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Refresh your home for spring with glass paint

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Refresh your home for spring with glass paint

Refresh your home for spring with glass paint

Spring is a great time to update the look and feel of your home . If you’re looking for something less than a full rebuild, but more than just a new coat of paint, consider adding a layer of painted glass. Painted glass surfaces are easy to make and look great once you’re finished. They’re also super easy to care for, which makes them ideal for use in the kitchen and bathroom.

Glass paint can work wonders in the kitchen

Backpainted glass is an ideal protective surface. Since the unpainted side of the glass faces outward, it can be cleaned and sterilized using ordinary household cleaners. It readily takes caulk, which means you can seal out water along splashblocks and seams in the glass panels.

GlassPrimer™ glass paint is specially engineered to work with glass surfaces. Unlike ordinary paint, it doesn’t simply dry on the surface of the glass. Instead, it forms a nanoscale bond with the glass, so it won’t chip or peel once the paint is cured. And because the paint is UV-resistant, it won’t fade, even when exposed to direct sunlight.

This is ideal for use in the kitchen, where the temperature and humidity can vary significantly. Being able to clean and sanitize the surface using ordinary household cleaners means that your glass surfaces will always look great.

Glass is inexpensive and can be cut to fit the exact profile of your walls. For a project like a backsplash, you can also use a thin sheet of glass. A ¼” glass laminate will provide an elegant look and feel without adding a significant amount of weight to the wall. The glass laminate can be attached using neutral-cure silicone caulk.

One of the great advantages that GlassPrimer™ glass paint brings to a project like this is the coverage. The paint covers the glass surface so well that you don’t see the adhesive through the glass. You might say that the uniform appearance of the finished project is the “difference you can’t see!”

If you’d like more information about glass paint or how to use it in your home, please visit the rest of our website.

Photo Credit: Casey Myers, via Flickr

Glass paint can transform a bad scene

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Glass paint can transform a bad scene

Glass paint can transform a bad scene

Nothing transforms a room like a pleasant view. Unfortunately, not all windows have a pleasant view! Urban landscapes lead to a lot of unfortunate construction – and that creates a lot of rooms “without a view.” Whether your view is blocked by a giant brick building, an addition with unusual geometry, a basement egress or something equally unappealing, glass paint may be just what you need to rehabilitate a bad look.

Use glass paint to hide a poor view

No one wants to give up a window that lets in daylight, but who wants to look at a brick or cement wall, graffiti or an unattractive view. It can change the entire look of a room. You can cover up the window with window treatments, introduce distractions or even place a frosted film on the glass, but that won’t change the issue, which is that the view from the window looks bad.

Here’s an idea: turn the window into a work of art using glass paint. Glass paint is specially designed to coat glass. It does more than simply adhere to the surface. GlassPrimer™ glass paint is specially formulated to bond permanently with the surface of the paint.

It can be tinted to match virtually any color, and won’t fade, even when exposed to direct sunlight. GlassPrimer™ glass paint can be applied directly to window glass. There’s no need to remove the window, so remedying a bad view becomes an easy do-it-yourself project with glass paint! You can use regular painting tools, and clean-up is easy.

GlassPrimer™ glass paint can be applied to give a translucent or frosted finish, which will allow light to penetrate the window, but will block unpleasant views. It also provides a measure of privacy. It’s a great, cost-effective alternative to frosted glass.

Whether you’re looking to create a work of art, or simply cover up a dismal view, GlassPrimer™ glass paint can help. In a few short hours, you can transform the look of a space from “urban awful” to “urban chic” without completely sacrificing daylight.

If you’d like more information about glass paint, or would like to see some glass paint project ideas, please visit the rest of our site.

Photo Credit: jencu, via Flickr

Could glass paint replace stained glass?

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Could glass paint replace stained glass?

Could glass paint replace stained glass?

If you follow events in the art world, one of the most interesting emerging controversies surrounds stained glass. While the term “stained glass” can apply to glass that’s been painted, colored, enameled, tinted or truly stained, it typically refers to the latter. Artisans have stained or colored glasses for thousands of years, but as an art form, stained glass emerged during the Roman Empire.

Glass paint could be a safe substitute

Today, the safety of stained glass manufacturing methods has been called into question. The intense colors used in stained glass art derives mostly from toxic metals that are added to molten glass during production. Mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium and selenium are all known neurotoxins. At the high temperatures required for glass production, these metals are vaporized and are released into the air. They accumulate in significant quantities around glass furnaces. Expensive exhaust filtration systems can be installed to capture the toxic particles, but the cost of these systems is often beyond what an art-glass furnace can or will spend.

