite replacement, and scheduled repair on tenanted bays. We are the installing contractor, and no glass is ordered before the opening has been measured in the field.
Most Fort Collins storefront calls fall into one of three shapes: a broken or failed lite in an otherwise sound elevation, an entrance that no longer closes and latches properly, or a frontage being reworked for a new tenant. Each is scoped differently, and the first job on site is deciding which one you actually have.
For an initial review, send photographs, approximate dimensions, the project address, and any drawings or specifications you already have.
Fort Collins storefront work is shaped by the building stock. Old Town frontage is largely older framing in masonry openings, often with narrow sightlines and hardware that has been serviced many times. The Harmony and Prospect corridors carry newer multi-tenant retail and office bases in modern aluminum systems, where a single lite can usually be swapped without touching the rest of the elevation. Which of those you are standing in front of changes the scope more than the size of the glass does.
Abricos Glass is a glazing contractor. We measure existing conditions in the field, translate them into an order a manufacturer or fabricator can build correctly, manage the lead time, and install the finished product. We do not fabricate, temper, laminate or assemble insulated units ourselves — those processes belong to the specialised plants we buy from. That boundary is worth stating plainly on a commercial bid, because it explains where schedule risk actually sits: in the glass order, not in the labour.
Storefront framing is not curtain wall. Storefront is a non-load-bearing, ground-floor-scale aluminum system carrying its own weight back to the slab and head condition. Where a Fort Collins scope reaches above the base of a building or spans floor to floor, it is a different system with different engineering, and we say so rather than quoting storefront framing for a facade problem.
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.
Street-facing bays for shops, restaurants and cafés: fixed lites, entrance doors, sidelites and transoms in center-set, front-set or back-set aluminum framing. Frontage is the tenant's first impression, so glass appearance and frame finish are selected against the adjacent bays rather than in isolation.
Ground-floor office entries, lobby glazing and multi-tenant building bases. Entrances take the highest cycle count in the building, so hardware selection and threshold detailing matter as much as the glass.
A broken, cracked, scratched or fogged lite replaced in the existing frame where the framing and glazing pocket are sound. This is the most common Fort Collins request, and it is usually a measure, order and glaze sequence rather than a rebuild.
Where the existing framing is corroded, distorted, obsolete or repeatedly failing, the system is replaced rather than patched again. Scoped with the owner, sequenced around trading hours, and secured at the end of every shift.
Medium- and wide-stile aluminum entrances, all-glass doors with patch fittings, closers, pivots, thresholds, locks and panic hardware. Doors are the component that usually fails first on a Fort Collins frontage.
The same aluminum framing installed indoors for demising walls, conference fronts and office sidelites during a tenant improvement — coordinated with framing, ceiling and finish trades so the glass is not the schedule pinch-point.
Nearly every Fort Collins storefront enquiry resolves into one of three tracks. Sorting it early is what keeps a reactive break from being patched twice and then replaced anyway.
| Track | When it fits | What it involves | Planning notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service the existing assembly | Framing and glass are sound; hardware, gaskets, seals or a door component have worn. | Closer, pivot, threshold and weatherstrip work; gasket and bead renewal; door adjustment. | Shortest disruption, and often possible inside normal trading hours. |
| Replace the lite, keep the frame | A single lite is broken, fogged or failed, and the glazing pocket is intact. | Field measurement of the pocket, temporary securing where needed, order through a fabricator, then glazing. | Lead time comes from the glass. Coated and insulated units take longer than stock clear tempered. |
| Replace the storefront system | Framing is corroded, distorted, obsolete or being reworked for a new tenant. | System selection, coordination with the owner or GC, phased removal and installation. | Belongs in a planned scope with a survey before budgeting, not in a same-week work order. |
Which track applies is confirmed at the field review. Where a repair is a short-term measure rather than a fix, we say so in writing.
Clear tempered, laminated, insulated and coated units sit at very different price and lead-time points. Matching an existing coated elevation costs more than a plain replacement lite.
A straight, sound frame takes a new lite quickly. Corrosion, distortion or previous emergency repairs can turn a glazing job into a framing job, which is why the frame is inspected before pricing.
Large ground-floor lites need more crew, sometimes a lift or vacuum handling, and a route into the bay that clears fixtures and fittings.
Work performed before opening, after close or in phases costs more than an empty-shell install, and is usually still cheaper than closing the bay.
Sidewalk width, parking restrictions, alley loading and pedestrian protection all shape the labour plan on Old Town and corridor frontage.
Work on a property in a designated historic area may attract landmark or design review by the City of Fort Collins. Whether it applies is confirmed for the specific address and scope before ordering.
Fort Collins sits at roughly 5,000 ft with a wide seasonal swing, and the frontage stock varies sharply between the downtown core and the newer corridors.
Sealed units built for lower elevations can be stressed by the pressure differential at Front Range altitude. Replacement units are specified with the local elevation accounted for.
Downtown frontage carries historic design considerations. Frame profile, glass appearance and any change to an existing opening should be confirmed with the owner and the Authority Having Jurisdiction before fabrication.
Water sitting in a sill or weep path and cycling through freeze-thaw is what eventually takes out a glazing pocket. Sill condition and drainage are part of the review, not an afterthought.
UV exposure is hard on gaskets, sealants, interlayers and finishes. Product selection accounts for it rather than defaulting to the cheapest catalogue line.
Frontage on open, exposed corridor sites sees different loading than a sheltered downtown bay, which can affect glass thickness and anchorage on a replacement system.
Most of the avoidable cost on a storefront scope comes from decisions made before anyone measured anything.
