Glass Balustrade Shattered only 2 years after installation- Advice needed

lucy03

riva wrote: »

Bumping this again as I found it really hard to deal with so have not looked at it for some days. There's an obvious area where the glass started to shatter as evidenced by cracks radiating from that point- its about 1.5 inches from the top edge- no chips/dislodged glass. Bits of glass that came off were from the edges.
They are simply ignoring us. The guy I spoke to said that he will send me information regarding how this could happen and never did. I think I'm just so stunned at their behaviour.
I don't think its installation but believe it may be a defect in the glass, the guy himself said that its possible if there's the tiniest bubble. What's the warranty for? As far as I'm concerned, it seems like its a win-win situation for them as if the onus is on us to prove it- very hard and costly- even if it is the glass, there is no incentive for them to admit to it. Plus I suspect I'll have to go back to them as its a bespoke piece and its riskier to use another person in case it looks different.
Opinions?

It's possible that the company believes you have damaged the glass. At the moment you're telling them it's broken but won't provide them with an independent report as to what has happened. That independent report is realistically what you would need legally to be able pursue the matter. Perhaps they feel that you're refusing to get this report because they think you caused the damage.

When you get this independent report you can then pursue the matter and it would be hard for the company to disregard your report unless they commissioned one of their own. By that stage they might as well just replace the glass then continue arguing about it.

paddyrg

I used to work in a bullet-proof-window (and other performance glass) factory and am a production engineer (with materials) by training. Glass is far more complicated than most people realise.

Velux window is unlikely to be toughened glass, different thing altogether. If it cracked instead of shattering into a zillion pieces across the whole body of the pane, it wasn't toughened, just window glass.

Toughened glass is heat treated to be in a state of really high internal tension - if you look at it with polarising lenses you can often even see the effect of that tension. This makes it tougher, but means when it fails, it does so dramatically. Small scratches (and I mean really small) can actually be the start of catastrophic failure. The smaller the scratch, the tinier the radius of stress at the tip of the propagating crack, the crack propagates through slightest movements including the expansion and contraction with heat (overnight, for instance). I think you've been unlucky - possibly a slight graze from something weeks before could easily end as this has.

To use it safely, most places will laminate it using a soft vinyl layer (or several, depending on application - including the bullet-proof ones!), this is why it stays in place instead of becoming a mess. Any bits that do come out/off will typically be almost cubic in shape and so incapable of causing much damage to tissue, unlike shards from normal glass.

Where does this leave you? I suspect you're probably unlucky, however it may be worth changing tack with the manufacturer and asking them if they can meet you part way and sell you a replacement panel at cost?

riva

Quick and interesting update: we found out today that the company is insolvent as of August. Explains their behaviour as they were wonderful to work with before.
Lucy03, I don't mind getting someone in to prove that we didn't cause the damage. the thing is they have just been shrugging us off as opposed to trying to find a solution together.
It does seem to prove a point that guarantees for these service companies can mean nothing (feels that way for every boiler I've replaced).
At least there's a sense of resolution either way. Anyone knows a good glass company?

paddyrg

http://www.pilkington.com/en-GB/uk Pilkington have a 'find a supplier' thing on their site, may be worth a try.

Pilkington invented float glass, which is why modern window glass is flat, not like you get in old windows where it has ripples looking like lenses you can see when you move your head with older glass. Irrelevant fact for you.

riva

paddyrg, that's for that titbit- I actually love info like that : )

paddyrg

Oh good - they floated it on molten tin (hence 'float' glass), so it had a flat surface compared with the rolled glass which was never fully flat :-)