Authorized Optimum dealer · Ketchum, Idaho
Steel, for the thin lines and big openings nothing else gives you. Specified, supplied and installed in the Wood River Valley by the shop that has glazed this valley for 36 years.
Steel is the hard way to make a window. It is heavier than aluminum, it is welded rather than snapped together, and every unit is made to order. People choose it anyway for one reason: strength. A steel bar can be far thinner than an aluminum or wood one and still carry the glass, so the frame shrinks to a few dark lines and the opening is nearly all view.
That is why steel turns up on the houses in this valley that are built around what is outside them. A wall of glass looking at Baldy reads very differently when the grid holding it is slim steel instead of a thick frame. It is also why steel is specified more often by architects than by homeowners. It is a design decision first and a window purchase second.
We are an authorized Optimum dealer, and Optimum is the line we quote when a project calls for steel.
Optimum Window is an American manufacturer in Ellenville, New York. They have built custom steel windows and doors since 1985, and they make their systems in house at that plant.
Nothing comes off a shelf. Every unit is manufactured to approved shop drawings for the specific project, which is what lets an architect draw the opening first and have the window made to fit it. Their products carry AAMA and NFRC certification, the industry ratings for structural and thermal performance.
Thermally broken stainless steel. The RTS430 family, with a break in the frame between the inside and outside faces. This is the one to look at first for a house in a cold climate.
Thermally broken bronze. The same idea in bronze, for projects where the metal itself is part of the look.
Solid hot-rolled steel. Fully welded frames in the traditional steel window profiles, the ones a historic restoration or a true industrial look asks for.
Fire-rated units. Optimum makes operable fire-rated windows at 45, 60 and 90 minutes, which matters on commercial work and anywhere code calls for a rated opening.
Across the architectural line Optimum lists fully welded frames, multi-point hardware on windows and doors, powder-coat finishes to the AAMA 2604 and 2605 standards, and glazing pockets that take glass from 7/16 inch up to 1-3/4 inch. That last number is the one we care about, because it means the frame can carry a proper insulated unit.
The fair question about steel in Ketchum is the cold. Metal conducts heat, and a January night here will find any weak point in a wall. Two things answer it.
The first is the thermal break. In the thermally broken series the inside and outside of the frame are separated, so the cold face is not connected straight through to the warm one.
The second is the glass, which is most of the opening. Because steel frames are so slim, a steel window is a larger share glass than almost any other kind, so the glass you choose decides how the window performs. Optimum publishes whole-window U-values as low as 0.26 for fixed units and 0.42 for operable ones, depending on the glass. We spec that glass the way we do on every line: Low-E where the sun hits, and insulated units built for cold nights.
Because of their size. Optimum ships its frames unglazed and the glass goes in on site, since large custom units are easier to handle and set that way. That makes glazing a real part of the job rather than something done at a factory, and glazing is what this shop has done for 36 years.
It is a glass repair, not a window replacement. Optimum's frames generally use snap-in glazing beads, which come out so the glass can be replaced and go back in afterward. The frame stays where it is.
Kolbe VistaLuxe is contemporary aluminum with a slim frame and large glass, and for many modern houses it is the right answer. Steel goes thinner again and has a look aluminum does not quite copy, particularly in divided grids. If you are between the two, send the plans and we will quote both so the difference is a number instead of a guess.
Less than people expect. Optimum's guidance is that a painted finish lasts 10 to 15 years with minimal care, and minimal care means washing the frames twice a year.
You should. Steel is worth seeing in person. Call the shop and we will tell you what we have to show and set a time at the showroom in the Scott Building, 110 Lindsay Circle in Ketchum, Monday to Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm.
Steel is custom from the first drawing, so the order of work matters. The takeoff comes off your plans at our shop on Lewis Street. We measure after framing, because units are built to the opening and cannot be trimmed afterward. And the crew that sets them works out of Ketchum, so the people who measured the house are the ones standing behind the install.
For architects and builders: send drawings early. Getting steel specified correctly at the drawing stage is far cheaper than discovering a problem at install.
Optimum steel on a mountain house
Project photos from Optimum's own portfolio, shown to illustrate the line.
Speccing steel?
Upload the plan set and we will take off the openings and quote the package. Not sure steel is the right call? Say so and we will quote the alternative alongside it.
Where we work
Our shop is on Lewis Street in Ketchum. We cover the Wood River Valley from the top to the bottom, and the Sawtooth Valley over Galena Summit.
Sawtooth ValleyStanley, Sawtooth City & Smiley Creek, over Galena SummitRepair or replacement? Get a ballpark price in about a minute. Bigger custom project? Request a quote and we'll take it from measurement to final polish.
