Q. Why do you ask how far the window is from the door and floor?

A. Going by Arizona’s current building safety code, any window that is less than 24” from the nearest entry door or less than from a walking surface is required to be safety glass. Safety glass can be either tempered or laminated.

Q. I have a window in my shower area, should this be safety glass?

A. Per Arizona’s adopted building code, any window that is less than 60” from the bottom of the window to the bottom (drain) of the tub or shower, it is required to be replaced with safety glass.

Q. Which is better, tinted or Low-E?

A. That depends on the objective, if you are looking to cut down on light (make the room darker) tinted is the glass for the job. However, if you are trying to reduce heat, Low-E is the best choice. There are even a select few Low-E glasses that contain a tint.

Q. What is LAMINATED glass?

A. Laminated Glass is two pieces of thinner glass bonded together using a thin layer of plastic (polyvinyl butyral or PVB). The end product is a single piece of glass that allows the glass to be held together in the event of breakage. This interlayer makes laminated glass ideal for safety glazing applications as well as theft deterrent applications.

Q. What is TEMPERED glass?

A. Tempered glass is a safety glass that has been heat treated to increase the impact resistance of the glass. It will usually shatter into small fragments instead of sharp shards when broken, making it less likely to cause severe injury and deep lacerations. It can usually be identified by a stamp or “bug” in one of the corners of the glass. Due to the increased strength of TEMPERED glass, it is commonly used in doors, table tops, and windows that are subject to human impact. Tempered glass must be cut to size and then tempered, any attempt to cut the glass after tempering will result in the breakage of the glass.