Re: Exploding doors

[threecee]

Anyone ever had a patio door explode for no apparent reason? Mine did last evening and I'm trying to figure out why.

I was in the kitchen and there was a very loud but brief BANG. I thought it was a firework or something, but when I went back to the living room the glass on the stationary side of the patio door was crazed from top to bottom.

Comments

[missdiane]

That's so weird! With the temperature extremes, that could have set off a weakness in the glass.

[threecee]

I'm guessing it was something like that. At least it was safety glass and broke into rounded bits instead of sharp shards.

[lee_the_t]

If something hit it and there was maybe an invisible crack or weak point ... glass is fussy that way. Even temperature or air pressure changes can make it vulnerable. Also, if you had gas between the panes (as opposed to air) .... I don't know if they still even do that.

[threecee]

Second guy for estimate thinks the frame expanded and contracted because of the extreme hot and cold temperatures we have had the last few years and finally flexed beyond the tolerance limit of the glass.

Apparently argon mixed with air is what is used and the more argon the more insulation because it doesn't change temperature as much as air.

[lee_the_t]

I feel like there should be some kind of coverage for that sort of thing - it's not as if you did anything to it.

[threecee]

Insurance approved my claim right away. They will pay what they consider a reasonable amount after my deductible and taking in consideration depreciation on the door. The cheapest door plus getting some fly-by-night folks to stick it into the doorway would run at least $2,000. I found a good door from a company that has factory trained installers and gives me a warranty for as long as I own the house for a bit over $3000 after I did some negotiating with them. I'm hoping they will go with the $3,000 and am making the argument that it prevent future claims.

[st_crispins]

It happened to our patio door last year. Apparently it begins as a tiny crack that then spreads. We were lucky that the glass spidered but did not fall out.

[threecee]

They do use a version of safety glass like in windshields so it crumbles into sort of rounded bits instead of sharp shards. It crazed all over, but didn't start to fall out until I went outside to try to figure out what happened. Now about a third is on the ground outside.

[duckys_lady]

My mom's car window did that once because of the heat. No cracks that we could find - just exploded one day.

[huskyteer]

I exploded a patio door as a kid when I ran through it at top speed. I thought it was open...

[tinturtle]

Did you get cut up?

When I was young, another child, who was over for a holiday party, ran right through my family’s glass door. That door was original to our early-60s house and didn’t have safety glass. It shattered into great, heavy, pointed shards that, when they fell, punched holes in the aluminum track the door had run on. Fortunately, the kid had enough momentum that he was clear of the doorway before much glass could fall. He got some cuts, but it wasn’t serious. After that, we put window clings on our door when we had holiday parties.

[huskyteer]

Very similar story! I was at a friend's and remember shouting "Let's go and play in the garden!!" because I didn't want to play with her Barbies, and just running through the door.

I had one tiny cut on my arm and I was pretty shocked. Afterwards they covered the door in butterfly stickers.

[threecee]

Huskyteer, were you at tinturtle's party?