Glass interior doors look very unusual and original. It can be either a swing or a sliding system. Boxes and architraves for them can be aluminum or wooden (pressed), covered with a decorative film, such as, for example, PVC interior doors. Such doors made of glass have a number of advantages, including a huge variety of design solutions and a modern look.

Although there are not so many manufacturers of glass doors compared to standard materials - fiberboard and wood, the range of various patterns and patterns is enough to choose a glass door that is ideal for any room design. There are several ways to apply patterns to glass, such as photo printing (ultraviolet printing), fusing (decorative glass alloy stickers), outline drawing (application of durable polymer inks), engraving (milling), sandblasting (sandblasting), and etching (acid treatment).

Characteristics of Glass Doors

Although the doors are called glass, the door block doesn’t only consist of glass. The box can be made of wood, fiberboard, plastic, or aluminum. In glass partitions, a platband is not always used, but if there is, then it is made of the same material as the box. The decorative coating of molded products can also be of several options - painting, PVC, lamination, or eco-veneer.

For the manufacture of the canvas, tempered glass or triplex is used, the minimum thickness of which is 8 mm. This thickness gives the door leaf sufficient strength with an optimal weight value. Even with such a small thickness, compared to wooden doors of 30-40 mm, the sound insulation of glass doors is very high, if we talk about swing-type glass doors.

Tempered glass is a sheet glass, which has undergone a special heat treatment of the surface, as a result of which the strength of the glass and the nature of breaking are significantly increased - if integrity is violated, only small fragments without sharp corners are formed. The strength index of tempered glass is more than five times that of ordinary glass sheet of the same size and can be up to 250MPa in bending.

Accessories for Glass Doors

This type of door structure eliminates the use of standard mortise fittings, so a number of special hinges and locks for glass interior doors have been developed. For sliding systems, standard fittings are also not suitable; the fastening of the roller mechanism to glass has a special design. The locking mechanisms of glass doors are characterized as overhead and come with a lever handle. 

Sectional Glass Door

Glass doors have many advantages; some people like the original and modern design, others are attracted by the excellent light transmission of such doors. But someone doubts the strength of this design. Thick tempered glass is used here, but it has limiting loads, exceeding which the entire canvas turns into a handful of small glass squares. There is another type of glass - triplex; when broken, the fragments remain glued to one of the layers of the structure - a polymer layer between the sheets of glass. Most of all, the ends of the glass sheet are impacted by overheating during the hardening process, so they must be treated with special care.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Glass Doors

Advantages:

- The undoubted advantage of glass doors is their modern look, and among the whole variety of patterns and drawings anyone can find their doors. Glass doors have the versatility of style and will suit any room design. The drawing decides everything here, the methods for decorating glass sheets are discussed in the first section.

- Among interior doors, only glass structures are not affected by high humidity and temperature changes, especially if the block includes an aluminum version of the box. Therefore, glass doors are installed not only in residential premises and offices but also in bathrooms.

-The high strength of the tempered glass doors of this type completely eliminates the deformation of the leaf, even with improper storage. The level of resistance to mechanical damage is much higher than that of wooden interior doors. However, if a dent appears, the wooden door is easy to restore and the glass door should be replaced.

- The absence of harmful emissions into the air when the door is heated makes it environmentally friendly. All film coatings that are widely used in the production of modern interior doors are applied using a special adhesive that, to a greater or lesser extent, releases harmful fumes when heated to a certain temperature.

- Depending on the design of the glass sheet, doors of this type may have a record light transmission, as for interior door blocks. And at the same time, 8 mm glass provides excellent sound insulation (except for cases with sliding systems).

Disadvantages:

-The main disadvantage of glass interior doors is the relatively high price, which is strongly influenced by expensive fittings. Both sliding and hinged systems must firmly and, at the same time, accurately hold heavy glass tightly in weight. Therefore, the requirements for the quality of materials and the reliability of the design of fittings are significantly higher. You also need the ability to adjust the hinges and rollers (carriages) in case of sagging.

- Glass interior doors are more difficult to care for, compared to film or veneered doors. Glass gets dirty easily, and fingerprints remain, but it is easier to wash such doors than wooden ones, you can use any detergent.

-There are different opinions regarding the strength and safety of a glass interior door; because of concerns, some buyers refuse this type of door. Modern glass production technologies make it possible to eliminate the danger of fragments when broken - they remain glued to the polymer film, or turn into granules without sharp corners, but the fact of glass destruction cannot be ruled out.

How to Choose Glass Doors

When choosing options for glass interior doors, two aspects play a role - technical and aesthetic. As for the technical side, glass doors can be supplied by manufacturers in a wooden or aluminum box. Here you need to determine the option that will more correspond to the installation location of this door unit. If direct contact with water is foreseen, only aluminum moldings can be used. But a wooden box with a casing, covered with a decorative film, looks much more pleasant, so it is more logical to use the latter option in living quarters.

If we talk about sliding systems with a glass sheet, then the possible lining of the opening here is a false box, it can be made of materials such as wood, fiberboard, or PVC additional strips with platbands. The aluminum frame along the contour of the door leaf significantly increases the strength of the glass sheet, because its end is the weakest point. It is possible to destroy a glass door simply by placing it on an uneven hard floor surface, so it is recommended to use an aluminum frame as an additional decoration and reliable protection.

Glass interior canvases are divided into all-glass and composite. The composite structure includes several glass parts connected into one sheet through aluminum imposts or partitions. Such elements complement the already unique design of glass doors without compromising the strength of the leaf.

The main criterion for choosing a glass door is the decoration of the glass. It can be a transparent canvas or matte, with or without a pattern. Patterns or drawings are applied in different ways, using different materials, and you will surely find what you desire.