Community Chat

[colliegirls]

 My close neighbor had her glass door shatter in the middle of the night. Scared them so much!  It is a 10 year old home so not old. The police said they have seen that happen before, it was spontaneous shattering.

[Kachina624]

There have been instances of glass shower doors shattering too. Imagine being home alone in the shower and the door shatters. You'd be lucky to get out without slicing yourself. My sister's glass oven door shattered while she was in the kitchen but not near the stove. She had to be rescued since she was barefooted.

[ROMARY]

Haven't had time to read the other posts.........Not too long ago, I heard about shattering oven doors (along with glass and other baking pans)............I'm guessing that the glass wasn't properly tempered?  Mainly because folks had lots of glass oven doors for ages, and not many (if any) complaints in those days.    p.s.  I've always been 'leery' of upper ovens.  Always telling folks to be careful regarding removing hot glass and other baking pans, etc.  Didn't think about the glass door itself shattering, though, until fairly recently (maybe two years or so). 

[Desertdi]

There's always Mother Nature to blame......earthquake, sink hole, quick sand..............

[Nataliesgramma]

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@Montana wrote:
This happened to my sister's storm door. Apparently glass is not the solid substance we perceive it to be and the particles can move around and break without anything hitting it.

You should be able to replace the damaged part.

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I worked in Customer Service for a window and door maufacturer and this is the answer we told customers.

[wonderfulworld]

Many thanks to all of you who took the time to read my post and reply...and for the science lesson!

The glass repair man was here this morning and he thinks the break started by the handle like some one tried to pry it open. That was not the case because my husband was working outside on the deck.

Beyond that he said who knows why...some times it just happens. The area gets a lot of sun and the window is 25 years old, but he has seen this happen in new windows and door walls too.

He said the rest of the door wall is in good shape as are all the windows in my home and we should just replace the glass, around $500.00. For now the contact paper should hold it...just be careful.

He did not think that replacing the other glass would be helpful or prevent another break.

Thanks to you all and if it happens to you remember contact paper!

[wonderfulworld]

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@hckynutjohn wrote:

There are many things that can cause that especially with older glass. I would check google and be sure to put in the age of the glass and area of the country.

Expansion and contraction can and does reek havoc on many different types of materials. Birds hitting our glass has aways been a problem for us.

We have tried many things, but with a 3-sided all glass patio room around hundreds of trees? There is only so much we can do. Have picked up some pretty big birds that broke their necks hitting our glass.

It breaks my heart to see this,  but we have run out of options. None of our many glass doors or windows have ever been broken by a bird.

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We have a bird problem too, especially baby pigeons. He did not think that a bird could break the glass...just hurt the bird.. Thanks John, I live in Red Wings country.

[carolina2]

The same thing happened to one of our stationery glass panels.  I was sitting on our screened in covered porch when I heard the glass shatter.  There was no way that anything from the outside hit it and there was no one else at home.  The builder was in the neighborhood and I got him to come over to look at it.  The house was only a few years old.  Long story short, no one knows what caused it but it's beginning to look like this happens more than we know about. Home was in Florida.

[ROMARY]

Personally, as I said before, I wouldn't replace that particular section with another glass door window. $500 is a lot for a door panel, not knowing if it will last without shattering again. Eventually, I'd have plexi-glass (acrylic sheet) installed instead.  Just in case that it's a ground/foundation shift problem.  And, contact paper is very handy!  Glad that you are thinking a bit more about it before you replace.   Lots of good luck to you. 

[PinkieBelle]

This happened to our front door.  I think the yard guys flung a rock at it and some time later that same day, I heard a loud pop and the glass shattered.  I did like you did and put contact paper on it until we could get it replaced.