Have you ever considered installing glass doors in your home? Chances are you hadn't given it any thought and probably you have some much more traditional ideas about the kinds of interior door you want in your living space.
Well, it's true that first and foremost you really need to know why you would want to install glass doors in your home. More so than with any other type of interior door there is a serious risk. No, we are not thinking of the safety risk, though that should also be taken into account. Rather, we are talking about the risk of the whole thing looking very cheesy. I don't know exactly why this is, maybe it's the bolted-on brass hardware, or the smoky darkened glass they sometimes sport, but glass doors in the home, if you get the look wrong, scream, "60s bingo hall!" or possibly "State-owned East European hotel lobby".
With that said, there are glass doors available that can really make for a striking look in your home. Now, there are lots of doors that are paned with full glass, but with a PVC or wooden frame, especially French/patio doors, but we are not talking about those here, we mean full glass doors with hinges and handles mounted directly on the glass.
Here are some things you might want to think about before you dive in and buy glass doors:
Quality vs. price
A huge slab of glass doesn't come cheap, expect to pay as much as ?1000 (around $1800) for a cut-to-measure door of quality glass, though definitely shop around, the major suppliers often have big discounts. And quality suppliers will also tell you to avoid the temptation to buy cheap glass made in China or Turkey - no offence meant, but you pay for what you get, and buying cheap could end up costing you much more in the long run. Can you imagine your shiny new door cracking where it's been drilled after a few months or years, after the guarantee has run out?! Make sure you are buying a door made by a quality glass manufacturer like Pilkington and you'll sleep a lot easier at night, even if you do pay a premium. And that leads us onto an even more important point:
Safety
A glass door can be absolutely lethal. Maybe you have heard of cases of people going through glass windows or doors and being severely injured, or perhaps a large pane of glass coming loose in a storm and slicing through a vehicle like butter. Imagine slamming a glass door accidentally and seeing it shatter into a million bladelike fragments! It doesn't bear thinking about! Fortunately that is highly unlikely if you ensure that your door is made of a quality toughened glass that conforms to safety standards. Again, that just means paying a little more and not going for a cheap option. Safety comes first.
Privacy
Oh yes, that! One of the things about glass is that it doesn't lend itself all that well to applications where privacy is an issue. You know, bathroom doors, that sort of thing! Yes, I can see there are some minds racing out there at the possibilities, but even if you and the missus are happy with the idea, your guests might not be! But wait, of course there's a solution! If privacy is important, but you still want the stylish look of a glass door, you can opt for frosted glass of some variety and get the best of both worlds.
Types/colours of glass doors
Most glass door suppliers will offer a number of options when it comes to the type or tint of glass. This is by no means a comprehensive run-down but will give you some idea of the choices you will come across. Some of the available tints are (from Pilkington, their OptifloatT range) - bronze, green, grey and blue tinted glass. Of course, clear glass goes without saying too, though remember, no glass, especially thickened, toughened glass for use as a door, can be 100% clear. You'd keep running into it, apart from anything! Also, Pilkington make a glass called 'satin' which is a nice translucent effect, though still not opaque enough for the bathroom! There is also an effect called chinchilla, or chinchilla bronze, which appears to refer to glass with a shiny or stippled surface. Frankly, the examples we have seen around look pretty awful - the East European hotel look we were talking about at the beginning, and this is best avoided in our opinion, at least for use in the home.
As mentioned, there are also various kinds of frosted glass available, able to provide sufficient privacy, and they look pretty good too.
Well, that's a very brief run-down of glass doors. It's NOT a look you are always going to be able to pull off, and is not for every home - and is hardly the cheapest door option either - but as part of an overall modern look it might be well worth considering.
Author Resource:
This article was adapted and used with the permission of its author, Arsen Swoboda, and was first published on his site at www.concertinadoors.net . You can also read a more general article of his about doors for the home here .
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