Glass shower panel, shattered to pieces

mellymeep · 2 November 2009 at 2:39PM

On Sunday morning I had an accident with the glass shower panel in our bathroom, I was getting out of the shower and leant on it, pushing it outwards the way it wasn't supposed to go. Because of this the panel completely shattered into millions of tiny shards, I've been reading about panels like that and was just wondering if there is anyone knowledgeable on this subject to advise me what it should of actually done?

I've sustained quite a lot of injuries because of it, including a wound in my foot that needed stitches because the wire frame fell on top of it and sliced it open. We contacted our landlord this morning and he made no hints towards him paying for it to be replaced, I understand that it is my fault, and I am willing to pay for a new one, but if it was a fault with the glass that had been installed, or if it wasn't the right type then I am worried that the same thing might happen to others in the building as all the flats are installed with the same appliances.

I wasn't sure what board to put this on, so if its in the wrong place if someone can suggest where to get it moved to I would be grateful

mellymeep · 2 November 2009 at 3:38PM

And also if anyone has any clue how much it will actually cost to replace, just a rough estimate would be helpful because I have absolutely no idea about these sorts of things

andrew-b · 2 November 2009 at 3:40PM

Ouch...hope all your injuries heal up quick. With that amount of shards of glass around sounds like you've been fairly lucky to have got away with the injuries you have (assuming the foot injury was the major one) and could have been a whole lot worse!

When you say shower panel you do mean a panel above the bath ?

Not really sure where you stand with this but i would have hoped it would be covered under the landlord's building insurance. In my mind shower panels, doors and enclosures should be strong enough to withstand leaning on them and general knocks etc. They should always be made of a safety glass though. Don't suppose you can tell now but do you recall if there was british standards kite mark imprinted on the glass? Was it marked with any brand name?
Were there any obvious signs of damage to the glass before this...chips or cracks etc that may have caused a weakness in it? How thick was the glass..if you still have the broken glass i'd very carefully (make sure you don't cut yourself!) measure the thickness...
Whatever it gets replaced with i'd try and ensure the replacement has a more substantial metal frame to it and thickest glass possible (for example Twyford shower enclosure that i have is 6mm thickness as standard), check it has a kite mark with relevant british standard etched on the glass and installed as per the instructions to the letter. For your peace of mind maybe you'd be better off with a shower rail and curtain? Either way i'm sure you'll be extremely careful what you lean on int future!

Anyway glad your more or less ok!

Andy

mac2009 · 2 November 2009 at 3:53PM

If it shattered into millions of tiny pieces, then it was definitely toughened (sometimes called safety) glass. That is exactly what it is meant to do and undoubtedly saved you from much more serious injury. If it was not toughened, it would have broken into much larger and sharper shards that could have caused very serious injury indeed.

Whilst it is called toughened (and it is indeed much more resistant to breaking than regular glass) it is not indestructible, as you have discovered.

Sorry, not sure how much it would cost to replace as they vary so widely in price depending on design and size - just a regular panel to use with a shower above the bath are about £50 in B&Q.

moonrakerz · 2 November 2009 at 4:17PM

andrew-b wrote: »

Whatever it gets replaced with i'd try and ensure the replacement has a more substantial metal frame to it and thickest glass possible (for example Twyford shower enclosure that i have is 6mm thickness as standard), check it has a kite mark with relevant british standard etched on the glass and installed as per the instructions to the letter.

The trouble is with BS/EN is that it only covers the physical construction of the glass NOT where it is used.

"BS EN 12150-1:2000 specifies the tolerances, flatness, edgework, fragmentation, and physical and mechanical characteristics of monolithic flat thermally toughened soda lime silicate safety glass for use in buildings"

A lot of shower screens and panels at the budget end of the market are only 4mm glass. As you so rightly say, get 6mm glass - or even 8 !

mellymeep · 2 November 2009 at 4:26PM

Thanks for the replies guys

yes I meant it was an above the bath panel and yeah it did shatter into millions of pieces, but they were really sharp on the edges which is what caused most of the scratches on me, which is what confused me because I thought safety glass was supposed to break into more rounded "pebble" like shapes? I'm just glad I got away with minimal injuries, as you said it could of been much worse had it cut any arteries or got into my eyes!

I don't recall seeing a kite mark, there was a manufacturer sticker on the bottom corner but I can't remember what it was, as its never happened to me before I didn't think to note it down when we moved in! and the glass pane completely disappeared into the bits so I can't check now. It was pretty thin though, so I'm guessing it wasn't any more than 6mm thick. I'm assuming every other flat in the building has been fitted with the same so I might go knock on my neighbour and ask if I could possibly check there's. I don't want it to happen to anyone else because it was pretty traumatic!

The landlord unfortunately wants us to replace like for like, so we're not allowed to install a rail for a material curtain and it will have to be another glass one. I will certainly be much more careful in future that's for sure.

mac2009 · 2 November 2009 at 4:33PM

As the other poster said, thicker glass will be more resistant to breakage, but it is also heavier.

Another option if you are still worried is to use polycarbonate (plastic) or laminated glass. Laminated glass is extremely difficult to break into pieces because if it is broken, everything is held together by a layer of plastic sandwiched between the glass. It is used in car windscreen and high security applications for this reason. It also tends to be thicker (at least 6mm).

andrew-b · 2 November 2009 at 4:47PM

I saw thinner around 3mm i think when i was looking for shower enclosures on a budget.. this was partly the appeal of Twyfords shower enclosures as they were one of the cheapest for 6mm thick glass. Having a tendency to fall over (without being drunk!

) and hang onto things to help me up i wanted my enclosure to be at least 6mm with a bit of a frame to it. Much thicker than 6mm then i think the weight of the glass starts to become an issue and so with a shower panel the fixing to the wall will be a bit more important.

Kiran · 2 November 2009 at 4:55PM

If you do want the info on the screen can you pop round to one of the other flats and have a quick look at theirs as you say they were all kitted out the same? If you don't think you did anything out of the ordinary and what is expected in the day to day use of the screen I would be inclined to ask the landlord to replace it.

andrew-b · 2 November 2009 at 5:00PM

mellymeep wrote: »

The landlord unfortunately wants us to replace like for like, so we're not allowed to install a rail for a material curtain and it will have to be another glass one. I will certainly be much more careful in future that's for sure.

guessed this would probably be the case...bearing in mind your probably gonna be a bit scared of the same happening again what if you were to install a rail and curtain now and not install a glass replacement until the time comes when you decide to move out.

Not too keen on advocating this..but how much do you stand to lose on the deposit on your rental of the property if you don't replace at all? Then it's the landlords responsibility to sort out and pay using your security deposit (assuming it covers it!). I think it should be upto the landlord to replace even if you do end up footing the bill as it is part of the fixtures and fittings of the property.

The worst that can happen with shower curtain and rail is rip the curtain or pull the rail down! At a flat we used to rent we had a telescopic sprung-loaded type of shower rail (from Argos) ..i did pull the whole thing down once though!

andrew-b · 2 November 2009 at 5:14PM

Just looked up the cheapest 6mm twyford shower panel from place i bought my enclosure:
£160 including delivery..expect you can get cheaper but gives you a rough idea. Then you need to add on fitting costs..i'd ask the landlord to take responsibility for that though so that you can't be held responsible for the fitting of it.

Telescopic rail and shower curtain: £9.99.

Glass shower panel, shattered to pieces

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