Security glass for home & business

Over the years we have seen that toughened safety glass in patios, French doors and other accessible low level windows is seen as a weak point for intruders. Toughened safety glass when broken breaks into tiny pieces and collapses to the floor leaving a clearance for someone to gain entry into the property quickly and without fuss.

We now suggest to our clients the use of laminated safety glass, similar to the front windscreen of a car it holds together on breaking and is difficult, noisy and time consuming to gain entry into the property.

Costs are very similar to that of toughened glass.

Please feel free to ask a member of our team for advice.

Laminated glass

When laminated glass is broken, it is held in place by an interlayer, typically of polyvinyl butyral (PVB), between its two or more layers of glass. The interlayer keeps the layers of glass bonded even when broken. This produces a characteristic spider web cracking pattern when the impact is not enough to completely pierce the glass. Laminated glass is normally used when there is a possibility of human impact or where the glass could fall if shattered. Skylight glazing and automobile windshields typically use laminated glass. The PVB interlayer also gives the glass a much higher sound insulation rating, due to the damping effect.

Toughened glass

Toughened glass must be cut to size before toughening, and cannot be re-worked once toughened. Because of the balanced stresses in the glass, damage to any portion will eventually result in the glass shattering into thumbnail sized pieces. The glass is most susceptible to breakage due to a strike near to the edge of the glass, where the tensile stress is the greatest, but shattering can also occur in the event of a hard impact in the middle of the glass pane or if the impact is concentrated (for example, striking the glass with a hardened point). Using toughened glass can pose a security risk in some situations because of the tendency of the glass to shatter completely upon hard impact rather than leaving shards in the window frame.