A Clear Reflection on Quality
Family values make USI Courtesy Glass shine
From custom homes and commercial towers to multiple city block storefront projects, USI Courtesy Glass has created a niche in custom glass solutions. The company, a division of TopBuild Corp., maintains a team of about 75 glass experts to serve business and residential customers throughout Washington State’s Seattle and Southern Puget Sound region, maintaining locations in Woodinville and Auburn. Its custom glass solutions run the gamut: from residential shower surrounds to complex commercial storefronts.
Steve Markle, the company’s Commercial Sales/Project Manager, who has been a glazier for over 15 years, believes that USI Courtesy Glass is the best company in the country because of its employees. “We take pride in the quality of our products and, as a result, have a large amount of repeat business,” he says.
Markle’s words are underscored by Division Manager Brad Hamilton: “We are proud of the quality and amount of work our people are able to produce.” Hamilton says he and his management team strive to maintain work schedules with a minimum of overtime, but he says they do all they can to make sure everything is just right for the customer. “Install it like it is in your own home” is a company mantra and is foundational to the work ethic at the firm.
Many customers who repeatedly return to USI Courtesy Glass have come to trust the firm on a handshake level. “We have established relationships with many general contractors who like our detailed bids and trust that we understand the scope of the project,” Hamilton says. “We very rarely have to use change orders to cover work that is not captured in our bids.”
An Intricate Process
Working with glass requires precision, talent and a skill set honed through time and trials. Patience and attention to detail is a must. With incredibly tight tolerances in most projects, great care must be given by the person taking the field measurements, by the craftsman working on the final product in the shop and by the installer who makes it all come together.
The process begins on location. Working with a team of seven sales and design consultants, a well-trained and experienced crew will arrive after all the wall prep has been done to take the final measurements. Consideration has to be given to functionality and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) codes as well as aesthetics. Allowances are also made for odd angles or walls that aren’t quite true. Back at the impressively large manufacturing shop, the selected material is cut and finished, and then prepped for installation. One intricate cutting machine functions like an air hockey table, suspending the large 8-foot x 10-foot plates of glass on a cushioned surface to allow for multiple cuts before being shifted to another table to be divided into custom-sized and -shaped pieces. The smaller pieces are then run through another machine, which smooths the edges using a sanding belt. Skilled crews that specialize in interior or exterior jobs get to work making sure that each item fits perfectly and is pleasing to the eye as well. Whether they are putting in a custom shower enclosure or hanging glass 30 feet above the ground, each project must be carefully and safely installed.
Stressing Safety
Hamilton stresses that safety is as important as quality in products and in life. To that end, the company holds weekly safety meetings in addition to making sure to meet or exceed OSHA guidelines on its jobs. “We also hold safety training modules monthly to ensure that all employees are trained properly on all machinery and lifts,” Hamilton says. “Construction is a dangerous industry, and we’re determined to stay safe.”
Markle is quick to add that weekly meetings are a great way to create a culture of acceptance and openness. He also stresses the importance of family values and a life-work balance as a major influence on the company culture.
“It’s great to work at a place where everyone knows everyone else’s name,” says Jeff Wold, Production Manager, whose duties include overseeing the installers and all manufacturing, as well as some purchasing. Family-friendly values are clearly foundational in the firm. In the corridors of the company, one finds that many employees are from the same family or lifelong friends. “Everyone supports each other. We look after each other on the job and off,” Markle adds.
Community and family go hand in hand within the organization. Donations are made and time given to local football programs as well as the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County. Recently, Brad Hamilton and USI Courtesy Glass were recognized for their support of the Guard and Reserve by the Office of the Secretary of Defense. According to Hamilton, it is “the right thing to do” to pay anyone who is away on reserve duty and guarantee a job to returning deployed employees, whether voluntarily or as dictated by law. They have donated mirrors and shelving units to both the Vision House, a shelter that strives to break the cycle of homelessness for local women and children, and the Bethany Compassion Center in Everett that also works to help its less fortunate neighbors.
Building a Future
In 2017, USI Courtesy Glass had their biggest project to date, Bryant Heights, in the heart of Seattle’s thriving neighborhoods. It gave them the assurance they needed to continue growing the commercial business and take on larger projects. A mixed-use building with retail on the ground level and residences above, it created a livable work community in the city. By blending brick, glass and other building materials, it complements nearby structures. Other general contractors saw this project, liked the quality and began to offer USI Courtesy Glass much larger projects. One is the old government building at 830 Oregon Square in Portland. No other local glazier was willing to take on the challenge of restoring the 1928 building’s original steel frames. Hamilton says, “You can make anything happen if you have a good team under you.” Considering that they have tripled their business in the past five years, Markle remarks, “I am interested to see how it goes. We can’t go backward, so I am excited for the future.”
Jeff Wold says that one of the best parts about working construction is being able to look back at a building or project years later and say, “I helped make that. We made the world a little more beautiful.”