Think glaziers monotonously replace glass panels all day? Think again. I head out in an Express Glass truck to discover variety is the spice of life, and how cool glass cutter are…
7.15AM I meet up with Alex, my glazier for the day, who proudly shows off how neat and tidy his truck and tools are. “There’s nothing worse than needing a screw and it taking 10 minutes to find one,” he tells me. Fair enough.
7.45AM Before the first job, we make a pit stop at a service station to pick up some Tradie Fuel, aka chocolate milk. I decline getting some for myself on account of it being a scorcher of a day, and milk seeming to be a particularly poor choice for my hydration needs.
8.15AM We reach our first job – a shower repair at a unit in Randwick. The tenant offers us a coffee – a more sensible choice than chocolate milk, but we decline. Turns out the bathroom floor has been flooding due to water escaping underneath the shower door. Alex deduces that the rubber lining on the shower door is old, worn and falling off, and needs replacing. He cuts off a sample of the rubber to take back to HQ so he can return with the right match. He also notices there’s a wider gap at the top hinge of the door compared to the bottom hinge, indicating the weight of the door is causing it to be misaligned. Alex’s plan: to remove, repair and reattach the door on his next visit, along with attaching the new rubber lining. On to the next job.
9.15AM We arrive at Enmore and park right outside the iconic Enmore Theatre, where some teens are already lining up for a show that night from someone called Ski Mask the Slump God (we are not familiar with Mr. the Slump God’s work). We arrive at a semi-detached house swarming with tilers and various people in hi-vis vests. Inside the striking house, which is lined with huge wood panels that hide cupboards and rooms, Alex diagnoses a problem with one of the windows: a slightly protruding screw in the frame is causing the window to not close smoothly. I patiently watch as Alex carefully removes the window from the frame, drills the screw in further and then puts everything back together. He even vacuums up after himself – a habit I hope to pass on to my teenage kids.
10.45AM An insurance job at a semi-detached house in Leichhardt. It’s getting even hotter, and I feel even more confident that I made the right choice in dodging the milk. Two of the windows at the front of the house have cracked panes, but it turns out we’ve only been dispatched to fix one of them. It’s an old sash window, which requires Alex to cut a cord to remove the sash so he can take it outside and safely remove the cracked glass. He has to be careful, though: the top of the pane is curved, and he needs it in one piece to trace around when cutting the new panel.
11.30AM I watch Alex carefully cut the new window panel, including the curved top. It’s fascinating to watch, and Alex’s skill and steady hand means the glass is cut to perfection. He shows me the glass cutter, which has a diamond tip. I immediately decide it’s the coolest tool in the world, ever. Alex gives me some safety gloves and the glass cutter, and instructs me on how to cut a small piece of glass from the discarded pane. I start fantasising about being a cat burglar in a 1980s action film and decide that this officially now makes me a glazier (*obviously not true, but just let me run with it).
12.30PM Alex has put in a new panel, sealed it with putty on one side and silicon on the other, and successfully reattached the sash window, good as new. He gets out the vacuum again. I take a photo and send it to my teens: “Maybe give this is a go in your bedrooms?” No response.
1PM We arrive at the University of NSW Kensington campus for the first of two jobs: removing a sizeable glass panel from a room that houses a School of Aviation flight simulator (they’re replacing it with a newer one and it won’t fit through the door, hence the need to remove the glass). We’re met by two other Express Glass glaziers to assist in removing the extremely heavy panel, and I see my second-favourite tool of the day put to use: large suction cups that help remove the panel safely. Once the panel is off, I ask a UNSW staff member if I can take the decommissioned flight simulator home. I’m met with a puzzled stare. Time to get to the second job.
2PM We’re given directions to locate specific room at the Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, which A) looks like the kind of place where you invent time travel and shrinking rays, and B) is a complete labyrinth that seems designed to confuse and trap people (perhaps we’re being experimented on?) We FINALLY find the room and discover a cracked panel of safety glass. “Looks like someone tried to kick in the glass,” Alex concludes. We can’t gain access to the room, so Alex takes some measurements, places a protective plastic layer over the cracked panel and plans to return another day (at least the room will be easier to find on visit two).
2.30PM We’re done for the day and celebrate with a non-alcoholic drink (not chocolate milk). Throughout the day I’ve enjoyed the variety of jobs and have been impressed with Alex’s professionalism, skill and courteous manner dealing with customers. Most of all, though, I was impressed with the glass cutter. Where can I get one? Perhaps a career as a glazier awaits…
