Window went bang

[slippyr4]

We had our double glazing done summer 2007, which included creating replicas of the original leaded light patterning.

last night sitting watching tv, as you do, and a loud bang - one of these leaded light units the inner pane has broken, bits of glass everywhere. outer pane is perfectly intact.

why would this happen? is it likely to be covered by the guarantee?

i want to get my facts straight before i call the installer.

thanks

 

[Richard C]

There could be any number of reasons why the glass has suddenly decided to pop. Unequal stress between the inner/outer panes, a small nick in the glass, point pressure from a misplaced screw or something similar, movement or distortion of the frame; thermal shock is a likely factor this time of year, especially as it’s been so cold recently. Are you sure you haven’t accidentally chipped the inner pane, if it's toughened they are even more susceptible? I recently had one let go in a set of French doors & initially couldn’t think why but then realised that I had been using a grass strimmer around 4 hours earlier; it sat there fine for all that time without problems & only popped once it started to cool as the sun went down in the evening.

You can try the installer but their 10 year warranty will almost certainly exclude breakage of glass by whatever cause (read the small print!); even more so since it’s been in for over a year. You will probably be left to sort it out on your buildings insurance (assuming you have some) but you will have to stump up any policy excess.

 

[^woody^]

Was it really cold outside, and did you have the heating on full blast?

 

[slippyr4]

It was below freezing outside, but i wouldn't say the heating was on particularly high. There's a roller blind more or less permanently in front of the window, and then curtains too, so i'd expect that the window itself was reasonably cool even on the inside. There were definitely no chips or damage to the window.

I guess it's just one of those things.

Interestingly, whilst the windows were being fitted, one of these same units cracked overnight, but they changed it because the job (around the rest of the house) wasn't even complete.

Not sure how much it'll cost to replace. It's unlikely to be cheap, since it's the repro stained glass one. Is it likely to be possible to reuse the outside pane? since it's the one with all the fancy work on it, and is the intact one.

 

[noseall]

my bro' has just been 'round and has had exactly the same thing happen to one of his dgu's last night.

only the internal pane was effected.

no kidding.

there must have been a severe drop in temperature last night or something?