Northern Colorado homeowners shopping for a custom heavy-glass shower, wine room, or partition keep running into the same blocker: most quotes come back with 2–3 week timelines because the glass is shipped from an out-of-state shop. Moffat Glass fabricates and tempers every panel in our Northern Colorado shop, which means most custom heavy-glass projects install in 1–2 weeks from approved measurement, one week sooner than vendors who outsource. In-house fabrication and tempering means we cut, edge, drill, temper, and inspect every panel under one roof, with no out-of-state shipping and no third-party hand-offs. Since 1921, that has been the Moffat advantage.
Most custom heavy-glass shower enclosures, wine walls, and partitions install in 1–2 weeks from approved measurement at Moffat. Vendors who outsource fabrication typically run 2–3 weeks because the glass has to ship from an out-of-state fabricator and back before it can be set.
The mechanism is straightforward. Because we fabricate and temper every panel in our Northern Colorado shop, there is no shipping leg between the cut and the installation. The glass moves from kiln to template to install, under one roof, on our schedule, with the same team owning every step.
That one week compounds: one fewer week with a torn-up bathroom, one fewer week before a wine room is on display, one fewer week between deposit and designer sign-off. For a frameless 3/8" enclosure measured on a Monday, Moffat is typically installing the following week, not the week after.
The lead-time advantage is not only about speed; it is about control. With outsourced fabrication, a panel passes through three companies: the shop that measures, the out-of-state fabricator that tempers, and the installer that sets it. Three hand-offs is three places for a spec to slip. At Moffat, the same team measures, fabricates, tempers, and installs.
The tempering process itself is precise. Glass is cut to spec, edge-worked, drilled for hardware, then heated to roughly 600–700°C and rapidly quenched with high-pressure air jets. That makes tempered glass 4–5× stronger than annealed and produces the small-pebble break pattern required by safety code (ANSI Z97.1 / CPSC 16 CFR 1201) on showers, doors, partitions, and overhead applications.
Every panel is inspected in-shop before it leaves: edge polish, hole and notch placement, hardware-cutout dimensions, optical clarity. If something is off, we re-temper here. No shipping delay built into a correction.
Moffat fabricates in 3/8" and 1/2" heavy glass: the thicknesses that cover most custom shower enclosures, wine walls, and heavy-glass doors built to luxury-tier spec.
Edge work (polished, beveled, or seamed) is done in-shop on the same panel that gets tempered. The edge finish has to be locked before the panel enters the furnace because no edge work can happen after tempering. Doing this in the same room as the kiln means we catch any inconsistency before the panel is heated.
Hinge holes, handle cutouts, towel-bar mounts, and corner notches are cut to spec before temper. A 1/8" miss on a hinge cutout turns a tempered panel into scrap, so doing it in-shop means we catch any mismeasurement at the template, not after a shipped panel arrives wrong. We pair every install with the right hardware: CRL (C.R. Laurence) for residential heavy-glass and FHC (Frameless Hardware Company) for low-rise commercial work, both engineered for 3/8" and 1/2" loads.
Every custom heavy-glass project moves through the same 4-step process.
1. On-Site Measure. We take precise measurements at your home, restaurant, or property: out-of-plumb walls, sloping floors, header dimensions. Design intent gets locked here: thickness (3/8" vs. 1/2"), hinge configuration, hardware finish, panel layout. Nothing gets cut until the measure is signed off.
2. In-House Fabrication & Tempering. Back at our Northern Colorado shop, your glass is cut to spec, edge-worked, and any hinge holes, handle cutouts, or notches are bored to template. The panel then goes into our tempering furnace, heated to roughly 600–700°C and rapidly quenched with high-pressure air jets to lock in the surface stress that makes tempered glass 4–5× stronger than annealed and produces the small-pebble break pattern required by safety code on showers, partitions, and overhead applications. Every panel is inspected before it leaves: edge polish, hole placement, optical clarity, dimensional accuracy. If something is off, we re-temper in-house. This is the step that compresses the timeline from 2–3 weeks down to 1–2. Moffat has been doing this in-shop since 1921: over a century of Northern Colorado glass craftsmanship.
