Doors With Glass–Understanding Different Types of Glass

Monday July 8th, 2019

Doors with glass welcome in the natural light as well as add an open feel to any space. There are many different types or grades of glass as well as different glass designs that can be added to your Rustica door. Rustica offers more than just clear glass and frosted glass. We offer over a dozen different designer glass styles that you can choose from to customize your door. Let's start with understanding different types of glass. There are 6 different glass grades or types of glass.

Antique Glass

Antique glass is typically 3/16" thick , a thinner glass, rippled and wavy. Often times over 100 years old and breaks very easily shattering into many different sized pieces. It is not safety glass, very sharp when broken and dangerous when it breaks.

Annealed Glass

Annealed, or heat treated glass is the " modernized" antique glass. It is typically 1/8" thick and sometimes called double strength glass and is stronger than the older antique glass. Annealed glass is cuttable at home or at your shop if you are trying to replace a window or glass in your door and you need to cut the glass verses sending the glass off to a glass shop. It does break fairly easily and will cut you when it breaks, as annealed glass is not safety glass. This type of glass is not ideal for the bathroom or sidelights or where kids and pets would be at risk.

Tempered Glass

Tempered glass is twice as thick as annealed glass and comes in many different thicknesses, the most typical thicknesses are 1/4" thick , 1/8" thick and 3/`16" thick. 1/4" thick tempered glass is the most common and most popular thickness for tempered glass. It is heated first , cut and then heated again. Due to the fact that it is heated first and then cut, it is not possible to cut it at home or at your shop but needs to be cut at a glass shop. Tempered glass is used on automobiles for windshields and when it breaks it shatters into thousands of tiny pieces to prevent cutting or injuries. It is very hard to break and when broken the edges are safety glazed so they won't cut you.

Laminated Glass

Laminated Glass is 1/4" thick and is comprised of two pieces of glass with a very thin piece of plastic in between them. You cannot see the plastic. The makeup of this laminated glass is 1 piece of standard annealed glass, a thin piece of plastic and another piece of annealed glass. When this laminated glass breaks it is held together with the thin piece of plastic. This laminated glass is considered safety glass because of how it is constructed. It is very hard to break. It tends to splinter but not break as it held together tightly with the plastic and has two layers of glass pressed together.

Impact Glass

Impact Glass is typically ordered at 5/16" thick. It is similar to laminated glass in that it is comprised of two pieces of annealed glass with plastic in between them. The plastic is very thick with impact glass , much thicker than in laminated glass. You cannot see the plastic. With impact glass you can have a bowling ball hit the glass at 50 mph and the glass will not break. In fact hitting the glass with large object like a hammer multiple times won't even break the glass.

Insulated Glass

Insulated Glass Units or IGU glass is comprised of two pieces of glass with an air space in between the glass. Insulated glass is highly recommended for energy efficiency but is not safety glass. Insulated glass is perfect for front doors, exterior doors and windows as well as barn doors for outdoor applications.

Now that we know all about the different types of glass let's explore the different designer glass options that are available.