Glazing, What is glazing, Why glaze, How to glaze
Glazing speaks to what is glazing, why glaze and how to glaze.
The term, as applied to glass used in buildings refers to the installing of glass in an opening or to the transparent material, which is usually glass in an opening. Individual pieces of glass are known as lights, or often, to avoid confusion with visible light, they are known as “lites”.
The process derives from the Middle English for 'glass', is a part of a wall or window, made of glass. It also describes the work done by a professional "glazier". It is also (less commonly) used to describe the insertion of ophthalmic lenses into an eyeglass frame.
Common types used in architectural applications include clear and tinted float glass, tempered glass, and laminated glass as well as a variety of coated glasses, all of which can be singly or as double, or even triple units. Ordinary clear glass has a slight green tinge but special clear glasses are offered by several manufacturers.
The process can be used enabling the mounting into a window sash or door stile, usually made of wood, aluminium or PVC. The glass is fixed into a rabbet (rebat) in the frame in a number of ways including triangular points, putty, etc.. Toughened and laminated glass can be mounted by bolting panes directly to a metal framework by bolts passing through drilled holes.
It is commonly used in low temperature solar thermal collectors because it helps retain the collected heat.
Insulated (IG) also known as double are double or triple glass window panes separated by an air or other gas filled space to reduce heat transfer across a part of the building envelope.
Insulated Glass Units (IGUs) are manufactured with glass in range of thickness from 3 mm to 10 mm or more in special applications. Laminated or tempered glass may also be used as part of the construction. Most units are manufactured with the same thickness of glass used on both panes but special applications such as acoustic attenuation or security may require wide ranges of thicknesses to be incorporated in the same unit.
To reduce shear effects on the sealed unit (a major cause of premature failure), manufacturers use a rule of thumb that permits a difference of 1 mm between the thickness of the panes of glass used in the unit and still maintain the warranty for the unit. For example, a unit may be ordered with a 4 mm pane on the exterior and a 3 mm pane on the interior. These variations are allowed for architectural and cost reasons. Other combinations can be specified and produced but the manufacturer may reserve the right to limit the term of the warranty or refuse to warranty the unit altogether.
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