It is an important step to choose between tempered and laminated glass panels in buying a glass railing system. These two options are widely used in the glass railing industry but most people can’t distinguish between the two.
First, let we know some commen rules. If you are using for glass railing for a residential project, you’re generally going to choose tempered glass. If the project is commercial, you’ll almost always be suggested laminated glass. This is due to building codes. Looking for more detials for tempered & Laminate, learn more about all types of glass.
Tempered Glass
If you have a car or truck, you will be familiar with tempered glass. It’s used on most vehicles’ side windows. Tempered glass is strong and resilient to cracking and breaking—just think about the small rocks and pebbles that fly against people’s windows on a daily basis.
In the rare instances that tempered glass does break, it doesn’t just crack, it shatters into millions of little pieces. You have probably dropped a glass cup or other dish at some point and seen it break into a few knife-like shards. This type of glass is not tempered, meaning it will break much easier (tempered glass is 5-7x stronger than glass used in dishware) and pose safety risks when it breaks.
Laminated Glass
Laminated glass is the strongest, safest glass panel option in the architectural railing market. And, just as you were already familiar with tempered glass, you likely are familiar with laminated glass as well. Nearly all front windshields on vehicles are made with laminated glass.
Laminated glass is made-up of two tempered glass panels that are bonded together with an interlayer. This interlayer ensures that, if one or both of the tempered glass panels shatter, the frame of the glass panel will stay intact. Think of a windshield that gets a crack in it: the windshield will almost always start to “spiderweb” but will not cave in on itself or lose its structure.
