What Do You Know about Interior Glass Doors and Sliding Glass Doors?
13 06 2010Interior glass doors come in a variety of sizes and configurations. They can also be made of a variety of materials. The most common material is pine however; maple and oak are also popular. Your higher quality interior doors have engineered stiles and rails with an outer layer of veneer. The veneer is where the pine, maple or oak come in. Although you can get interior glass sliding doors in just about any wood species you like, they are typically a special order and will more than likely cost you an arm, a leg, and maybe even your first-born child. Just kidding! However, they will cost you that are.
Most producers and suppliers of interior doors have standard choices when it comes to the glass insert, but most will also allow you to design your own insert or design a unique one for you. Again, whether you design one yourself or have them do it, it will cost you, there goes your second born!
In case you did not get it from the name, “Interior Glass Doors” are just that, interior. While the engineered part of the door is designed to prevent warping, it is not meant for an exterior application. The engineered stiles and rails and veneer skin is designed to be more sustainable than your typical solid wood door and provides for a better veneer quality, do not ask me how, it just does.
You can also add more glass to your interior glass sliding doors. In addition to the insert you can get glass sidelights or a transom. Again, you can design your own or have the door guys do it, just how many kids are you willing to give up anyway?
You may want privacy from your interior doors, are you crazy its glass after all!
Anyway, you can certainly order opaque glass in your interior doors, this will certainly provide some privacy, however, no glass is completely opaque and all glass will allow some sort of image through. Opaqueness comes in five levels, one being the least opaque (most transparent) and five being the most opaque (least transparent).
Typically, the glass insert of glass doors have a design in them, this design can be seen from both sides, of course, its glass! However, the design is only applied to one side of the glass, the other side is smooth. The design will more than likely have a texture to it, this come from embossing the design into molten glass or sandblasting the design into the glass. You can even have the design silk screened onto the glass. Another process used to apply the glass in your interior glass doors is known as “ceramic frit”. This process makes the image permanent, is easy to clean and is resistant to finger prints. Again, do not ask me how it works, it just does!
While glass doors are typically used in single door applications, many people use them as pocket doors or French doors.
Categories : Designers Tradecraft, Enjoyment, Home Improvement + More
