Outside stained glass window

[Jeff and Jennifer Cook]

My wife and I are in the process of a new home construction. We have purchased a large stained glass window to hang above the stairs (6' x 8'). We are planning on having an outside tempered glass window in front of the stained glass. Any tips on what I should have the window hangers do and not do? Should I line the inide of the tempered glass with screen or chicken wire to keep a rock from coming through or is the tempered glass sufficient? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks Jeff

[igor]

Sounds like the house is on the infield at Daytona.

[Charles Spitzer]

talk to the people who are installing the s.g. panel. they will have the best ideas of how to do this.

in general, you just install it in front of the existing window, which is a normal window. the installers will have designed in rebar in the window that will have to be sunk into the window frame which will support the glass panel.

[Robatoy]

I would look into Lexan or polycarbonate or somesuch. No rocks will be coming through Lexan.. and it is as clear as glass. A 6' x 8' chunk of tempered glass will cost a fortune also. You'd hate to mess up the visuals with chicken wire, no?

What kind of stained glass image is this?... I mean.. that you're expecting rocks..

0¿0

Rob

[Andy Dingley]

Post in rec.crafts.glass

[Silvan]

Or my grandpa's church. Damn kids.

[Bill B]

When I sell a stained glass window, or sidelights on the front door, I only recommend a normal piece of single strength glass in front of it. The odds of getting a rock or anything through a particular window are normally very slim. What really needs protecting is the stained glass from the elements. Most window cements are not terribly waterproof. And cleaning them, joints and all, is a real pain. If you are real worried about the location, a piece of tempered or double strength glass should provide all the protection you need. Avoid the plastics/polycarbonates, all I've seen yellow or sand blast real bad. Something above the stairs should just need environmental protection.

[igor]

Excellent question.

I'd like to make one of Moses receiving the 15 commandments (before he dropped that one tablet of 5).

[Fly-by-Night CC]

I'm a little confused about how it's going to be installed. Is the stained glass free hanging (hovering over the stairs) or will it be inside a window casement in the wall? If it's free hanging, you'd certainly want tempered or safety glass that shatters in little square pieces - hate to think of someone accidentally breaking the protective glass from below only to be rained on with shards.

If it's to be mounted in an exterior window then you'd likely be A-OK with a double strength pane (I think the 2x glass is noticeably quieter in sound transmission but that's just my opinion). As Charles Spitzer mentioned, get a stained glass shop involved in the installation. 6'x8' is a pretty large panel and if constructed correctly will have reinforcing bars tied in at regular intervals.

[Ed Clarke]

Ya know... I was reading an old "The Craftsman" from December 1902. One of the articles was written by a "Glass Man". He claimed that the problem with "Modern" (1900's) stained glass was cheapness on the part of the builder who tried to use insufficient lead or other cost-cutting methods. He also complained about customers who thought they knew more than he did about what was required to support a stained glass window.

As way of proof he offered examples of stained glass from the 12th century that were perfectly fine while current(1902) windows in New York City were falling apart after a decade or two. The statement was made that outside glass was not necessary at all.

Title of the article is "Rambling Thoughts of a Glass Man" and the author was Otto Heinigke.

[dteckie]

[bridger]

forget the chicken wire. anything big enough to make it through the tempered is gonna go right through chicken wire.

make sure the stained glass is covered by your insurance and stop worrying about it.

[David Harper]

You might be better off having a local glass company make an insulated glass unit .

3/16" or 1/4" tempered glass ( outside ) 1/4" air space stained glass 1/4" air space 3/16" or 1/4" tempered glass ( outside )

Then this can be glazed in the window custom frame

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 03:39:19 GMT, the inscrutable igor spake:

God Bless Mel Brooks!

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 16:31:35 -0700, the inscrutable [e-mail] spake:

Use regular glass and have it included in your insurance. If anyone wanted to throw a rock through it, they wouldn't stop at the outside glass anyway, they'd keep going until the stained piece was ruined. You know how savage those JFs are.

[igor]

Thanks for returning the favor.

[Fly-by-Night CC]

I'm not certain about this, but you might have a problem with heat affecting the stained glass if it's installed in a sealed sandwich. Too much heat can soften the lead solder joints and cause the stained glass panel to sag.

[Charles Spitzer]

well, no. there's lots of these units in front doors for example. solder used in stained glass melts in the 650F range. it won't soften the joints. it may soften the lead came itself, which is almost pure lead and melts in the 450F range, but not likely. what is more likely is that the cement used in the panel will soften, but if it's supported between 2 sheets of glass, where's it gonna sag to?