That’s left artisans looking for a substitute for glass colorants. As it turns out, they may not need to look far. At its artistic high point in the Middle Ages, stained glass production underwent a significant transformation. Artisans stopped using heavy metal additives to achieve color in glass and turned instead to glass paint techniques. For about 500 years, most “stained” glass was actually painted glass. In the mid-1800’s, European and American glassmakers revived medieval stained glass production techniques, and those are the glass formulations that are under fire today.

Although it was largely reserved for churches during the Middle Ages, decorative stained glass made its way into homes and businesses. About 90% of the stained glass that’s produced today is intended for display in homes and offices. Historic preservation and restoration are actually driving the question about stained glass manufacturing. Antique stained glass windows were often installed in higher-end homes from the mid-1800’s until the Great Depression. Only a fraction of this stained glass art in historic homes still survives. A similar question is facing historic churches – how best can stained glass art be preserved?

Environmental and health concerns about stained glass windows (which typically contain lead beading), may render the question academic. While the number of glass furnaces that can safely produce true stained glass diminishes, more artisans may move to the use of glass paint, which dominated the stained glass art world for about 500 years. A significant number of painted glass artworks survive, and artists are scrambling to relearn glass paint techniques.

Modern glass paint offers a number of options, including a wider range of colors. It also eliminates the need to fire finished glass pieces to bind the paint to the glass.

GlassPrimer™ glass paint was not specifically designed for fine art applications, but it provides exceptional coverage, a broad range of colors and can be used in both interior and exterior applications. It’s also UV-resistant, so it won’t fade, even in direct sunlight.

For more information about GlassPrimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our website.

Photo Credit: Lawrence OP, via Flickr

Backpainted Glass Is An Ideal Surface

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Backpainted Glass Is An Ideal Surface

Backpainted Glass Is An Ideal Surface

If you’re looking for a tough yet practical surface for use in a kitchen or bath, consider backpainted glass. Backpainted glass offers the advantages of brilliant color and an easy-to-clean surface that’s ideal for those demanding areas of your home.

Backpainted glass can be used to protect walls and surfaces without compromising on color or style. Glassprimer™ glass paint can be tinted to match the paint palette of virtually any paint manufacturer. Whether you’re looking for neutral tones or a brilliant splash of color, you can find what you’re looking for with Glassprimer™ glass paint.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is easy to apply using ordinary painting tools. We recommend the use of a high-volume, low-pressure paint sprayer for complete and even coverage. Even application ensures the lowest overall drying time between coats, which helps keep your paint project moving forward.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is also economical. You can achieve excellent coverage for about $1 per square foot. With our expert color matching, you can confidently use Glassprimer™ in those areas where it’s needed, and conventional matching paint in areas that are best suited for it.

Mounting backpainted glass is easy. We recommend the use of a neutral cure silicone adhesive or a mirror mastic. Both adhesives dry quickly and they’re strong enough to support the weight of glass. Better still, the adhesives will not show through the paint, so you get a smooth, attractive appearance on the finished product.

Glass works well as a surface in kitchens and bathrooms. Glass can tolerate household cleaners and sanitizers very well, so your surface can be washed regularly with no impact on the paint color or the integrity of the painted surface.

While glass is tough enough to use in the most demanding areas of your home, you can also use glass surfaces in virtually any room of your home. Glassprimer™ glass paint is a low-odor, low-VOC preparation, so you can use it comfortably in your home.

If you’d like to learn more about using Glassprimer™ glass paint to decorate surfaces in your home, please visit the rest of our site.
Photo Credit: Design Initiative, via Flickr.com

UV Light Resistance and Glass Paint

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UV Light Resistance and Glass Paint

UV Light Resistance and Glass Paint

We tend to forget that light contains components that we can’t see. Our eyes are able to detect only a portion of all of the light frequencies that the Sun emits. The invisible light waves – called ultra-violet and infrared light – are easy to forget about, until you see their effects.

Infrared light is responsible for heat generation. When you sit in the sun, your body is taking advantage of the heat that IR light generates. At the same time, you’re exposing yourself to ultraviolet rays, which cause sunburns! While you can’t see either IR light or UV light, you can certainly feel their effects.

As it turns out, a lot of things are negatively impacted by UV radiation. Packaging experts spend a lot of time trying to create protection against UV radiation because it can damage products, even while they sit on the shelf in the store.

Food products and cosmetics are particularly susceptible to UV damage, so coatings that protect package contents are exceptionally important. Glass is a common packaging material for a wide range of products, and Glassprimer™ glass paint can help reduce UV infiltration. Because it’s specially designed to block UV radiation, it can protect product quality and improve product longevity.

