Is this safety glass

[Denray]

This bathroom glass has that rough texture on the outside. No etched label though. Wondering if it is safety glass?

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[Jim Katen]

The texture has nothing to do with whether or no it's safety glass.

I use a small mirror and a flashlight to see etchings that are too subtle for me to see unaided. If I can't see the etching, I say that I couldn't see an etching and to replace it with safety glass that does have an etching. If someone wants to argue with me, I invite them to show me the etching. On two occasions, others have found the etching where I missed it. (That's when I started using the mirror.)

The other alternative is to use a BB gun. (See, I told you it wasn't tempered. . . )

[Denray]

Thanks again Jim!

[Jerry Simon]

"I use a small mirror and a flashlight to see etchings that are too subtle for me to see unaided."

Please elaborate.

"The other alternative is to use a BB gun."

As I recall from my youth, sliding glass door panels make a nice *puff* noise with a BB gun. . .

[Tom Raymond]

The process of texturing generally involves heat. Most decorative glass is annealed as a result. It's hardened, but not tempered. Most likely not safety glazing.

As Jim said, without a bug the only way to tell is to break it.

[Jim Baird]

Take comfort in the fact that in today's market, products made for buildings are required by codes to be listed for the use they serve. I don't think you would ever find a bootleg non-tempered shower door/enclosure.

[TimK]

Does anyone know when the requirement for safety glass in shower enclosures was introduced? It occurs to me that this is likely in an older home, which may have pre-dated the safety glass requirement.

(I'm getting the shower scene of Hitchcock's "The Birds" in my head now)

Take comfort in the fact that in today's market, products made for buildings are required by codes to be listed for the use they serve. I don't think you would ever find a bootleg non-tempered shower door/enclosure.

[Garry Sorrells]

This bathroom glass has that rough texture on the outside. No etched label though. Wondering if it is safety glass?

Where was the glass? By/in tub? How far off floor? In passage doorway? Subject to fall area?

[Denray]

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[Jim Katen]

"I use a small mirror and a flashlight to see etchings that are too subtle for me to see unaided."

Please elaborate.

I carry a small mirror, the size of a business card. Place the mirror against and perpendicular to the glass and use the flashlight to shine a grazing light against the glass. The mirror will often show the etching where I couldn't otherwise see it.

Of course, the etching will only be on the smooth side on pebbled glass. You might have to go outdoors to look on the other side.

[Jim Baird]

Now I see. It is a window in the wall, not a shower enclosure. Within 5 ft vertically of the tub drain is IRC. I have seen lots of windows over tubs that were not tempered.

[Mike Lamb]

"I use a small mirror and a flashlight to see etchings that are too subtle for me to see unaided."

Please elaborate.

I carry a small mirror, the size of a business card. Place the mirror against and perpendicular to the glass and use the flashlight to shine a grazing light against the glass. The mirror will often show the etching where I couldn't otherwise see it.

Of course, the etching will only be on the smooth side on pebbled glass. You might have to go outdoors to look on the other side.

Are these scratches the etchings you speak of?

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[Jim Katen]

Are these scratches the etchings you speak of?

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No. I'd just call those scratches. Also, with that much scratching, it's unlikely to be tempered glass.

[Mike Lamb]

Do you have a picture? This photo is from a large shower enclosure in a pretty fine home. I used to write up that I could not be sure if shower glass was tempered if it wasn't marked but stopped doing that a long time ago.

I tried the mirror technique you spoke of but didn't see how that made any difference in what I was looking at.

[Garry Sorrells]

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How high from floor is the window? I am guessing 53inches, but could be closer to 60, but can not tell.

What did you measure? it may be a case of close was good enough for permit sign off. If that was the case then it is not tempered and stamp/etching not to be found.

[Denray]

They won't care anyway.

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[mjr6550]

I believe the requirement for tempered glass adjacent to bathtubs was first required in the 1996 IRC. I see many houses without tempered glass there. My own house was built in 1990 and did not have it until I replaced the window. Many replacement window companies still don't install tempered glass.

[Jim Katen]

I believe the requirement for tempered glass adjacent to bathtubs was first required in the 1996 IRC. I see many houses without tempered glass there. My own house was built in 1990 and did not have it until I replaced the window. Many replacement window companies still don't install tempered glass.

I think you mean CABO.

The requirement is much older, though. It's in the 1979 CABO and in the '76 UBC. (Those are the oldest ones I've got.) But I suspect that it first showed up in the early '70s.

[BADAIR]

Does anyone know when the requirement for safety glass in shower enclosures was introduced? It occurs to me that this is likely in an older home, which may have pre-dated the safety glass requirement.

(I'm getting the shower scene of Hitchcock's "The Birds" in my head now)

Take comfort in the fact that in today's market, products made for buildings are required by codes to be listed for the use they serve. I don't think you would ever find a bootleg non-tempered shower door/enclosure.

"ICBO's Uniform Building Code 1961 edition was the first to require safety glazing for shower doors."

http://www.ashireporter.org/homeinspect ... azing/2198

[Jim Baird]

I believe the requirement for tempered glass adjacent to bathtubs was first required in the 1996 IRC. I see many houses without tempered glass there. My own house was built in 1990 and did not have it until I replaced the window. Many replacement window companies still don't install tempered glass.

I think you mean CABO.

The requirement is much older, though. It's in the 1979 CABO and in the '76 UBC. (Those are the oldest ones I've got.) But I suspect that it first showed up in the early '70s.

IRC inaugural edition was Y2K. Before that we were SBCCI, which used CABO for residential.

[Tom Raymond]

Many replacement window companies still don't install tempered glass.

Because it's costs money. Tempered glass is cheap for new construction standard sizes built by the thousand. Not so much for custom replacementsoftware built one at a time.

If no permits are required, consumers don't know they need it. I always recommended it, but people would rather spend $20 a lite for grids than $100 a sash on safety.