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4 mil window film, useful for security?

jbsjbs
12 years ago

Interested in adding some security to a few especially vulnerable windows in a home. I'd like to make them a bit harder to smash. Not enough of a threat that I'm interested in replacing the windows, but hoping to add some deterrence to what would otherwise be an easy smash and enter.

I got a bid on 4-mil film to be applied to the windows, which range from 8 inches wide to large sliding door panels. Of course, the only way I'll know whether they work well is if I take one and try to smash it. :-) So I thought I'd ask all of you fine folks . . . would adding a layer of 4-mil (or 6-, or 8- . . .) film to one side of a window make it significantly more resistant to breaking through it?

Thanks for any advice!

--Jason

Comments (18)

  • GulfBreezeWindows
    12 years ago

    If they smash it, it will hold the glass in place. But it may not deter a thief, they can just cut the film.

    I don't really trust it, I've seen demo's were a person broke through a single pane piece of glass in less than 10 seconds.

    If you get it, make sure the installer lays a bead of silicone around the edge of the film.

  • ShatterSafe
    12 years ago

    Most unlikely that a thief can just "cut the film". The concept of the film is to delay entry to a premises so that they hopefully get frustrated and leave. The film turns your regular glass into a laminated glass much the same as your car windshield. The glass may fracture but the film holds the glass in place to the film. For regular house glass, do not apply anything thicker than SSF-800 ( Shatter Safe 8 mil film) Film to glass will strengthen the glass at least by double. Once you install the film, be sure to lock the film and the glass into place with a product called Dow Corning 995. This will help make the film, glass and frame one solid unit. DO NOT USE SILICONE, it will become brittle over time and not be effective. This sealant is the same product that is utilized by film companies world wide and is the only pliable type product recommended.

    Good luck, and remember that the concept is to slow down intrusion. If they want in, they are going to get in.

    Cheers
    Al Montgomery
    Founder.
    Shatter Safe

  • ShatterSafe
    12 years ago

    If 4 mil, be certain it is 4 mil, 2 ply. 4 mil 1 ply is a bit cheaper but is for safety, not security.

    Good luck.

    Al

  • GulfBreezeWindows
    12 years ago

    Ok, everyone is entitled to how they believe installs and products work, but...

    1. Pure silicone of a high grade will NOT get brittle and crack.

    2. A film on the outside of the glass DOES NOT make it a laminated window.

    3. A car windshield is a special piece of glass that does NOT have a film on the inside or outside, but inbtween the glass. Like a laminated impact window.

  • PRO
    Windows on Washington Ltd
    12 years ago

    You realize that Dow 995 is a Silicone right?

  • millworkman
    12 years ago

    WOW,

    "Dow Corning� 995 Silicone Structural Sealant"
    if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it must be a _________?

  • PRO
    Windows on Washington Ltd
    12 years ago

    In the case of laminated glass, the plastic interlayer (usually PVB) is between two layers of tempered glass when dealing with a car windshield.

    Most of the silicone as HD and big box stores are intended for bath and wet area applications. They have different cure mechanisms and should not be used. A glazing silicone is different and should be used in this application.

  • brickeyee
    12 years ago

    "In the case of laminated glass, the plastic interlayer (usually PVB) is between two layers of tempered glass when dealing with a car windshield."

    Windshield glass is NOT tempered.
    It shatters into large pieces that are held together by the laminate layer with no edges exposed.

    If the glass was tempered it would have no strength one the glass shattered except for the laminate layer (the entire layer of glass would fracture into crumbs completely).

    Windshields are designed to keep objects from penetrating and occupants from ejecting.
    Tempered glass is designed to fracture into crumbs that have less of a chance of cutting and do not have large and heavy pieces with shartp edges falling.

  • PRO
    Windows on Washington Ltd
    12 years ago

    Thank you again brickeyee.

    I meant to say annealed.

    Tempered glass in side windows and back glass.

    Windshields are annealed/laminated glass.

  • oberon476
    12 years ago

    Yep and imagine trying to see thru that fractured windshield if it was made with tempered glass...it wouldn't be fun.

    Also, when a forehead impacts a windshield something is going to break - either the windshield or the forhead - preferably it's the windshield and not the forehead. Using tempered glass in a windshield would really increase the chance that it's the forehead and very possibly a neck as well.

    Compared with laminated glass used in architectural applications, windshields are fabricated using a lower adhesion PVB interlayer. The lower adhesion allows for what is called "controlled delamination" so that the interlayer will expand like a balloon when the glass breaks on impact. The idea is that the expanding interlayer will absorb a portion of the impact force.

    Dow 995 is probably the most widely used structural silicone to bond the laminated glass to the sash/frame in hurricane impact windows. It comes in black, gray, and white (not clear) so if it is used in a exposed application it will be visible.

    Dow 995 is an amazing product, but don't ever try to separate anything bonded by 995, it ain't gonna happen.

  • brickeyee
    12 years ago

    "Also, when a forehead impacts a windshield something is going to break - either the windshield or the forhead - preferably it's the windshield and not the forehead. Using tempered glass in a windshield would really increase the chance that it's the forehead and very possibly a neck as well. "

    The problem that shows up with head to windshield impacts is sometimes 'scalping' of one degree or another.

    The plastic layer is strong and elastic enough to allow the head 'bullseye' to form.
    The pieces of broken glass separate enough for hair and sometimes scalp to enter the gaps.
    As the person then recoils away from the broken glass hair and scalp can be trapped in the fractures.

    Usually a lot of hair rips out.
    Occasionally scalp stays behind.

    Wear you seat belts.

  • oberon476
    12 years ago

    Amen to that!

  • PRO
    Windows on Washington Ltd
    12 years ago

    Watch my mother put her head through a side window during and accident. It gives you another appreciation for how hard tempered glass is.

    I can imagine there would be a much higher scull and neck fracture rate if windshields did have tempered glass in them.

  • oberon476
    12 years ago

    There is no doubt about that at all.

  • brickeyee
    12 years ago

    I remember treating a policeman years ago for a broken wrist from trying to use a large Mag-lite flashlight to smash a side window.

    He swung as hard as he could, the flashlight bounced off, and he ended up with a broken wrist.

  • PRO
    Windows on Washington Ltd
    12 years ago

    Take a look at the video of this reporter trying to break the window. He wound up cutting a tendon from the glass and requiring reconstructive surgery.

    Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L91_K-s4pMM

  • brickeyee
    12 years ago

    Not the brightest guys there.

    They would have been through tempered glass with one hit of the claws on the hammer.

    There are some side windows now using laminated glass.
    I saw a Mercedes with a broken passenger side front window that was laminated the other day in traffic.

    Going through laminated in an emergency uses a hatchet with a modified blade to hook and cut the plastic layer.
    You just chop away.