Ordinary paint fades. The change in color is gradual, so you may not notice it at first, but sunlight damages paint. It changes the color and can make the paint chip, crack and peel. The UV protection in Glassprimer™ glass paint means that the paint will not fade, even when it is exposed to direct sunlight over a long period of time. It also resists cracking and peeling, which means that it will look great year after year after year.

If you have a tough-to-manage spot in your home or office – one that’s exposed regularly to sunlight or that has a history of chipping, fading or peeling, Glassprimer™ glass paint could provide the ideal solution. Simply backpaint glass in the color of your choice and mount the glass to the wall, using a neutral cure silicone adhesive, and enjoy beautiful color with minimal maintenance.

Photo Credit: Natasha Wheatland, via Flickr.com

Glass Decorating Enjoys a Revival

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Glass Decorating Enjoys a Revival

Glass Decorating Enjoys a Revival

Glass is an exceptional decorating and design material, and you have to admit that it has a lot going for it. It’s inexpensive when compared to other decorating materials. It’s versatile. It’s generally a “local” product. It’s simple. It transmits light. It’s practical. It can be used in interiors or exteriors. It’s generally safe. It’s a great sound insulator. It’s elegant – the list goes on.

Despite these clear advantages, glass wasn’t heavily used in decoration until relatively recently. Fortunately, designers are rediscovering the long list of benefits that glass offers. Improvements in glass have made it possible to safely incorporate glass into virtually every area of a home or office space.

Laminated and tempered glasses offer protection from breakage and potential injury. That enables glass to be used safely in doors, room dividers, displays and even in furniture. Although the transparency of glass can make it a useful decorating material, you can enhance the glass by coating it with paint.

Ordinary paints won’t bond to glass because paint is designed to adhere to porous surfaces. Because the paint can’t adhere to non-porous glass, it is vulnerable to chipping, peeling and fading once the paint has dried. It also fares poorly in high humidity environments.

Glass paint is specially formulated, so it does more than coat glass. It creates a nanoscale bond with the surface of the glass, so once it is cured, the paint is bonded permanently. It will not chip or peel because it actually modifies the surface of the glass. Ordinary paint doesn’t do that. In addition, Glassprimer™ glass paint is designed to provide superior UV resistance, so it won’t fade, even when it’s exposed to direct sunlight. That makes it ideal for a variety of painting projects that incorporate glass.

Glass has a number of decorating advantages. If it isn’t currently on your list of go-to materials, it should be!

Photo Credit: Chuck Berridge, via Flickr.com

Iconic Glass Structures – Cayan Tower

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Iconic Glass Structures – Cayan Tower

Iconic Glass Structures – Cayan Tower

Dubai is fast becoming the “go-to” city for iconic architecture. The city is home to some of the most unusual and challenging new building designs. The glass and concrete Cayan Tower is in good company. Initially called the Infinity Tower, Cayan Tower is a 73-story building with a twist – a 90° twist, to be exact.

Cayan Tower opened in 2013, and at the time of its debut, was the tallest “twisted tower” in the world. It has since been eclipsed by the Shanghai Tower, another twisted tower in China. It is currently the 86th tallest building in the world and the 23rd tallest building in the Middle East. Construction on the tower began in 2006 and was interrupted for about a year and a half to correct flooding problems in the tower’s foundation.

Cayan Tower is a luxury apartment and condominium project. Each above-grade floor is identical, but each floor is offset by 1.2°, giving the tower its distinctive helical shape. The twist is more than just a visual gimmick. The offset of each floor is enough to provide a self-shading building, which reduces the building’s overall energy consumption. In addition, the building’s twisted shape helps to shield the building from airborne sand, which can be carried by daily winds in Dubai.

The building’s concrete superstructure is specially cooled to help the building discharge heat that may have built up during the day. The overnight cooling system helps reduce the building’s daytime energy consumption. The windows in each unit are operable, which enables residents to take advantage of natural ventilation when the weather conditions permit.

Although the Cayan Tower provides exceptional views of the Dubai Marina and the Arabian Gulf, not all urban buildings are blessed with beautiful views. If that describes your situation, you can improve your view by using Glassprimer™ glass paint to coat your windows. Glassprimer™ glass paint provides translucent coverage, to permit light transmission and effectively transform an unpleasant view.

If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our site.

Photo Credit: Guilheim Vellut, via Flickr.com

Design rehabs feature light and glass

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Design rehabs feature light and glass

Design rehabs feature light and glass

Remodeling can be an exceptional challenge for designers. Working in a space that’s already been designed can sometimes limit what you can do. For example, building interiors in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s featured a lot of dark, heavy materials. Those buildings are dated, and many of them are due for major rehab work.

Contemporary designs are visually light. They try to make the most of natural lighting and favor open floor plans. Dark woods, stone and granite don’t do a good job of transmitting natural light, so designers look for substitute materials that can transform the space and create a more contemporary look.

