Making your home safe and secure

Glass and glazing literally provides a window into our homes. While this has many benefits, if the right glass isn’t used in the right situation then it can compromise your safety and security. So, this section will feature articles and case studies showing you how you can use products such as toughened glass to add an extra level of security to your home. Or how you can use laminated glass for safety and also how you can achieve greater privacy in an otherwise none-private area by using frosted or tinted glass.

If making you home safe and secure is your priority then this area of the Think Glass hub is perfect for you. We know how important safety and security is in making a house feel like a home, so read on to find out more.

TOUGHENED AND LAMINATED GLASS EXPLAINED

It’s used to resist bullets, bombs, manual attack and adverse weather, saving lives and preventing serious injury. We’re not talking about a superhero but simply panes of glass. Whether it’s toughened or laminated glass, it can make a huge difference to your safety and security.

Before we explain how this fabulous material is made, it’s worth defining exactly what a piece of finished toughened glass actually is.

“A piece of flat glass that has been modified through various heat treatments to make it stronger. Following the modification, the glass remains as clear and transparent as ordinary glass but is up to six times harder to break, and can resist impacts that would shatter ordinary untreated glass.”

If a pane of toughened glass does break, it breaks into many small, round or cube-shaped pieces – making it much safer than ordinary glass when it breaks – usually into large, sharp, jagged shards.

It is because of this different kind of fragmentation when a pane of toughened glass breaks that it is referred to as “safety glass” – not just because of its greater toughness and resistance to breakage.

So how is glass toughened?

The Hot and Cold Method (most glass is toughened by using this method) involves heating a piece of glass in a furnace at a temperature of around 600 degrees, before cooling the glass with jets of cold air. The extreme heat followed by the cold air compresses the surfaces of glass while the inside of the glass remains free to flow and form for a time. While the glass is coming back to normal “room” temperature, the surfaces harden/toughen making it harder to break while the inside of the glass changes its stress patterns so if the glass does break it fragments into small cubes.

How does laminated glass work?

With laminated glass it’s all about keeping the glass fragments together when breakage or shattering occurs. It’s a straightforward process. A layer of adhesive (polyvinyl butyral or ethylene-vinyl acetate if you want to be scientific) is placed between two or more layers of glass. The interlayer keeps the layers of glass bonded even when broken, and its high strength prevents the glass from breaking up into large sharp pieces.

So where are toughened and laminated glass panes used?

Both types of glass are used where there is a risk to safety or security. Both in event of glass breaking or to prevent glass from breaking.

You’ll find toughened and / or laminated glass is used to make a window or door hard to break or breakthrough and strong enough to take impact from all types of pressure or attack such as manual or explosive or from natural phenomena (such as earthquakes).

So if you want to make your property safer and more secure, toughened and laminated glazing can be a great option for peace of mind.

For more on these options ask you nearest GGF installer.

Simply use the search directory at the top of this page and find your nearest installers.