Glass Types, Patterns & Edgework Explained
Most people only think about glass when something breaks. This page covers what we supply and install, how each type behaves, and which one belongs where, so you can make an informed decision rather than take a guess.
Toughened, Laminated and Float: How They Differ
The important difference is not how hard each one is to break. It is what happens the moment it does.
Float (Annealed)
Ordinary glass with no strengthening or safety treatment. Cheapest to supply, and easily cut on site, which is why so much older housing stock still has it.
When it breaks it produces large, sharp shards. This is the glass responsible for most serious glazing injuries.
- Not permitted in the human impact locations covered by AS1288, though plenty of older homes still have it in exactly those places.
- Still perfectly appropriate in positions the standard does not cover, where it is the correct and cheaper answer.
- Common thicknesses: 3, 4, 5, 6mm through to heavy plate.
- Typical uses: picture framing, cabinets, high fixed windows out of reach.
Toughened (Tempered)
Heat treated so the surface is held in compression and the core in tension. That makes it substantially stronger than ordinary glass of the same thickness against flat pressure and thermal stress.
When it breaks it releases all at once into small, relatively blunt granules rather than shards.
- Cannot be cut, drilled or edge-worked after manufacture. Every panel is made to final size, so replacements are ordered, not cut on site.
- Can fail spontaneously. A rare manufacturing defect called nickel sulphide inclusion can release a pane years later with nothing touching it.
- Common thicknesses: 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12mm and heavier for commercial work.
- Typical uses: shower screens, frameless balustrades, shopfronts, sliding doors, splashbacks.
Laminated
Two sheets of glass permanently bonded to a clear interlayer. It is not dramatically harder to break than ordinary glass, and that is not the point of it.
When it breaks the interlayer holds every fragment in place. You get a cracked panel still sitting in the frame rather than an open hole.
- Can be cut to size, so a like-for-like replacement is often possible same day.
- Better security. The interlayer makes forced entry considerably slower and noisier.
- Quieter, and blocks most UV, which helps with fading of floors and furnishings.
- Common thicknesses: 6.38mm is the everyday residential option, with heavier grades for commercial and acoustic work.
Want the decision rather than the specification? Our guide on which glass goes where walks through choosing between them, and we have written up real jobs where toughened glass failed on its own.
Where Safety Glass Is Required
Australian Standard AS1288 governs where safety glass must be used. These are the positions it generally applies to, and the ones where we most often find non-compliant glass still in place.
Doors and the glazed panels beside them
Low level windows where the glass sits close to floor level
Bathrooms, ensuites and wet areas, including shower screens
Balustrades and anywhere glass acts as a barrier
Large panels that could be mistaken for an opening
Schools, childcare and public buildings as a matter of course
Patterned Glass We Supply
Obscure glass gives you privacy without giving up light, which is why it suits bathrooms, entry doors and anywhere overlooked by a neighbour. Patterns are ordered in to suit the job, and can be supplied as laminated or toughened where the position calls for safety glass.
Satinlite
A smooth, evenly frosted finish with no visible pattern. The most private of the common obscure glasses and the easiest to keep clean.
Narrow Reed (Fluted)
Fine vertical ribbing that bends light rather than blocking it. Currently the most requested decorative glass we fit.
Spotswood
A fine all over texture that scatters the view evenly without a strong directional pattern.
Clear Cathedral
A gentle rippled texture that softens the view while staying comparatively light and open.
Kosciusko (Arctic)
A heavier, irregular texture giving strong obscuration with plenty of character in the surface.
Translucent
Even diffusion that passes light while removing detail, with no decorative pattern to date it.
Patterns are ordered to suit each job and availability does change over time, so text us what you are after and we will confirm what can be supplied before you commit. We recently fitted a narrow reeded shower screen with a radius corner in Highton if you want to see how it looks installed.
How the Edges Are Finished
Edgework is decided by whether the edge will be hidden in a frame or left exposed where someone can touch it. It affects both safety and cost, so it is worth understanding before you order.
Clean Cut
The edge exactly as the glass was cut, and genuinely sharp. Only appropriate where the edge is fully captured in a frame or channel and nobody can reach it. It is the cheapest finish because no further work is done to it.
Arrised
The sharp corner is taken off the edge with a light grind. Not decorative, purely to make the glass safe to handle and to reduce the risk of edge chipping. Common on louvre blades, fish tanks and anywhere an edge is reachable but not on display.
Flat Polished
The edge is ground flat and then polished until it is clear and smooth. The standard finish wherever an edge is visible, and the one used on nearly all mirrors, shelving and table tops.
Bevelled
An angled border is ground and polished around the face of the glass, catching the light along its edge. Typically specified between 15mm and 25mm wide. Bevelled mirrors became hard to source in Australia as manufacturers stepped back from the process, but we have a supplier and can offer them again.
See a bevelled edge mirror and frameless screen we installed in Highton, turned around in five business days for a builder.
Performance and Specialty Glass
Double Glazed Units
Two panes with a sealed cavity between them, for thermal and acoustic performance. Made to order as a sealed assembly, which is why a broken pane means replacing the whole unit rather than one sheet. Fog forming between the panes means the seal has failed.
Tinted and Performance Glass
Tinted and high performance glazing reduces heat and glare while keeping the view. Useful on west facing windows and anywhere a room becomes unusable in summer. We match existing tints where we are replacing one panel in a run.
Mirrors
Cut to size for bathrooms, wardrobes, gyms and retail fitouts, with polished or bevelled edges, and drilled or notched to suit fixings. See our custom mirrors page for the full range.
Send Us a Photo and We Will Tell You
Text a photo of the panel and its frame along with your postcode. We can usually identify the glass type from a photo, tell you whether the position requires a safety upgrade, and come back with a price and a realistic lead time.
Glass We Have Supplied and Installed
Every photo below is a real job across Geelong, the Surf Coast and the Bellarine. Open any one to read what was used and why.
