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Tag Archive for: safety glass

Jail awaits fire glass faker

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Jail awaits fire glass faker

Jail awaits fire glass faker

An Irish glass manufacturer who sold ordinary laminated glass as fire-rated glass received a sentence of 12 months in jail earlier this month. Glassworks Ireland sold the ersatz fire glass to schools, hospitals, universities, churches and nursing homes throughout Ireland, England and other European countries.

Fire-safe glass is typically rated in minutes, and describes the amount of time the glass can withstand fire and heat damage before failing. The purpose of fire-rated glass is not to prevent fire from spreading, but rather to increase the amount of time available for building occupants to make a safe escape. In addition, fire-rated safety glass uses special framing that is matched to the fire resistance of the glazing.

The fake fire glass is actually ordinary laminated glass, which can be purchased for around $1-$2 per square foot. After re-labeling it as fire-related glass, the company resold it for $18 – $33 per square foot. Prosecutors are not aware of any injuries that could be attributed to the phony glass.

The company sold the glass for about two years, and prosecutors claim that owner Seamus Laverty made about $175,000 in profits on the fraud. The judge noted that while his profits were not outrageous, the potential danger he created and the environments in which he placed the inadequate glass demanded a sentence that included jail time.

The investigation conducted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland relied on dozens of building contractors who assisted in identifying the affected glass. To date, the agency has identified nearly 100 sites where the glass was installed. Police estimate that the final cost of the fraud, which has yet to be confirmed, exceeds $600,000. The company has already begun replacing the laminated glass with genuine fire-rated safety glass.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specialized glass coating that bonds permanently to glass surfaces. GlassPrimer also makes a glass surface molecular activator that is designed to work with UV-inkjet glass printing processes. For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: There is no roseability, via Flickr.com

Glass Yankee Candle products recalled

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Glass Yankee Candle products recalled

Glass Yankee Candle products recalled

Yankee Candles is voluntarily recalling about 31,000 scented candles in square glass holders that the company sold between September 2016 and November 2016. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which investigated consumer complaints regarding the product, lit candles can generate enough heat to crack the glass holders.

The CPSC received reports of 16 candleholders that broke while the candle was lit. The broken candleholders could cause a laceration injury, but the CPSC was not aware of any injuries that had occurred due to the defect.

Yankee Candle encourages consumers who purchased the company’s Luminous Collection candles to return the product (in any condition) to the company for a full refund. The scented candles were produced in six fragrances, including Sea Salt and Coral, Blackberry and Sage, Apple Blossom and Melon, Sugarcane and Honey, Pine and Sandalwood, and Cinnamon and Cedar. The recalled products originally retailed for $35.

Glass that is intended for use around heat sources should be tempered for safety. Tempered glass can resist heat damage up to about 400°. Glass has become a very popular decorating material. Tempering the glass can not only help the glass resist sudden or significant changes in temperature, it can also help the glass to absorb impacts better without shattering.

If you intend to use glass in large volumes to decorate your home – as a wall covering or countertop material – consult with a local glass shop before installing plate glass. A glass shop can provide custom fit, tempered glass for use in your home. Tempered glass cannot be cut once it has been heat-treated, so it must be fit prior to heat treatment.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specialized glass coating that bonds permanently to glass surfaces. GlassPrimer also makes a glass surface molecular activator that is designed to work with UV-inkjet glass printing processes. For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Consumer Product Safety Commission/Yankee Candle

Shatterproof glass worked in NYC

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Shatterproof glass worked in NYC

Shatterproof glass worked in NYC

Following the 9/11 attacks, New York City required many buildings to retrofit with shatterproof glass. The benefits of the retrofit were evident last week when homemade bombs exploded in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. While the blasts did cause some limited damage, one thing that did not happen is that street-level glass didn’t shatter or break as the result of the explosions.

Shatterproof glass required after 9/11

Surveillance video of the area during the blast showed just what the city hoped – windows remained intact, instead of showering broken glass onto pedestrians in the street. Shatterproof glass contains a layer of plastic between two panes of glass. When the shatterproof glass panes break, they don’t shatter randomly, like ordinary glass. Instead, the broken glass remains bonded together – exactly what’s needed in situations like the one in Chelsea.

