Mysterious Broken Inner Double Glazed Pane

Hi

This morning...about 3:30AM I heard a strange noise (loud enough to wake me up)....I say strange because it was one of the sleep dreaming noises, where you wonder whether it was real or dreamt. I got up to investigate...and after checking out the house, everything looked fine. However as I was returning to bed I noticed that the small double glazed window in the front door was cracked quite badly (multiple cracks, almost on the point of being smashed). I went outside and checked for evidence of a brick or something, to find that there was no evidence that the door had been touched at all...the outer pane of glass was totalled unharmed, there were also no marks on the door.

Is it possible for the sub-zero temperates to filter through an outer pane of double glazing and smash the inner pane? Would it be possible if the outer pane was old and/or unnoticable damaged?

I'm starting to think that we have some type of Ghost which for some reason has become high-rate and decided to damage the window...if this is the case, you'd think that this Ghost would at least have warned us first before deciding to have a go at the window... :)

Reply to
Dean Jarratt
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No, this is quite common, happened to me, again during cold weather. Window repairers say it happens regularly. Seems weird at the time though !!

MrCheerful

Reply to
MrCheerful

Not wishing to alarm you - but it also happened to my mums back door window after a local "yoof" decided to try and gain entry with the aid of a brick... no damage to the outside pane at all (a bit of brick dust on one spot mind you), but the inside started cracking and proceeded to carry on doing so for several minutes afterwards. Made a sound rather like ice cracking as it warms up apparently.

Reply to
John Rumm

The glass in a door should be toughened (or laminated).

Toughened glass can occasionally shatter for no apparent reason.

It is possible that the current low night temperatures have caused excessive movement (contraction) of the sealed unit which could result in fracture.

Reply to
Ziggur

I noticed that the small double glazed window in the front

I had a bathroom fanlight inner DG pane break on fireworks night?

No sign of any impact or attack but there were a few VERY loud explosions nearby and it was very cold?

All the best ..

T i m

Reply to
T i m

The only time I've heard of this happening it turned out that a plate fell of a wall hanging and bounced down the stairs, hitting the pane and breaking it. If it's a small pane, it's unlikely to be a thermal effect - consider the temperature differential, it's tiny. Where in the door is the glazing panel? What is the door made of?

J.B.

Reply to
Jerry Built

The door is one of those white PVC doors, and the window is pretty much central...above a letterbox which is placed at just below half-way up the door.

I'll have to check the outside pane again more thoroughly...I think.

Reply to
Dean Jarratt

One of my patio doors went in a similar manner (if it's any consolation), ie with no cause. As it happened the poxy company who had installed it had put the laminated sheet on the inside and the toughened one on the outside (the wrong way round) so there was no shattering, just a crack propagating across the pane. I assumed there had been a stress point at the edge somewhere, either due to damage or something trapped there which had developed into the crack. I know this was one crack and the OP had many but maybe his was toughened and just holding together? It was an insurance job as it exceeded the excess by enough but irritating in the extreme.

Reply to
Bob Mannix

Just a small point: how can you tell if they're the wwrong way round? I've just had some windows installed in my loft conversion, and I can tell the builders got the bathroom windows back to front (patterned and textured bit on the outside), but how can I check that the clear-glass windows are the right way around?

Regards Paul

Reply to
Paul Boakes

Hmmm!

It,s all getting a bit technical now.

Historically, textured glass sealed units were installed with the texture on the inside pane. However - in order to conform to the FENSA standards many companies are using "K" (low E) glass to improve the overall U-value of the window. The low E coating is only fully effective on flat glass and is applied to the inside of the inside pane. Therefore if your bathroom window has a combination of Texture glass and "K" glass the Texture will be placed on the outside, harder to clean but more thermally efficient.

How can you tell whether the clear glass windows are the right way round? There is a simple test that you could do by looking through the unit at a flame held on the inside BUT my advice would be to trust the installers. Some sceptics might be surprised to learn that they usually get it right.

(But then I am biased :))

Reply to
Ziggur

In article , Use-Author-

Spontaneous disintegration of normal toughened glass is a well known and accepted fact within the industry. Pilkington makes a special type of toughened glass which "reduces the risk" (their words not mine) for situations where the normal risk is unacceptable.

Reply to
Ziggur

The OP's description did not suggest toughened glass was in use (it "cracked quite badly (multiple cracks, almost on the point of being smashed"). For panes below a certain size toughened/laminated is not a requirement, as I should think you're aware.

J.B.

Reply to
Jerry Built

Without wishing to offend my builders, who were hell-bent - despite my protestations - on building what they *thought* I wanted, as opposed to that which I had planning permission for (two separate, and, quite frankly, hugely different things), could you explain the test for me?

Regards Paul

Reply to
Paul Boakes

If I had to guess (I'm guessing because I'm not at home right now)...I'd say that the pane is 60cm by 30cm. The inner pane had no laminate on it, and was textured...I don't know what constitutes toughened glass, but there were shards of glass on the carpet where the postman normally posts letters ;)

I've had another look at the outer pane, and there is strictly no damage, no brick dust, no pellet marks, and I didn't hear any fireworks after I was awoken....I'm gonna have to go with the 'Spontaneous disintegration' theory on this one...

Reply to
Dean Jarratt

You might like to check out

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bit of information. The pattern on standard texture glass is put onto the glass, before it hardens, with a roller. The roller imprints the pattern. This means that some parts of the glass (where the pattern is an indentation) are thinner than the standard 4mm/6mm used in a domestic door.

It has been a recommendation for many years and a requirement more recently that safety glass (toughened or laminated) should be used in doors where any part of a pane falls below 1500mm from the floor. Your door will have safety glass in it and it will almost certainly be toughened. I suspect that your "shards" are actually granuals,

You are going to need a new sealed unit :(

Reply to
Ziggur

Reply to
Dean Jarratt

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