Wheelhouse Windows

[Colin Smith]

Nearing completion of 5 coats of Tonkinois, I'll soon be ready to glaze the wheelhouse windows. I'd like to fit DG units but the cost is way too much at the moment so will be single-glazing for now. I was thinking of fitting laminated glass but should I fit toughened? Does it matter? Any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

Colin

[Proper Job]

I toughened glass gets damaged, it's game over and you'll have to get the pane replaced immediately (if you want to be able to see through it)

 

Laminated will chip/crack, but it's still usable.

 

Think old car windscreens and modern windscreens

 

Obviously cost will be another factor?

[WotEver]

I'd have thought that 6mm or maybe even 8mm standard glass would have been fine - it takes some breaking. If you cracked a laminated pane you'd still want to replace it, so I'm not sure I see the advantage.

 

Is it purely a safety issue?

 

Tony

[Guest]

In my experience toughened glass was very expensive. The laminated glass was considerably cheaper, and immediately available from a local glazier. Toughened glass had to go away for treatment after cutting.

[GBBS]

laminated every time, it's stronger than toughened, cheaper and easier and quicker to source.4mm whilst lighter is double the cost of 6.4m laminated additionally will give better sound insulation. Std glass is dangerous and should not be used in any application where a person might be injured by it if broken.

[ditchcrawler]

In my experience toughened glass was very expensive. The laminated glass was considerably cheaper, and immediately available from a local glazier. Toughened glass had to go away for treatment after cutting.

When I wanted a piece of toughened glass the local double glazing unit manufactures did it for me. Uniglaze

[Colin Smith]

Thank you all for your comments.

 

I must admit that I hadn't really thought much about the safety issue but now that it has been mentioned, I think it would be a good idea to go with laminated. The wheelhouse is 9'6" L x 8'6" W and the windows are a little over 2' high. I've been quoted £10 a pane for 6.4mm laminated (there are 13 panes) which doesn't sound like a bad price to me.

 

Thanks again,

 

Colin

[PhilR]

Thank you all for your comments.

 

I must admit that I hadn't really thought much about the safety issue but now that it has been mentioned, I think it would be a good idea to go with laminated. The wheelhouse is 9'6" L x 8'6" W and the windows are a little over 2' high. I've been quoted £10 a pane for 6.4mm laminated (there are 13 panes) which doesn't sound like a bad price to me.

 

Thanks again,

 

Colin

 

That sounds reasonable. I am surprised to hear from the replies that laminated glass is cheaper than toughened. Laminated is far superior for what you need.

[RLWP]

laminated every time, it's stronger than toughened, <snip>

 

It isn't though, is it. It's common to get one ply cracking while the other stays unbroken. This is because the ply is less than half as thick as the toughened equivalent, and isn't -well - toughened

 

Richard

[carlt]

That sounds reasonable. I am surprised to hear from the replies that laminated glass is cheaper than toughened. Laminated is far superior for what you need.

When I had panes made up, for Usk, I too was surprised that laminated was cheaper, yet superior.

 

The glaziers who supplied me (Daventry Glass, on the High Street, excellent service, if you're close) explained that they had to cut the glass and then send it off to be toughened whereas they could buy in the laminated glass and cut it, with no further treatment.

[nb Innisfree]

Why not have both? toughened laminated, apart from cost?

[PhilR]

It isn't though, is it. It's common to get one ply cracking while the other stays unbroken. This is because the ply is less than half as thick as the toughened equivalent, and isn't -well - toughened

 

Richard

 

You don't remember the days of toughened car windscreens and top coating roads with loose gravel? ......... and you haven't had a few small stones hidden in the grass when you have used a strimmer near a patio door?

 

I don't doubt that toughened glass is stronger. But it is only stronger until it gets broken.................

[Colin Smith]

When I had panes made up, for Usk, I too was surprised that laminated was cheaper, yet superior.

 

The glaziers who supplied me (Daventry Glass, on the High Street, excellent service, if you're close) explained that they had to cut the glass and then send it off to be toughened whereas they could buy in the laminated glass and cut it, with no further treatment.

 

I'm oop north near Chester so Daventry is a bit of a hike - thanks anyway! Am going to go with laminated. Now the question is tinted or clear?!!

[Timleech]

That sounds reasonable. I am surprised to hear from the replies that laminated glass is cheaper than toughened. Laminated is far superior for what you need.

 

AFAIR last time I wanted some safety glass they were both the same price, but of course there's a wait for the toughened.

Thin laminated glass is quite a lot dearer.

 

Tim

[RobinJ]

I must admit that I hadn't really thought much about the safety issue but now that it has been mentioned, I think it would be a good idea to go with laminated. The wheelhouse is 9'6" L x 8'6" W and the windows are a little over 2' high. I've been quoted £10 a pane for 6.4mm laminated (there are 13 panes) which doesn't sound like a bad price to me.

Admittedly it was some time ago (probably 6-7 years), but when I did my windscreen (about 4' by 1' curved) it cost me about £11 for toughened (assume because it was heat treated). When the hinges gave out in strong winds it came back out of the water in one piece, even though the wooden frame was a bit loose!

[RLWP]

You don't remember the days of toughened car windscreens and top coating roads with loose gravel? ......... and you haven't had a few small stones hidden in the grass when you have used a strimmer near a patio door?

 

I don't doubt that toughened glass is stronger. But it is only stronger until it gets broken.................

 

Having had a windscreen pass neatly all around my head to land on the parcel shelf, I certainly do remember toughened windscreens. I also remember having cars that never had screens replaced, and that I'm about to fit the second (unstressed) screen in two years on my Midget due to stone chips. Our Rover has had a screen repaired, our MGF has had a screen crack...

 

Laminated screens are undoubtedly safer, but there's no way they are stronger than toughened screens

 

Richard

[Richard T]

Yes you can get toughened laminated glass but it works like this - take two panes of glass of identical size, pass through heat soak oven ( cherry red glass fairly rapid cool) then take to laminating machine and put together. You cannot toughen glass which has been laminated the laminating film melts!! A fairly expensive process but useful for ballistic protection!!

The shapes of the pane can be quite intricate when cut using a water jet rather than a diamond - see what these boys can do IG

Its fascinating to watch what can be done with glass when you know the material - water jet cutting a complex shape is awesome especially when in something like 18mm thick float glass.

[Chalky]

What about polycarbonate like lexan? It doesn't chip or crack and they make riot shields out of it.

[Timleech]

What about polycarbonate like lexan? It doesn't chip or crack and they make riot shields out of it.

 

It scratches very easily, though I think it's available with a hard coating at a price.

[Phoenix_V]

Glazing a wheelhouse to comply with cat c I was told that 5mm toughened was acceptable but in laminate would need 7mm, went with toughened to save weight. I was also told that windscreen wipers etc are less likely to scratch toughened.