Almost all commercially used glass are tempered. Glass which are not tempered will cut flesh when broken. What you probably want is double layered reinforced panes for added strength & security. Provides good sound insulation too.

This post has been edited by spanker: Jun 1 2010, 11:23 AM

yeah, think i will go for tat for my front windows, but jus keep my back(kitchen) windows grilled.

laminated glass is easy to break with pen knife cutting through the laminate skin. Use sharp object and knock the cutting area.

is it? i didnt knw that... mus ask the salesperson

that is not true, vexus. first off the laminate is inside and in our example between two window panes. this is basically how bullet proff glass is made. glass + laminate + glass + laminate + etc.

if you buy the security class i suggested there will be absolutely no way you can use a pen knife to get inside. the best you would be able to do is cause a small scratch if any to the window. go and try it at a vendor's sample glass. while you're there you can also do the axe-swing test. if you can do it with less than the required smashes for the respective class, its not the class they claim it to be.
what you can do if someone has laminate outside (which would be pretty stupid) is to cut the laminate itself and maybe peel it a bit. but you still wont be able to get into the window.

my brother house got broken into even though its grilled with metal bars. How they do it? they break the walls/bricks at the sides and the whole metal grill just drop....

r u sure the thieves have that much of a time to actually knock down the walls. It will take at least an hour or so to break down brick walls. What more is that the noise that it'll make. Wouldn't the neighbour be suspicious of all this?

One advantage of having grills - the grills are visible and act as a deterrant. If you have tempered glass, the thieves thought there are no grills and will climb into your garden, then realise it's tempered glass, but since he's there anyway, he tries to break through. If got grills, he might have moved onto the next house...

If they can break through walls, why not just saw through the grilles? Both damn noisy anyway.

conclusion is that no matter what type of windows i get - there is still a risk of gettin broken into?

then in that case i shud go for the one that looks nice i.e. tempered/laminated windows without grill

the weakest point of laminated tempered glass is 4 side edge corner. Any hard sharp object hit that area it will break.

once again, please do a readup on how security glass works or better even go and try it. you will see that what you said has no relation to proper security glass vexus.

for me, i would prefer with grill anytime. same reason with Dannyl
and 1 more thing, the thieves do not know the special glass until they try to break it & that is too late
the glass already have some break marks if not broken, u need to replace it & it cost more $$ than normal glass

I have an airwell with openings at the sides for light to come in. I'm considering either fixed glass bricks, or fixed tempered glass as I do not want grills all around the airwell. For ventilation, I intend to have top hung alu windows ( 8 inches in height ) all around.

Now my dilemma is... glass bricks or tempered glass....

you should proceed with tempered glass+laminate without the security grille, it should be alright from my experince..i did the same thing to my house, try Glass Network Malaysia,

Good luck

ok, say we use thick glass for security reason. how about in case of emergency like fire, difficult to break the glass from inside the house or not ?

cause its not easy. you should have exits in front and back that are safe but can be opened easily from inside (i.e. security doors). if you have a good frame it will be almost burglar proof but can be opened easily from inside too. so no need to break the window.

if emergency and there's grill, isnt it worse?

@kathlynn - guess so

they will try to pry it with a clawhammer and tempered or lamintated one side and saw it down, it will just come out in a square shape and goes in.

This is what i saw when my friend laminated + unbreakable car window got saw off like a piece of plastic. I think it work the same since the edges of every glasses is rubber.

if you buy a real security or burglar proof window (and not some crappy aftermarkete lamination product) you will be able to tell the difference. read my earlier post about classifications and the such and check out how those windows *really* work. of course it comes at a price but what doesnt.