What is Laminated Glass?

The simple answer is that laminated glass is two layers of glass held together with an type of vinyl internally glued together.

The vinyl holds the glass in place when it is damaged to prevent injury. The most well known use of laminated glass is in automobile windshields. Imagine driving down the road with a windshield that broke apart when damaged. The invention of laminated glass has saved countless lives.

Another popular application is storefront and commercial door use. Laminated glass offers both safety and security. A burglar banging on laminated glass will have to work much harder and longer to gain access.

Pioneer Glass offers laminated glass for residential and commercial use. As a durable, high-performance product, it delivers sensational protection against anything the world can possibly throw at it. Laminated glass has long been a favored choice of manufactures who prefer the strength of glass and need a safe secure product. Even better, laminated glass helps reduce unwanted noise and impacts from solar energy.

Explaining Laminated Glass

Hurricanes? Tornadoes? Earthquakes? Laminate glass can protect against these threats – not just the gale-force winds or torrential rain, but also windborne debris. This particular glass can also hold strong against man-made threats we must all protect against even as we hope it never happens: forcible entry, gunfire, or bomb blasts. To distill it down, laminate glass is used when there is a possibility of human impact or where shattered glass could damage a person. That’s why skylights and auto windshields tend to be made out of laminated glass. Bullet-resistant glass is also created through laminate properties.

Laminate glass is a type of safety glass that holds together when shattered, through an interlayer of plastic between two or more layers of glass. This interlayer keeps the layers of glass bonded even when broken, preventing breakage into large sharp pieces. You’ll still see a spider web cracking pattern – it does break to some extent – but it will hold together. Other types of safety glass includes tempered glass, acrylic, and polycarbonate. Generally when the term 'laminate' is used in the glass world, annealed glass is the material but there are many uses for laminated acrylic and polycarbonate.

Here's a video showing the difference in regular, tempered, and laminate glass:

Laminated glass comes in several different forms such as clear or white glass, insulated or tinted. Glass can also be created with holes, notches, and various edgework such as seamed or flat-polished edges. The glass comes 1/4" thick – not the usual 1/8" thick – due to the greater strength at a quarter-inch thickness. You can have many different custom shapes and sizes with laminated glass.

It's safety glass to the next level. Two pieces of annealed glass are held together by a vinyl layer that will stay in place even with breakage, preventing shattering and sharp shards.

Noise and Light Protection

The world is loud. Help reduce unwanted outside noise by incorporating laminated glass into your plans. This can be particularly useful living in areas near traffic, highways, industry, airports, and more.

Laminate glass has been proven to reduce unwanted outside noises. If you combine it with an insulated glass unit, the benefits to your windows increase. Maximum sound protection is provided by double-laminated insulated units.

Laminated glass can also reduce the impact of solar energy. As light from the sun enters the home, solar energy can cause fading of fabric, furniture, and other materials. Single-pane clear glass cannot prevent fading – but laminated glass certainly can, with twice the fade protection of ordinary glass. Even better, the protection against fading will not affect plants inside the home, which can continue to grow and benefit from sunlight!

Examples

You can incorporate laminated glass into your home to ensure safety, such as in the following applications.

Skylight glass. Protect against a roofer’s foot going through the window, or a well-placed tree branch coming down in a storm. Near the shore, it helps save disaster from birds dropping shellfish on the roof. Generally, New England skylights are made with the top pane constructed of toughened tempered glass and the lower pane of laminated glass.
A glass tabletop sure to protect against any damage from your children wrestling despite being told not to. Instead of a well-placed flying elbow drop destroying your coffee table and putting your children at risk of cuts, the glass will hold together.
Protecting that valuable piece of artwork, whether a coloring your child brought home from kindergarten or a piece bought at an art exhibit. Laminate glass will make sure that nothing can damage a piece of artwork or photo. Even better, laminate glass' reducing of solar energy will prevent fading.
Live near a highway? Getting laminated insulated-glass units will not only drown out noise, but will benefit your wallet with energy savings. Even better, fading of your rugs will be greatly reduced.
Have a backhoe or some other type of machinery you tinker around in in your backyard or farm? Laminate glass will ensure your machinery stands up to the elements.
If you have a shed you like to do carpenter's work in, laminate glass will protect your windows shattering should you throw a hammer in frustration.
Balconies or fences. A popular application for homes along the coast, for example, is to have an all-glass fence around a porch to allow uninhibited views of the gorgeous ocean. Laminate glass will make sure the damage is limited from flying debris like a tree limb.
Manufacturing. A favored choice for products that have the natural scratch resistance of glass compared to acrylic or polycarbonate.
Commercial applications include storefronts to protect against inclement weather or man-made threats.
Should your business specialize in highly coveted assets, rest assured that laminate glass cannot be cut through from one side only. Glass cutters are out of luck.