3. Schedule & Install. Once your glass is inspected, we schedule installation at your convenience. Moffat technicians, never subcontracted, handle every install. Premium hardware specified per application is set, leveled, and shimmed to the tolerance the panel was cut to.
4. Final Walkthrough. Before we leave, we walk every detail with you: finish, fit, door swing, hardware feel, and care guidance. We don't consider a job complete until it's right.
Total elapsed time on a standard custom heavy-glass project: 1–2 weeks from approved measurement. The in-house fabrication step is what makes the math work.
Heavy glass is built to last decades, and a small amount of routine care keeps it looking the way it did the day it was installed.
Front Range water is mineral-heavy, and the #1 reason a shower panel looks dirty within a year is mineral buildup, not glass quality. Squeegee after every shower. Use mild, non-abrasive glass cleaner with a microfiber cloth: no ammonia, no scouring pads.
Moffat is an authorized Diamon-Fusion applicator: a one-time coating that reduces mineral buildup on heavy-glass showers. Premium hardware hinges and clamps are largely maintenance-free; a periodic torque check is the only routine attention they need. Pet damage, third-party modifications, freeze-thaw cracking, and hail fall outside warranty coverage.
Moffat's residential workmanship warranty is 1 year on labor from installation, covering adjustments and operational issues with the hardware and glass we installed: hinge alignment, seal seating, hardware torque. Hardware carries the manufacturer's standard warranty pass-through. Insulated glass units carry a separate 10-year pro-rated manufacturer warranty, labor not included.
Response time on warranty service is within 2 business days. We follow the same warranty standards as the rest of the Northern Colorado glass industry: warranty is honest follow-through, backed by over 100 years of in-house craftsmanship. When something needs adjusting, the same Moffat team that built it returns to make it right.
How long does a custom heavy-glass shower or wine wall take to install in Northern Colorado?
Most custom heavy-glass shower enclosures, wine walls, and partitions install in 1–2 weeks from approved measurement at Moffat, compared to 2–3 weeks for vendors who outsource fabrication to out-of-state shops. The reason is structural: we cut, edge-work, temper, and inspect every panel in our Northern Colorado shop, so there is no shipping leg between measurement and install. For a frameless 3/8" enclosure measured Monday, we are typically installing the following week. Request a quote or schedule a site measure to lock your timeline.
What does "in-house fabrication and tempering" actually mean?
In-house fabrication and tempering means Moffat cuts, edges, drills, tempers, and inspects every glass panel in our Northern Colorado shop, under one roof, without shipping the glass to a third-party fabricator. That eliminates the out-of-state shipping leg and keeps quality control with the same team that installs the panel. Request a quote to get started.
What is tempered glass and how is it made?
Tempered glass is safety glass strengthened by controlled heating and rapid cooling. We heat each panel to roughly 600–700°C, then quench it with high-pressure air jets. That makes it 4–5× stronger than annealed glass and gives it the small-pebble break pattern required by ANSI Z97.1 and CPSC 16 CFR 1201. We temper in-shop on every heavy-glass project.
Can Moffat fabricate 1/2" heavy glass with custom edges, holes, and notches?
Yes. Moffat fabricates 3/8" and 1/2" heavy glass with polished, beveled, or seamed edges, plus hinge holes, handle cutouts, towel-bar mounts, and corner notches, all cut to spec in our Northern Colorado shop before tempering. We fit residential heavy-glass hardware and commercial low-rise hardware to spec. Share your custom shower spec and request a quote.
Does the in-house fabrication lead-time advantage apply to insulated glass units (IGUs)?
No. Insulated glass units run 5–10 business days for everyone, because IGUs are factory-ordered from the glass manufacturer regardless of installer; no glass shop tempers IGUs in-house. Moffat's IGU service competes on diagnostic accuracy and install quality, not lead time. See our IGU service page for more detail or request a quote.
Since 1921, Moffat Glass has fabricated and tempered custom heavy glass under one roof in Northern Colorado, which is why our custom shower enclosures, wine walls, and partitions install in 1–2 weeks instead of 2–3. Over a century of craftsmanship, three locations serving Larimer and Weld County (Evans, Loveland, and Fort Collins), and in-house fabrication on every heavy-glass project: that is the Moffat advantage. Request a quote with your spec, or give us a call to schedule a site measure.
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