One Wall Centre | 149.8m | 48fl | Completed

[SKYSTHELIMIT]

This is quite the undertaking, but the care and consideration they are showing you owners is terrific. Thanks for the updates it will be interesting to compare the windows from the inside view. I can just make out your top few floors from my building so this extra info is great.

On a side note, whenever I used to travel to Vancouver for the holidays before moving here, I always stayed at the Sheraton and made sure I was in your tower. The corner suites are amazing especially at night with the room lights off and the blinds wide open it felt like you were floating above the city.

[officedweller]

Great update, thanks!

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by SKYSTHELIMIT

This is quite the undertaking, but the care and consideration they are showing you owners is terrific. Thanks for the updates it will be interesting to compare the windows from the inside view. I can just make out your top few floors from my building so this extra info is great.

They sure do! Here is a video of the precautions they have taken with the hallway area. Everything's covered!

• Video Link

Today the platform came down to our floor. It all happened very fast and they also anchored it to the wall. Without anchoring the platform it looked quite shaky when people were walking on it. It seems that there are ~15 people working on this project right now.

Window replacement on the 45th floor will commence tomorrow. Comparison photos of the old and new to follow...

Originally Posted by SKYSTHELIMIT

One a side note, whenever I used to travel to Vancouver for the holidays before moving here, I always stayed at the Sheraton and made sure I was in your tower. The corner suites are amazing especially at night with the room lights off and the blinds wide open it felt like you were floating above the city.

I know exactly what you mean. Proper photos of the views to follow later...

[djh]

@Klazu
Out of interest, what is it that they have anchored the frame to, in the wall? Is it a metal stud, or something more structural?

[osirisboy]

Looks like an anchor into a concrete post

[Built Form]

In this light the colours seem to match quite well.
In the second pic you can see how tight the panels fit together as Klazu was mentioning. It matches the hotel glazing.






pix by Built Form

[Pinion]

From the northeast side of downtown the glass looks like a perfect match. I can see it from my work but it doesn't show up very well in photos (looks farther away than real life).

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Looks like an anchor into a concrete post

Yes, it's a temporary metal anchor they installed themselves last Friday to the concrete posts. They do anchor the platform from eight places around the building to make it sturdy to work on.

[Klazu]

And the first window from our apartment is off! The old windows are some heavy bastards, weighting some 600 pounds each! The new windows weight also about the same, but they are 3-layer glass instead of the old ones which have two layers.

Heavy rain is posing them some problems, so we shall see what they can complete today. I will post some photos this evening.

[Klazu]

Due to a rainy day they were only able to be removing old windows today and could not yet start installing new ones. They replaced eight removed windows in our apartment with thick cardboards that they insulated in place. There are two crews working onsite, one one each side of the building.

As mentioned, the old 2-layer windows weight 600 pounds each, which is why they use large suction cup attached to a crane to lift them on the trolley. They then push the trolley to the elevator, inside which the window element exactly fits, thanks to the small expansion in one of the corners I showed before.

Depending on the weather today we will see either new windows starting to be installed or more cardboard going up. Currently it feels like living in a traditional Japanese house will white cardboard walls...

[officedweller]

Thanks for the updates.

Any idea what will happen to the old windows? Will they be re-used on another building?

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Any idea what will happen to the old windows? Will they be re-used on another building?

I asked about this and apparently the old windows are going to be garbage. I was given the impression that they wouldn't even be recycled, but I am not 100% sure of that.

Today we got our first six new window elements!

At first, I was shocked how different they felt, but as more was installed, I soon got used to it. The new windows are very high quality and looking through them feels like looking through a great pair of sunglasses. It is very difficult to take a photo of, but the view is slightly tinted and more "clean" of reflections than with the old windows. I have yet to see how they look like once it gets dark, but so far I am very happy with what I see.

They should also be "like a mirror", as apparently even the workmen working on the platform have hard time seeing inside! Unfortunately I have no chance of verifying this myself, as only workmen are allowed on the platform. How strong the mirror effect is depends on the lighting conditions, but apparently our days of living in a display window are over.

First new window being taken to it's place. Photo taken through the old clear-glass window.


Old 2-layer window.


New 3-layer window.


Bunch of new windows. See how clear their glass is as well?


Comparison of old and new window element. They install them in random order, so there has been no good chance for a side-by-side comparison.

[djh]

@Klazu
This may sound like a stupid question at first...
But in your last picture, which is the old and which is the new window?

[rsxstock]

weird question but that 2nd last pic, what brand and model is that broom vacuum? is it the contractor's?

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by rsxstock

weird question but that 2nd last pic, what brand and model is that broom vacuum? is it the contractor's?

The vacuum is an Electrolux Ergorapido. Good on hardwood floor. Sells at Costco for a bit under $100. The middle part snaps out to become a handheld vacuum as well. I like mine well enough.

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by djh

This may sound like a stupid question at first...
But in your last picture, which is the old and which is the new window?

Old glass on left, new on right. The view is slightly tinted with the new glass.

Originally Posted by Klazu

Originally Posted by rsxstock

weird question but that 2nd last pic, what brand and model is that broom vacuum? is it the contractor's?

Weird question indeed, but it's contractor's. They vacuum the apartment after every day.

[spm2013]

I was also wondering what vacuum that was... (in the market for a new one)...

[SFUVancouver]

Thanks for the continuous updates, Klazu. Might I suggest that the thread be renamed 'One Wall Centre | 149.8m | 48fl | Completed | Vacuum questions'?

[jlousa]

*l* reminds me of the lastest post on dontevenreply, how much is the shovel.

The windows look good, nice to see they upgraded to triple pane Is it just me or do the new windows not seem to reflect back a lot more then the old ones from the inside?

[SKYSTHELIMIT]

Lookin good Klazu, at the pace they're going you should be back to normal in no time. As long as they have learned from the cracked glass mistake from before.