Designers are turning to lighter colored marbles and composites to replace dark marble, dark wood and granite. They’re opening floor plans by removing interior walls and replacing them with glass dividers.

Retail redesigns are taking significant inspiration from the latest Apple store design. The new Apple footprint features soaring glass doors that open the entire retail space. This approach blurs the distinction between indoor and outdoor, and welcomes buyers into a unique retail space.

Another new innovation that will quickly make its appearance in redesigns is “invisible” glass. The term is a bit shocking – considering that glass is the ultimate transparent material – but so-called invisible glass is ultraclear, ultra white and looks fantastic in any application.

Another indispensable decorating tool for glass surfaces is Glassprimer™ glass paint. Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially formulated to bond to glass and other impervious surfaces. It can be color-matched to virtually any color available from any major paint manufacturer, so it can be integrated easily into virtually any decorating plan. Because Glassprimer™ glass paint is highly UV resistant, you can be confident that your glass paint project will look great year after year, even when the paint is exposed to direct sunlight.

Please visit our site to learn more about glass paint, and how you can incorporate it into your decorating plans.

Photo Credit: Local Louisville, via Flickr.com

Stained Glass Inspires Computer Game

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Stained Glass Inspires Computer Game

Stained Glass Inspires Computer Game

Artists have used stained glass for years to inspire both themselves and their admirers, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that software developers at Mangatar would turn to stained glass as a motif for their latest computer game, Little Briar Rose.

The cross-platform point-and-click fantasy adventure game uses “stained glass” visuals throughout the game, which is populated by fairies, gnomes, wizards and princesses. The stained glass style was chosen to give the game an “ancient fairy tale” feel.

Creating a computer simulation of stained glass is complex, but computer developers don’t face the same challenges that artists who make genuine stained glass do. Lately, stained glass artisans have been working to confront the fact that their chosen medium can carry some serious environmental risks.

The deep, vibrant colors that are characteristic of stained glass come from heavy metals and toxic compounds like arsenic, cadmium, chromium, selenium and lead. Further, typical stained glass windows use lead beading to hold the colored glass pieces and create the classic stained glass look.

The raw materials for stained glass and furnaces willing to make stained glass are becoming more scarce. Artists are always looking for alternative media that enable them to create similar works more safely.

Glass paint can be an ideal substitute for traditional stained glass. The range and depth of glass paint colors is amazing. Painted glass has been an art form for hundreds of years. In fact, many “stained” glass windows are actually painted glass.

Modern glass paints, like Glassprimer™ glass paint are engineered to bond to glass surfaces permanently. This eliminates the need to fire the paint once it has been applied to the glass. Glassprimer™ glass paint is also translucent and UV resistant, so light will filter through it, and the colors won’t fade, even in direct sunlight.

Please visit our site to learn more about Glassprimer™ glass paint.

Photo Credit: Steven Snodgrass, via Flickr.com

Bird Lovers Throw Flag On Vikings Glass Stadium

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Bird Lovers Throw Flag On Vikings Glass Stadium

Bird Lovers Throw Flag On Vikings Glass Stadium

The Minnesota Vikings’ new home is less than a year old, but conservationists are already assessing a penalty on US Bank Stadium for its mirrored glass surface. Avian experts say the building is a deathtrap for birds, and points to at least 60 bird deaths during the NFL season that were attributed to collisions with the building. Bird lovers also collected an additional 14 birds that crashed into the building, but survived.

The new stadium is made of highly reflective glass, which birds cannot distinguish from open sky. The result – birds are crashing into the building at a rate that alarms animal welfare groups. Using the figures collected so far, conservationists say that the stadium will likely cause the deaths of hundreds of birds over the next three years. They also point out that their figures don’t include bird carcasses that the stadium caretakers removed.

Before construction was completed on the stadium, the Audubon Society raised serious concerns about the building’s mirrored glass surface, and warned that the proposed design would result in a high number of bird-building collisions. The Audubon Society proposed coating the building’s glass surface to make it more visible to birds, but the owners declined.

A new study will be conducted over the next two years to re-examine the issue of safety for local birds, but until the study is completed, the owners have no plans to modify the outside of the taxpayer-funded stadium.

Avian experts estimate that collisions with glass buildings account for about 1 billion bird deaths each year worldwide. They propose modifying the surface of glass to make it easier for birds to distinguish structures from open air.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specially engineered glass coating that can help increase the visibility of a building by modifying the surface of glass. Changing the reflectivity of glass through the use of glass paint can make a building more bird-friendly without disturbing a building’s visual aesthetics.

Photo Credit: Paul VanDerWerf, via Flickr