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traceymitchellceramics

Glass balustrade spontaneously shattering

Our 2 story home is new to us. It has glass balustrade that runs the full width of the building along the terrace in front of dining/living and master.
One panel spontaneously exploded recently. We can see historically that this has happened at least twice before. It’s approximately 10 years old. Is this unusual? How safe is it considering our hound grandchild plays out there all the time? Should we consider replacing it?

Comments (4)

  • traceymitchellceramics
    Original Author
    2 years ago

    Sorry, spellcheck strikes again! Hound = young and can’t work out how to edit.

  • macyjean
    2 years ago

    I remember something years ago about issues with cheap imported glass balustrades/pool fencing, and looking for updates I found this, worth reading.

    https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/when-building-glass-breaks-dangerously-it-is-a-design-problem

  • traceymitchellceramics
    Original Author
    2 years ago

    Wow! Great article, thank you🙏
    We plan to look into the possibility of applying a security film on the glass.

  • oklouise
    2 years ago

    we have a "granddog" so a hound grandchild sounded quite natural to me but obviously the glass needs replacing and well worth having all the panels inspected by an expert glazier as it could be a tragedy for the glass to shatter if/when a small person was leaning against it