Safety glass is available in different types of glass: each type has its own advantages. Contact glazing firm Berserik in The Hague on 070 381 6751 for emergency services or for advice on safety glass.
Laminated glass
This safety glass consists of several layers of glass separated by a transparent plastic layer made of polyvinyl butyral (PVB). Safety glass blocks up to 99% of UV radiation and can even be made extra soundproof by using acoustic films. Various colours of films are possible, such as brown, grey or white.
When normal glass breaks, it shatters in dangerous fragments: especially with young children and pets, this creates a hazardous situation. With standard laminated glass, PVB is placed between the different layers of glass. Laminated glass does break upon impact, but does not fall apart and stays together. Laminated glass is low soundproofing and very effective to prevent burglars from entering: burglars have more trouble making a hole in laminated glass than in wired glass, for example.
Wired glass
Wired glass contains an embedded wire mesh that ensures that glass fragments are largely held together in the event of a breakage. Wired glass has a burglar-resistant function, but is often not fire-resistant. An exception to this is polished wired glass: this type of glass is fire-resistant for up to 20 minutes. Wired glass is often used in sun rooms and extensions but also as balcony dividers and privacy screens.
Tempered glass
Tempered glass is five to seven times stronger than single-pane glass and is often used in showers and table tops, because tempered glass is less sensitive to temperature differences. As a result, unlike standard types of glass, tempered glass can tolerate hot objects, such as tea glasses or tea lights on the table. When normal glass breaks, large fragments with sharp edges appear. When tempered safety glass breaks, the glass shatters into thousands of small pieces of glass. Tempered glass is therefore less suitable as burglar-resistant glass, as in the event of a breakage, tempered glass leaves a hole for the burglar.
Fire-resistant glass
Another type of safety glass is fire-resistant glass. Fire-resistant glass is a laminated pane consisting of several layers of glass with special laminated film that will foam in the event of a fire. This film usually turns white at high temperatures and fire, and ensures that the glass remains intact for a certain period of time in order to guarantee an escape route.
Bulletproof glass
Bullet-resistant or bulletproof glass consists of multiple layers of glass and is therefore considerably heavier than standard single-pane glass. In case a bullet is fired, it will be slowed down by the different layers and will not penetrate the glass. It is possible that the bullet will still hit the last layer of glass, which could result in the release of glass fragments from this layer. It is also possible to have a layer of plastic made to smother the impact. The advantage of this layer of plastic is that no fragments or splinters of glass will fall into the premises in case of a bullet impact. This type of armoured glass is available in various classes, based on its respective ballistic resistance.