Shatterproof glass isn’t new; in fact, it’s more than 100 years old. The first patent for breakage-resistant glass was issued in 1909, although the glass itself was invented in 1902. The need for shatterproof glass became evident when manufacturers first started incorporate glass into automobiles. By the mid-1930’s, shatterproof glass was standard in automobiles.

Shatterproof glass may have been a required component of automobiles for more than 80 years, but it typically isn’t required in ordinary buildings. While the Uniform Building Code has required shatterproof glass in buildings since 1991, the requirements focused primarily on doors, glass panels in and near doors, and glass in safety situations. Very large windows, windows in close proximity to a walking surface, and glass in wet areas like bathrooms, may also be made of shatterproof glass. The NYC requirements focused on windows, regardless of their proximity to doors, walking paths or even size.

Tempered glass is a form of safety glass, but it’s far from shatterproof. In fact, tempered glass is known to shatter in a rather explosive way. The benefit of tempered glass in a breakage situation is that like shatterproof glass, it doesn’t break randomly. Tempered glass, which is heat-treated and specially cooled at the time of manufacture, breaks into uniform pieces that won’t create significant injuries, even if the pieces become airborne.

Shatterproof glass looks like ordinary glass, and it can be decorated, painted or printed like ordinary glass. Glassprimer™ glass paint will create a permanent bond with tempered glass, thanks to its specially engineered nature. In addition to resisting chipping, peeling and fading, it also offers superior UV resistance.

If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Will Taylor, via Flickr.com

Wired Glass: Safe or not?

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Wired Glass: Safe or not?

Wired Glass: Safe or not?

You’ve seen wired glass. It’s used in doors and windows, and has an open wire mesh built into it. Many people assume that it’s safety glass, but it’s not. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, traditional wired glass doesn’t meet the organization’s glass safety impact standard.

Wired glass isn’t safety glass

In the late 1970’s, the CPSC determined that wired glass posed a serious danger and imposed size restrictions on its use. The size restrictions recognized that the glass had a very limited ability to survive impact stresses. The glass, which is weaker than safety glass, wasn’t banned outright because at the time the rule was made, wired glass was the only fire-rated glass product on the market. Because of this, wired glass was granted a compliance exemption for impact strength, specifically for academic and athletic applications.

By the early 2000’s, new safety glass had become widely available, and traditional wired glass lost its impact strength exemption. Any replacement glass in these locations had to meet the new strength requirements, and glass used in athletic environments had to meet an even more stringent safety standard. Traditional wired glass can be used as door lights, as long as it does not exceed the maximum size limits allowed by the CPSC standard.

The debate about wired glass is not about its relative safety in a fire. Wired glass – especially traditional wired glass – is weaker than regular glass and was installed liberally in schools, largely for its fire rating. Unfortunately, wired glass is responsible for more than 2,500 injuries annually in schools alone. Most injuries occur when a child accidentally impacts the window and the glass breaks.

School building codes do not permit the installation of traditional wired glass in certain areas, and limits the permissible size of wired glass windows in other locations. At the same time, building codes do not require the glass to be removed, either. Generally speaking, insurers and building inspectors recommend that wired glass be removed from areas where impacts are possible or likely.

Alternatives to wired glass exist, including a wired glass that incorporates a safety film. The film improves the impact resistance of glass and reduces the potential for serious injury in the event of a catastrophic impact. Other fire rated options that are more aesthetically pleasing are also available.

At GlassPaint.com, we can’t offer an improved safety rating, but we can definitely improve the aesthetics of glass. Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially engineered to bond to the surface of glass. Once cured, Glassprimer™ glass paint is permanent, and resists UV light damage, chipping, peeling and fading. We can also match any palette from any major paint manufacturer. If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Frank Servayge , via Flickr.com

Glass safety takes center stage

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Glass safety takes center stage

Glass safety takes center stage

Glass is a beautiful architectural and decorating surface. Because ordinary glass shatters into razor-sharp shards, glass safety is a primary concern. Some dramatic demonstrations of glass safety made the news last week, as China’s Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon bridge, perched more than 1,000 feet above the ground, is prepared for its grand opening.

