Glass Types

Annealed – considered plate glass. Sometimes wavy and breaks into dangerous shards. HDClear on 4-Mil safety generally brings most glass to current codes.

Heat strengthened – Using a heating and cooling process the glass edges and surfaces are forced compressed. Twice as strong as annealed: http://www.educationcenter.ppg.com/glasstopics/heated_glass.aspx

Tempered – Slightly different heat and cool process is used which produces glass 4-5 times stronger. Typically breaks in small pieces.

Laminated – Two pieces of glass sandwich a pliable interlayer, similar to an automotive windshield. HDLam is for high definition graphics on the interlayer which can be then pressed between glass. http://libanswers.cmog.org/a.php?qid=151049

Herculite – Thick, tempered glass with polished edges usually seen in offices and conference rooms. This non framed glass usually has Handles mounted directly to the glass.

Starphire – Low Iron glass which looks as clear as possible. The higher the iron content the ‘greener’ the glass. The lower the iron content the clearer the glass. Understandably pricing usually increases the lower the iron.

Wire glass – HDClear Graphics can be installed but it is not recommended for solar film.

Fire glass – Expensive as it is generally installed for building safety codes. Film can be applied but it is not recommended.

Acrylic, Plexiglas & Lexan – Thick, plastic-type material which is used either for safety or as a substitute for glass. Only specific films stick to these surfaces.

Oversized Glass – Sometimes glass dimensions will exceed the widths of available films. When this occurs, best practices will ensure the seam/overlap has the least visual impact.