Otherwise referred to as a laminated glass window, it is, quite simply put, two sheets of glass that has an extra protective layer of vinyl in between. As you’ll see below, laminated glass basically has more layers than a regular piece of glass. Window laminate is what keeps those layers stuck together. With two layers of glass, you have a piece of vinyl in between. What does that piece of vinyl, or layer of vinyl, do? When a regular piece of glass breaks, you end up with a hole in the pane and shards of glass everywhere. Not so with laminated glass. This layer basically holds the glass together, so you only have cracks, and minimizes the amount of glass that falls from the cracks.

What is laminated security glass and how it is made?

Laminated security glass consists of two or more layers of glass glued together using one or more plastic interlayers using high heat and pressure. The glass and interlayers can be made in all sorts of colours, performance characteristics, and thicknesses, in order to provide the desired performance and appearance. Although laminated glass can be broken, its fragments tend to adhere to the plastic interlayer (PVB) and remain mostly intact, reducing the risk of injury.

Next, we explain the difference between laminated and tempered glass.

Laminated Glass Vs. Tempered Glass

Although tempered glass and laminated glass are very similar, they do have some different properties that set them apart. Tempered glass is a type of safety glass made with the aid of high heat or chemicals used to strengthen the glass. Tempered glass is usually four times stronger than regular glass of the same size and thickness. Laminated glass is made by bonding multiple layers of glass together under high pressure and heat. This technique makes a single sheet of glass with multiple layers. The PVB (polyvinyl butyral) resin used as the bonding material keeps the glass from breaking apart easily and provides great sound insulation.

Laminated glass is also very flexible – it will flex before shattering into pieces. It is also worth mentioning that laminated glass blocks 99% of ultraviolet transmission.

The Advantages of Laminated Glass

Laminated Glass Is Less Dangerous When Broken: If you are concerned about break-ins in your neighbourhood, regular safety-standard glass is liable to break quite easily when impacted. This means, in one swift blow, a burglar could have access to your home. Not only that, but if your window were to break for any reason at all, the way in which is breaks is far more dangerous with normal glass and can lead to serious injury.

With laminated glass windows, the chances of being cut by the glass if its broken is greatly reduced. This is due to the fact that the inner vinyl protective layer prevents the glass from shattering and being scattered across your floor or yard. Similar to safety glass, the shards of glass will stick to the vinyl.

Burglars Can’t Use Glass Cutters: Because laminated glass can’t be cut from the outside, this makes it impossible for a burglar to use a tool like a glass cutter to gain access to your home, and greatly reduces the risk of burglary in this way.Does this make laminated glass burglar proof? Well, not exactly, but it still helps quite a bit. Aside from the burglars not being able to use glass cutters, they also can’t shatter the glass on windows and doors and open them by pushing their hand inside.If a burglar does try to break your window, they’ll be left with cracks in the glass. No hole, and no way to get inside. If they try glass cutters, the best they can do is get through the outermost layer, but they can’t get through the rest. The most likely outcome is that even if they do try, they’ll give up quickly, and leave.

Less Sound Transfer: If sound is a concern of yours, consider the fact that laminated glass greatly reduces sound going in or out of your house as it passes through a laminated glass window. If you live in a neighbourhood with plenty of traffic, whether it be planes, trains, automobiles, or people, we all know that these things can be very annoying and sometimes the noise can be distracting, to say the least. Laminated glass windows can really help with this type of problem.Also, laminated glass windows are also great for blocking the sound of neighbours if your houses happen to be close together.

UV Protection: As you probably know, ultra-violet light from the sun has a way of fading some of our favourite things, such as carpets, curtains, and furniture. When we use normal, non-laminated glass windows, this will allow for the UV rays to come through and fade everything there is to fade. Of course, you can always close the curtains, but something else you can do is install laminated glass windows, which contains a special film that blocks most of the UV light from coming in.

Impact Resistant: Depending on where you live, there are certain threats posed by nature which can sometimes shatter a normal window with ease. We’re talking about forces of nature, such as a tornado, a hurricane, or even a thunderstorm. With laminated glass windows, you are provided with the maximum amount of protection that a residential window can offer. Also, if your window does break, it won’t be in such a dangerous manner as we explained early when discussing impact resistance and shattering. Laminated glass has a tendency to stay in one piece due to the inner lining, and hence you don’t have the same concerns as you would with normal glass.

Laminated glass has multiple benefits and applications, but have you yourself used it?  Once installed, what do you think of it?  Comment below and let us know your thoughts. If you’re confused as to where you can get laminated glass, why not check out Interlayer Solutions, who have a nationwide distribution network.