What happens when glass breaks, cracks, or chips? 

This product is made with tempered glass, which is a term describing a process that places the glass under pressure to increase its strength.  The tempering process also allows the glass, when it breaks, to separate into small granular pieces for consumer safety.  Any crack or chip in the glass may propagate and cause breakage eventually. Due to a number of factors, a damaged tempered glass panel may break right away if impacted by a hard surface, or during a high velocity operation. It may also break at a later time. When the glass breaks, the pressure produced within the glass during the manufacturing process is released.  Due to this release of pressure, a glass breakage event can appear quite dramatic – it can result in a loud sound and the glass pieces can travel across a room.

If your panel has a chip, or appears to be damaged, please contact our Delta® Shower Door Customer Care Team. 

How do I install glass safely?  

Follow all manufacturer recommendations, which include ensuring that any person(s) handling the glass wears all recommended safety gear and accessories that protect the eyes and upper and lower extremities (arms, hands, legs, and feet) during installation.

Check your glass before installing. If any areas of damage (chips, scratches, or other types of damage) are observed, do not install the glass, but instead contact the Delta® Shower Doors Customer Care Team. If the shower door system being installed includes a second glass panel, do not install either panel if one of the two appears damaged, as both glass doors may have been compromised.

Ensure there is no direct contact between the glass and hard surfaces such as metal, tile, concrete, asphalt, hardwood surfaces, and non-cushioned shower pan floors. The glass is vulnerable to shattering if an end or corner is scratched, damaged or impacted during contact with these hard surfaces. This also applies after installation is completed, if the glass needs to be taken down for any reason.  Tempered glass is very strong, but it is still glass and therefore can break. Treating the glass with care and sensitivity is a critical part of preventing a glass breakage event from occurring.

Two capable adults should participate in installation to ensure the maneuverability of the glass is as easy, stable, and as smooth as possible. Even though the glass might not feel heavy when taken out of the box or if it's stored vertically, its dimensions can make it challenging to place into the track system based on the environment, specific shower door design, and your own physical condition.

All Delta® glass doors come with corner protectors or other pre-installed protective components which should be kept on until the installation guide directs you to remove them. The corners of the tempered glass panels are the most vulnerable areas, so keeping them protected is critical. When removing the glass panel(s) from the packaging, ensure that each corner of the glass has a corner protector applied. If one or more are not on the glass, check inside of the packaging for them and slip them back on before removing the glass from the packaging. If for some reason there are no corner protectors on your glass, please carefully inspect the corners of the glass for any damage and contact the Delta® Shower Doors Customer Care Team. Without the corner protectors on during unboxing or installation, the risk of the glass becoming compromised greatly increases. If your system is already set up and the glass needs to be taken down for any reason, and you didn't save the corner protectors, contact the Delta® Shower Doors Customer Care Team before disassembling.

Before you start, carefully read the dimensions on the packaging as well as all the requirements that are provided in the installation guide and make sure the shower door system that you chose is the right fit for your environment. Never attempt to install a shower door system into an environment that does not match the system’s installation dimension requirements. Doing so may cause the system to perform differently than intended and potentially create a dangerous condition, which may result in a glass breakage event and possible injury.

What are some tips about glass safety?

• All of our glass is tempered safety glass and made to conform to industry and government-adopted standards, which among other things requires tempered glass to break in the safest way possible for the consumer.
• Tempered glass, although extremely strong, is vulnerable to shattering if an end or corner is scratched, damaged, or impacted during or post installation. ALWAYS follow the installation guide's recommendation for safe handling.
• Make sure the corner protectors remain on glass during installation until the glass is fully installed or directed to remove them by the installation guide.
• If the glass needs to be adjusted, make sure to put the corner protectors back on all glass corners before removing the glass.
• Any time you are handling the glass in an un-installed state such as during installation, be sure to wear eye protection, gloves, and closed-toed shoes.
• Make sure the glass does not make direct contact with any hard surfaces such as ceramic tile, stone, metal, or concrete.
• If removing the glass, make sure it is placed on a soft surface such as a soft blanket or mattress. If leaning the glass, make sure to place multiple layers of cardboard under the glass and a towel between the glass and the wall.
• Make sure all bumpers and seals are installed per installation guides.
• Avoid slamming the doors and do not lean or otherwise put excessive weight on the knobs or towel bars. The handles can be used to open and close the door(s) but are not designed for stability inside a shower. If stability is required, the consumer should consider installing grab bars or other safety equipment.
• All hardware should be firmly tightened (screws can loosen over time – make sure to check and tighten them from time to time as needed).
• If the glass drags or does not bypass or swing out with ease, adjust the door immediately and check the glass panel(s) for any damage. Please refer to the installation guide for directions.
• If the glass is not installed immediately after removal from the box, store the glass on a soft surface such as soft carpet or a blanket.