A photograph shows the break. It does not show the frame condition, the glazing pocket, the glass make-up or the access. A number produced without those is a guess that will change.
Clear tempered is widely available; coated, laminated and insulated units are made to order. Treating every lite as a same-week replacement sets a tenant expectation nobody can meet.
The stamp in a corner tells us what the original lite was, which protects the replacement from being specified incorrectly for a hazardous location.
A board-up secures the opening; it is not the repair. It should be scheduled as the first step of a replacement, with the measurement taken at the same visit.
Discovering that downtown frontage needs review after the glass is ordered costs more than the phone call would have.
If the bay has to stay open, that belongs in the proposal — it changes the crew plan, the sequence and the price.
Old Town shop frontage
Street-facing bays in older masonry openings, coordinated with the owner and any applicable review.
Restaurant and café fronts
Entrances, fixed lites and transoms that take heavy public traffic and cleaning cycles.
Multi-tenant corridor retail
Newer aluminum bases on Harmony, Prospect and College where lites can be replaced individually.
Office building entries and lobbies
Ground-floor entrance assemblies with sidelites and transoms, selected around traffic and hardware duty.
Tenant-improvement frontage
Frontage reworked for an incoming tenant, sequenced with the fit-out trades.
Interior office storefront
Demising walls, conference fronts and sidelite partitions in the same framing family as the exterior.
We establish which track the job is on — service, lite replacement or system replacement — and look at the frame, the pocket and the access.
A broken opening is secured first. Where a board-up is required it is scheduled as the first step of the replacement, not as the fix.
Dimensions are taken from the built condition. Tempered glass cannot be resized after fabrication, so nothing is ordered before this.
Glass make-up, framing, hardware, finish, assumptions, exclusions and the working hours the price assumes, in writing.
Glass and framing are ordered from the selected manufacturer or fabricator, and the confirmed lead time is passed straight back to you.
Installed around your trading hours where the bay is occupied, with the opening left secure at the end of every shift, then checked and cleaned.
Planning guidance for scoping a storefront scope, not a quote. A price for your opening comes from field measurement.
| Cost driver | Typical range of impact | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware service on an existing entrance | Lowest scope band | Closer, pivot, threshold and adjustment work |
| Single clear tempered lite in a sound frame | Low to mid range | Most common Fort Collins request; lead time driven by the glass |
| Insulated or coated lite matched to an elevation | Mid to upper range | Made to order; matching an existing coating adds time |
| Entrance assembly replacement | Upper range | Door, frame, threshold and hardware as a coordinated set |
| Storefront system replacement across a bay | Highest scope band | Survey first; belongs in a planned rather than reactive budget |
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.
Yes. Retail, restaurant and office storefront frontage in Fort Collins and across Larimer County is a standard part of our scope — new and replacement aluminum framing, entrance assemblies, single lite replacement and scheduled repair, installed by our own crew.
Usually, yes. Where the framing and glazing pocket are sound, the lite is measured, ordered and glazed into the existing frame. Whether that applies to your bay depends on frame condition, pocket depth, glass thickness, safety-glazing requirements, coating and product availability, which is what the field review establishes.
We do not publish a fixed turnaround. The opening can normally be secured quickly; the replacement glass is what sets the schedule, and that lead time is confirmed with the supplier after field measurement rather than promised up front. Clear tempered is typically faster than coated, laminated or insulated units.
Storefront is a non-load-bearing aluminum system at ground-floor scale, carrying its own weight to the slab and head. Curtain wall spans multiple floors and hangs off the building structure, with its own engineering and performance testing. If a Fort Collins scope reaches beyond the building base, it is usually curtain wall work and is scoped that way.
Often, yes. Occupied and trading bays are sequenced around opening hours, with protection in place and the opening left secure at the end of every shift. Where work has to happen before opening or after close, that is stated in the proposal because it affects the price.
Yes, with the review question settled first. Work on a property in a designated historic area may require landmark or design review by the City of Fort Collins. Whether it applies to your address and scope is confirmed with the owner and the Authority Having Jurisdiction before anything is fabricated.
No. Abricos Glass is a glazing contractor: we perform the field review, the field measurement and the installation. Glass, framing and hardware are produced by the selected manufacturer or fabricator. We do not temper, laminate or assemble insulated units in house.
No. Abricos Glass is the glass division of Abricos LLC, based in Littleton, Colorado. Fort Collins is served as part of our Northern Colorado coverage alongside Loveland, Greeley and Longmont. We do not claim a Fort Collins office or shop.
The address and suite, photographs of the full elevation and the affected opening, approximate dimensions, whether the glass is single-pane or insulated, a photograph of any tempering stamp, and your trading hours. Drawings or a glass and glazing specification section shorten the review considerably on larger scopes.
The broader Fort Collins overview — residential, commercial and everything outside storefront.
Read more →Deck, stair and balcony guards — a separate scope with its own substrate questions.
Read more →Triage, occupied-building coordination and what a portfolio request needs.
Read more →Entrance systems, sidelites, transoms and commercial window scope across Colorado.
Read more →Send the address, elevation photographs and approximate opening sizes.
Read more →Background reading from our journal, written by the same people who measure and install the work. Useful before you request pricing.
The information that makes storefront bids comparable instead of guesswork.
How a lite replacement is measured, ordered and glazed.
Which system a Colorado facade actually needs, and why it matters to the budget.
Entrance types, hardware and what fails first on a busy frontage.
Tell us about the project and we will follow up to confirm details, schedule a field measurement where needed, and prepare a written proposal.
