Commercial Storefront Glass Replacement in Mission Viejo, CA

This large pane of laminated safety glass broke due to heat (thermal) fracturing. An outdoor heater was placed too close to the windowpane, and the rapid temperature change caused the glass to crack and break. This often happens here in Southern California when a pane of glass is cool, but some area of the glass becomes hot, causing the warmed area to expand quickly, stressing the glass until it cracks. In this case, it was a propane heater used by a restaurant for outdoor dining. More often, thermal breakage occurs when there is a dark film or tint on the glass, and shading from a building or tree keeps part of the glass cool. On a scorching day, the sun hits the unshaded area causing it to heat up really quickly, especially if the glass is very dark or blacked-out, and then the glass breaks.

This customer in Mission Viejo decided to replace the broken laminated glass with tempered glass. Laminated glass comprises two thinner layers of glass with a plastic layer in the center that holds it together when it breaks, making it a safety glass. But these thinner layers of glass crack and break much easier than one thicker layer. Tempered glass is 4X stronger and is less prone to thermal breakage. Tempered glass is also cheaper than laminated glass, which adds up pretty quickly on large panes like this one.