What is the difference between 6mm, 8mm, 10mm glass?

The main difference is the ‘feel’ in the slide or opening. More heft translates to a more luxurious experience.  All Delta® shower door glass, regardless of width, is made of tempered glass and functions in the same manner.

Why does my glass appear green?

The glass contains small amounts of iron, which can appear green in some lighting and at some angles – this is a natural characteristic of glass. It can appear to be more noticeable in some lighting or in bathrooms with light-colored paint. If looking at the glass at an angle, it may appear to have green edges. It can be more noticeable as the glass thickness increases (10mm can be more noticeable than 6mm). Frosted glass will show the green tint more than other types of glass. Rain glass will show less, and clear glass will show the least amount of green tint.

What is Tempered Glass?

Tempered glass is a strong, break-resistant type of safety glass. If broken, it will shatter into small granular pieces rather than jagged shards. This glass has been heat-treated to withstand greater forces on its surface than annealed (un-tempered) glass.  Even the granular pieces of tempered glass need to be handled with care.

How is Tempered Glass made?

Annealed (or un-tempered) glass panels are first cut to the desired size and shape. Any features (such as holes or cutout areas) are machined, and the edges of the glass panels are then ground to take off sharp edges from the glass. The glass is then examined for imperfections that could cause breakage at any step during tempering.

The glass panels then undergo a heat treatment process through a tempering oven, either in a batch or using a continuous conveyor system. The oven heats the glass panels to a temperature of approximately 620 degrees Celsius.

Following this, the glass panels go through a process of air-quenching, a high-pressure cooling procedure in which air is blown over the surface of the glass. This quenching process cools the outer surfaces of the glass more quickly than the center region, which does not experience the air cooling of the outer surface.

Then, as the center of the glass cools, this inner region of the glass attempts to pull back from the outer surfaces. This interaction places the outer surfaces of the glass in compression, while the inner region of the glass remains in tension after the glass panel returns to room temperature. These internal stressors give tempered glass its strength and also cause it to fracture into small granular pieces if the glass panel breaks.

What Industry Standard do we follow with our glass and shower doors?

IAPMO: The International Association of Plumbing & Mechanical Officials Specific Standard.

IAPMO IGC 154-2019 Shower and Tub/Shower Enclosures, Bathtubs with Glass Pressure-Sealed Doors, and Shower/Steam Panels covers shower/steam panels, enclosures for showers and tub/shower combinations, bathtubs and tub/shower combinations with glass pressure‐sealed doors, and floor‐mounted showers intended for new and retrofit applications and specifies requirements for materials, physical characteristics, performance testing, and markings.

ANSI: American National Standards Institute Specific Standard.

ANSI Z97.1 American National Standard for Safety Glazing Materials Used in Buildings – Safety Performance Specifications and Methods of Test is the American National Standard for safety glazing materials used in buildings. It sets specifications and testing methods for the safety properties of safety glazing materials used for all building and architectural purposes. By prescribing the minimum safety performance characteristics of safety glazing materials, ANSI Z97.1 affords a basis for safety standards for adoption in regulations by federal, state, and local regulatory bodies, as well as for use by building code officials, architects, designers, specifiers, and others as a reference standard.  ANSI Z97.1 has been adopted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (16 CFR 1201), an agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for regulating consumer products such as glass shower door systems.

SGCC: Safety Glazing Certification Council.

SGCC maintains a certification program under which manufacturers of safety glazing products voluntarily submit their products for testing to an SGCC-approved independent testing laboratory. The testing procedures used in SGCC's program are consistent with those established in ANSI Z97.1, CPSC 16 CFR 1201 and CAN/CGSB 12.1.