Stylin' Tiles

Tim Dunn paints primer into the front of the Fox Theatre yesterday afternoon, in preparation for the Vitrolite tile he will install to improve the appearance of the building on East Colfax Avenue.

Message From Tim Dunn, Vitrolite Specialist

What a year 2005 was for the Vitrolite Specialist! First of all thanks to everyone interested in preserving one of the world’s truly beautiful, modern materials. Your calls and e-mails keep me going and your work orders pay the bills and keep me in business.

High points of the year! Where do I start? My first shipment to the United Kingdom occurred this year, three pieces of 8” x 16” carmel agate to a fellow in London. I spent much of the year on the road, 17,000 miles, preserving Vitrolite from WV. to CO. and from WI. to TX. In February 2005 I removed 200 pieces of Suntan from a building in College Station, TX. and installed it in Charleston, WV in May! In August I removed 180 pieces in Marshalltown, IA. and sent it all to Charleston, WV. to restore the State Theater façade.

All year I’ve worked with the greatest group of customers any contractor could imagine, Vitrolite customers. What a fantastic group of people! After doing Vitrolite work for 20 years I can’t get over the fact that I work with one of the best groups of interested people, customers and other contractors. I feel like I’m not only saving a modern material but saving a trade and the time in history it represents.

 

Vitrolite Map

Click here to see a map of Tim's Vitrolite projects around the United States.

Restoring History Piece By Piece

You may have walked past it dozens -- or, perhaps, hundreds -- of times without noticing it. But for Vitrolite specialist Tim Dunn, older buildings with sleek tinted glass grab his attention and send him back in time when Vitrolite was the building material of choice.

This St. Louis man travels throughout the country restoring and replacing this once popular pigmented structural glass called Vitrolite. He arrived in Chillicothe on Thursday to start work on the Hotel Strand which is undergoing a major renovation to turn the historic building into apartments.

Vitrolite became popular in the early 1900's and was initially used for industrial purposes. Its non-porous surface was attractive for businesses that ranked sanitation as a high priority.