Be very careful with chipped shower doors. LOL

steppinthrax

Diamond Member
Jul 17, 2006
3,990
6
81
So I bought a Delta Shower door kit from HD a week ago. It came in 3 boxes, upon opening the glass box I noticed one of the large panes were chipped on the corner. So I did what any normal person would do and take it back to HD the next day.

They are large sheets of tempered glass (2 panes) and very difficult to carry both at the same time. I pulled my vehicle to the front of Home Depot. I walked in with the box and said I had some glass coming in. I gently removed one piece from my car and walked into HD with it. There were about 5 or 6 people in the front including 3 cashiers. I gently placed the glass down (leaning it against the wall). Suddenly it shattered into a million pieces. I was like WTF. The two woman behind the register screamed. One of the other employees said he saw me put the glass down and I was gentle with it. So anyway I had a few shards of glass that got stuck between the webbing of my fingers and toes. They were very helpful in getting me first aid. They were about to call hazmat because they were unsure if it was dangerous (there was a white dust cloud).

Anyway they all told me that this happened to other friends/relatives they know with tempered glass. Long story short I got my money back. I jokingly asked the guy can you help me with the 2nd sheet of glass in my car. They all looked at each other like OMG. He came out with gloves and we handled this thing like a bomb, he walked into the store with it. He was the one that saw me put down the first piece. I would imaged he kept walking in a straight line to the back of the store and threw that shit in the dump. LOL
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
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Glass on concrete? Yeah that's not going to end well. Didn't it come with styrofoam caps?
 

steppinthrax

Diamond Member
Jul 17, 2006
3,990
6
81
Glass on concrete? Yeah that's not going to end well. Didn't it come with styrofoam caps?

It barely touched the concrete before it broke. I didn't even get a chance to lean it against the wall before it exploded. Yes, it came with styrofoam caps and corner caps.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
Even plexiglass will shatter when hit with a sharp edge. Concrete can be imperfect. The chipped glass edge doesn't help either. ;)
 

IBMJunkman

Senior member
May 7, 2015
857
357
136
Tempered glass is strong on the big surface. That is what it is for. The weakness is the edges. They need to be protected
 

Squisher

Lifer
Aug 17, 2000
21,204
66
91
Tempering glass works by building up stresses internally. I once had a 60 year old pyrex casserole dish explode sitting in cupboard. If I wasn't in the room when it happened I'd have been scratching my head when I found it.
 

Humpy

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2011
4,464
596
126
You seem broken up about this but clearly you should have been more careful.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,758
13,362
126
www.betteroff.ca
Does that type of glass break into square bits or really sharp ones? Tempered glass can be kinda volatile that way. It's actually kinda like a prince ruperts drop. The end is super strong but a tiny chip on the tail and the thing releases all the molecular tension and it allah akbars all over the place.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
72,031
32,274
136
Today, I learned about Prince Rupert's Drop and, in doing so, learned that it wasn't a TV wrestling move. Today, I also learned that in the far away corners of hell northern Ontario, allah akbar is a verb. :D