Glass safety on display

Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge
Volunteers lined the 1,400 meter-long Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon glass bottom bridge, which is nearing its Grand Opening. As the somewhat nervous spectators looked on, one of the bridge’s glass panels was smashed with a sledgehammer, mostly to no avail. The top panel of the glass was cracked, but after more than a dozen other blows rained down on the bridge’s surface, the bottom two glass layers of the bridge stayed quite intact. In addition to suffering abuse by the sledgehammer, the bridge operators drove a 15-ton truck across the span, and allowed 25 brave tourists to jump on the cracked glass panel, all with no ill results. The structure is rated to hold 800 tourists at a time. The bridge held the demonstration to prove the safety of the structure, which will open to tourists in July.

University of North Dakota Ralph Engelstad Arena
Over the summer, the University of North Dakota will enhance the safety of the glass and boards at the university’s Ralph Engelstad Arena. The arena will install new safety glass around the ice surface, and will also take steps to increase the safety of the rink’s dasher boards. The new glass panels are actually made from acrylic and will flex when a player comes in contact with them. The flex is important in preventing serious physical injuries to players. In addition to adding flexible glass, the arena will add a new dasher board system, which will also flex when players make contact with it. A soft, rubberized cap on top of the dashers will also reduce the possibility of serious injury resulting from player contact. More than 90% of NHL arenas employ the same glass safety systems.

Liverpool University
Romag, a UK glass manufacturer has completed the installation of 3 interior pedestrian bridges for Liverpool University’s Materials Innovation Factory, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2016. Romag is one of the UK’s largest suppliers of laminated architectural glass, and delivered the walkways fully glazed, which reduced the complexity of the installation process.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a great addition to interior glass designs, and works on all types of glass, as well as acrylic and Plexiglas;™. If you’re looking for inspiration for a glass project, please view the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Sarah Williams, via FreeImages.com

Types of safety glass

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Types of safety glass

Types of safety glass

In an earlier post, we looked at some common types of glass and how they’re made. In this post, we’ll look at some types of safety glass, and where they can are used.

The most common types of safety glass

Tempered glass. Tempered glass (also known as toughened glass) is the most common type of safety glass. The tempering process balances the compression of the outer surface with tension on the inner surfaces of the glass. This improves the strength and impact resistance of the glass. Glass can be tempered by a carefully controlled heating and cooling process, or by a chemical process. It also changes the way the glass responds to a catastrophic impact. Tempered glass breaks into cubes, rather than shattering into shards, the way ordinary plate and container glasses do. Tempered glass has been used in automotive windows, and in architectural applications like doors and windows. Tempered glass is also used in furniture, “ovenproof” cookware (e.g., Pyrex), shower doors, and other applications where shattered glass would be particularly dangerous. Tempered glass is recommended for use in kitchens that feature backpainted glass. Tempered glass can safely be used in areas where the temperature exceeds 400° F, so it can be used safely around stoves and ovens.

Georgian wired. Georgian wired is another type of safety glass that incorporates a thin-gauge wire mesh. The wire mesh used in Georgian wired glass may be as small as ½” or as large as ¾”. Usually, the glass is ¼” thick, and is fire-rated for 45 minutes. Georgian wired glass is not classified as a “barrier to heat,” but it is intended for openings (including windows and doors) that do not require an impact safety rating. The advantage of Georgian wired glass is that if the glass is shattered, the wire will hold the glass in place. The wire mesh does reduce the transmission of visible light through the glass by about 25%, so that may be a consideration for areas where maximum light transmission is desired or required. Other forms of safety glass may offer better impact protection, heat resistance or fire ratings.

Laminated glass. Laminated glass, which was initially developed more than 100 years ago, is a layered type of safety glass, and incorporates a vinyl film between the glass layers that holds the glass together in the event the glass is shattered. The film is usually made from ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) or polyvinyl butyral. Laminated glass is used in windshields, glass doors and windows, buildings where hurricane resistance is required, skylights and in other places where shattered or flying glass would pose a serious danger to people. Laminated glass also has UV-blocking and sound-insulating qualities.

These are the most common types of safety glass. Glassprimer™ glass paint can be used with all types of safety glass. If you’d like more information about using Glassprimer™ glass paint, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Susan Fernbach, via FreeImages.com