Acrylic windows

Do you mean acrylic in place of glass? I wouldn't. There's glass windows that are 100 years old and still clear. Acrylic will never do that.

Acrylic windows may be OK facing a golf course - they apparently take impact better than glass.

Windows made out of vinyl?

I have one acrylic window and several that are polycarbonate. I used them for impact resistance. Polycarbonate (Lexan is a brand) is much more impact resistant than acrylic. I believe polycarbonate is more scratch resistant - neither is particularly impressive. I don't believe either has a problem with becoming less clear with age. Polystyrene turns yellow with age - don't know if anyone made windows out of it.

Cannot tell if she is talking about glass or trim. For trim both would weather OK but acrylic glazing is better for impact resistance but will haze with age due to abrasion by particulate but this could be buffed out.

On 6/15/2010 6:45 AM Jean spake thus:

Just curious why ordinary window glass won't do for you. Obviously there must be some reason. Hurricanes? wind-blown debris? birds?

Pollutants in air and water etch glass over time but it can be cleaned with products like Zud that have oxalic acid, I just had workers clean a greenhouses glass that would not come clean with windex, Plastics age and could never take that cleaning and will show wear from repeated cleanings, it will also likely yellow and need replacing in

Lexan (bronze color) has been used in prisons (exterior cell windows) for 30 years, depending on security levels. Those in the asylum are not issued sledge hammers.

On 6/15/2010 9:35 PM DanG spake thus:

I just replaced a friend's back door window with safety (laminated) glass, for security (he had a double-cylinder lock in the door and I've been after him for more than a year now to let me replace the inside cylinder with a turnbolt so you can get out quick in case of a fire). Great stuff. The glass shop has a sample piece they tried to break: the outer layers have cracks in them, but the piece is totally intact. The glass guy said you could hammer on it for half an hour and only succeed in making a small hole in it. (Well, that might be a wee bit of an exaggeration, but it's pretty damn strong stuff.)

Only problem is, it's damn expensive. My piece, about 20" x 32", as about $80. So maybe not economical to replace large windows with it.

Another problem is, the laminate is so strong that you can knock the glass right through the frame.

It can take quite a beating, but NOT a shrp impact. An automatic center punch will destroy even 1/4" tempered glass in an instant.

On 6/15/2010 7:51 PM snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca spake thus:

Tempered glass, yes, but not safety glass, which would crack but would otherwise still be intact.

So will a piece of spark plug ceramic.

They are both considered "safety" glass.

On 6/15/2010 8:17 PM Ron spake thus:

Yes, but the stuff I'm typing about is laminated glass, not tempered glass.

And it was tempered glass that was being discussed above...not laminated.

Jean, if you are talking about the panes, I am surprised you have acrylic. There is polycarbonate - Lexan is a major brand - that is virtually indestructible. You can smash it with a sledge hammer with no visible effect - great stuff, but it scratches easier than the acrylic.

As others have said - consider real glass. For breakage you can go to tempered or laminated glass. When tempered glass breaks it disintegrates into fingernail sized pieces with relatively non-sharp edges: it can take quite a beating.

Could be what he means. There are sun rooms that use a panel window system glazed with soft vinyl (approx .030" thick). The glazing material is held in with a plastic spline, sort of like for a window screen.

For clarification: In the current windows in my Florida sun room, the transparent portion is made of clear thin vinyl (the material is kinda like heavy duty freezer baggies). What I'm interested in doing is changing the transparent part to hard acrylic. I am NOT interested in changing to glass windows.

Jean

Let me restate the situation:

The window panes in my Florida sun room (i.e., basically just a covered screened porch) are made of an optically clear vinyl -like heavy duty freezer baggies. I'm thinking about changing the panes to hard acrylic (or Lexan).

Glass is not an acceptable alternative - I'd have to get a permit and bring the room up to local housing code (possibly install footers, possibly install additional roof supports, add insulation, install electrical outlets, etc.). The cost of all that is considerable and my property taxes would increase.

So, does anyone have any experience with acrylic windows? Are they fairly scratch resistant?

Jean