Best/Cheapest glass store anywhere in the Pacific Northwest

[Taqpol]

So the story is I am building a 24"x24"x15" rimless frag/anemone tank to go right next to my 120 and be plumbed into the main system. Since the tank is going to be rimless, I want to make it out of at least 3/8" glass, which after making a few phone calls already seems to be a specialty item.

I'm willing to drive a good distance to pick up the glass if I can get a really good deal on it, so where do you guys go to get your glass cut?

 

[Taqpol]

Bump for a new day.

 

[Saltyfish]

GlassCages.com just order the glass with polished edges and be done with it.

Normal glass
$6.00 sqf

Starfire
$12.00 sqf

http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=42

 

[Taqpol]

That was my exact plan, but after I contacted them they said it would be ~$190 for the glass and a whopping $360 just to ship it to Washington state!!

I have a local glass shop that will cut the same glass for $280, I was just wondering if there would be better deals if I went to a bigger city (Spokane, Seattle).

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

Did you try Empire glass?

 

[Taqpol]

Nope, I'll give them a call tomorrow. Are they in Spokane?

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

aye, only costed me $29 dollars for glass to build my 10 gallon custom 15x15x10 1/4". Not really sure if they have 3/8" but they seem to be the cheapest. The glass that i got was salvaged glass out of like doors and such but it's all scratch free pieces they got me once i told them what i was using it for. For new glass they would have charged me $45 still cheapest by far from all the places i called.

 

[Saltyfish]

$360 for shipping glass? No wonder no one recommends them that is crazy!

 

[Taqpol]

No one recommends them? You recommended them!!

Yeah, they said the package would weigh 240lbs with the pallet and no common carrier has anything to drop off on the return trip from the northwest.....

 

[dogfrog]

I got a quote from GlassCages on glass and a tank. Their shipping charges are high for 2 reasons I could figure out. They ship with UPS freight and it moves at a class 200 rate because they do not crate. per them they band the tank on a pallet and ship like that.

Look into making your own crate and shipping it via USPS to them to use. Either assambled of in pieces ready to screw toghther. use 1X4s. Check with other truckings companys on freight rate to get it to you. Being crated it should move at a class 80 or 100 rate https://www.freightquote.com . figure about 7 lbs per sq ft for the glass at 3/8

I was able to cut their freight rate in half this way. But I never ordered from them

 

[Saltyfish]

I think they do not like shipping so they quote high to make themselves motivated to ship it. All well they are losing a lot of business.

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

Am I missing something? 240lbs for 3/8" glass and it's only 37 gallons? I wouldn't think more then 50-70lbs max. I looked into making a 40 gallon cube awhile back and it was going to be $80 or so and that was 1/4" so i'd guess $120 or so if it were 3/8". Definitely looks like a local thing, that shipping is just dumb expensive lol.

 

[dogfrog]

Sorry guessed wrong 5 lbs per sqft http://www.glasswebsite.com/publica...ximate Weight of Architectural Flat Glass.pdf

 

[dogfrog]

14 sqft of glass at 5 lbs 70 lbs if it was 7 lbs 98 lbs

 

[dogfrog]

you can also check out this company. http://www.fabglass.com/ A lot companys, Glass and furniture stores get glass from them. Back in my younger days I wouked for a Seattle high end furniture store, most of our glass table tops came from them. Even my dinning table top was custom ordered from them. I see there truck all the time in the seattle area.

 

[Taqpol]

Just contacted www.fabglass.com , they are a wholesaler and will only ship to you if you start an account and have your own business. Still waiting on a quote from Empire glass.

So far the price to beat is $280 from a local glass shop in Pullman, this frag tank project is getting more expensive by the day...

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

I'd call empire glass i tried quote over email and they never got back to me.. Why is it costing to so much is it the odd size of 3/8? I wonder if 1/2 would be cheaper at this point since its a common size?

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

Ok wow, i just called on my project i was going to build and empire quoted me $335.

It is a 50 gallon semi cube 24"x24"x20" 3/8" glass. I can't believe how expensive that is! My 10 gallon 1/4 semi cube was dirt cheap.

The lady said she talked to me this morning and i said no that wasn't me, but it was a guy from pullman and she wouldn't believe me, she was pretty rude.

Personally if i were you I would drop the height down to 10" and go with 1/4" glass that should make the price less than half.

This hobby is kind of backwards sometimes, usually DIY saves money but in this case it costs like 3x as much as buying a ready built tank

 

[estanoche]

My uncle own's GSI Glass in Deer Park - I know they will order in anything you want, and if you mention what Empire has quoted you, they'll do anything they can to save you a few bucks. Hell, my dad had them make little "aquariums" as he calls them for his gas station trinkets he loves to buy - Little 5 x 8 boxes for plastic figurines.. Go figure! lol

Nice small town folks if I don't say so myself

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

I think after that quote i'm just going to buy a 40 breeder lol.