Safety film for older glass in North Shore period homes
The glass in a Federation front door or a low bay window is often ordinary glass, the kind that breaks into large, sharp pieces. Safety film on the inside face holds those pieces together if the pane ever breaks, and the old glass stays where it is.
What safety film does if the glass breaks
Safety film is a clear film, thicker than the films we use for heat and glare, laid on the inside face of the pane. You will hardly notice it day to day. It matters on the day something goes through the glass.
What it does
- Holds the pieces. When the pane cracks, the broken glass stays stuck to the film rather than dropping onto the hall floor or the front step.
- Keeps the gap covered. A broken pane held by film tends to stay in its frame until a glazier can replace it.
- Leaves the old glass in place. Nothing comes out of the door. The original pane, ripple and all, stays in it.
- Comes off again. If the pane is replaced one day, the film can be taken off first.
What it does not do
- Stop the glass breaking
- Turn an old pane into safety glass
- Bring a pane up to any building standard
- Keep someone out of the house
Why older glass in a period house
Most Federation and inter-war fronts on the North Shore were glazed long before safety glass was usual in houses. Kidsafe NSW's fact sheet on safety glass says a home built before 1989 is unlikely to have it, and that ordinary annealed glass tends to break into large, jagged shards.
The same sheet lists the glass that matters most: glass-panelled doors inside and out, low windows, stairwell windows and shower screens. In a Wahroonga or Killara bungalow that is usually the front door and its sidelights, the French doors to the verandah, the hall door with glass panels and the bottom panes of the bay.
Safety glass is normally labelled in a corner of the pane. If you need to know for certain what a pane is made of, a glazier can tell you. On the measure we write down what we can see, and we say so when we cannot tell.
| Front door panels | At hand height, on a door that is pushed, leaned on and slammed every day. |
|---|---|
| Sidelights by the front door | Right where people stand with shopping and prams. Often leadlight, which we look at in person. |
| French doors to the verandah | Tall glass that reaches close to the floor, often in several smaller panes. |
| Glazed hall and internal doors | Easy to forget, and often on the route children run through the house. |
| Bottom panes of a bay window | Low enough to lean on, sit against or fall into. |
| Stair and landing windows | Beside a step, where a slip can end at the glass. |
| Bathroom panes | Usually obscure glass beside a bath or shower. The pattern is checked before a film is chosen. |
What we might say about each pane
Not every old pane should be filmed. On the measure each one gets one of three answers, and the quote shows which.
Film it
A clear, flat pane that is sound in its frame is the usual case. The film is cut to that pane and laid on the room side.
Look closer
A leadlight panel is many small pieces of glass held in strips of lead, with ridges a sheet of film cannot lie flat across. Textured and coloured glass has its own questions. We look at each of these in person and give you a straight answer. Film on them is never promised.
Call a glazier first
A pane that is already cracked, loose in its frame, or one you would rather replace with safety glass, is a glazier's job. Film over a crack only hides it.
How safety film goes on
Measure
Each pane goes on the schedule: which door or window it is in, its size, the glass we can see, and whether it is leaded, textured or cracked.
Cut
Film is cut to each pane, so a front door with six panes gets six pieces, each sized to its own glass.
Fit
The film is laid on the inside face, pressed out and trimmed at the edge of the glass. Before we leave, we tell you how long to wait before cleaning it.
Where safety film is oversold or misused
A heat film sold as safety film
A thin heat or glare film is not made to hold broken glass the way a safety film is. Ask which film is going on each pane, and why.
A standard promised
Film does not make an old pane into safety glass. We will not say it does, on the quote or anywhere else.
Leadlight filmed without a proper look
Film pressed over lead lines can lift and trap air, and does little for the pieces between them.
A cracked pane covered over
The crack is still there under the film, and the pane still needs replacing.
A front door on the schedule
A period front door, its sidelights and the doors behind it often come to five or six lines. Each pane has its own line, with the reason and anything we found.
Mark the panes you are worried about on the street side drawing, then say in your message that it is safety film you are after.
Example schedule
- W1Street side, front door, upper panel: Safety film
- W2Street side, sidelight, right of the door: Safety film
Leaded panel, seen in person on the day. No film promised.
- W3Verandah, French door 2, bottom pane: Safety film
- W4Hall door, four glass panels: Safety film
- W5Front bay, lower pane, left: Safety film
- W6Bathroom, pane beside the bath: Safety film, Privacy
Obscure glass. The pattern is checked before a film is chosen.
Questions about safety film on older glass
How can I tell if a pane is already safety glass?
Look in the corners for a small label etched or printed on the glass. Safety glass is normally marked, and old panes usually have nothing. A glazier can confirm it. We note what we see on the measure, but we do not certify glass.
Will the film show on the front door?
It is clear. Close up you can make out where it stops near the edge of the glass, and from the footpath the door looks as it did.
Can safety film go on the leadlight in our door?
Sometimes the clear panes around a leadlight panel can be filmed when the leaded part cannot. We look at the door in person and tell you which panes we would film. For some doors the honest answer is none of the leaded ones.
Is safety film the same as security film?
They work the same way, and security film is the heavier of the two. Neither makes glass unbreakable, and we do not sell any film as a way to keep someone out.
We only want the front door done. Is that worth a visit?
Yes. The door and its sidelights are a job on their own.
Our flat is in an older block in Kirribilli. Can you film the entry door?
Some glass in an older block belongs to the building rather than to the flat, often the entry door and the common hall. Ask the strata manager or committee which panes are yours, and we will put only those on the schedule.
Does council need to know?
Clear safety film barely changes how the front looks, and it can be peeled off later. Whether it needs consent on a listed house or in a conservation area is a question for council, so ask them first. We do not answer it on their behalf.
Period houses we measure
Also at the front of the house: original and leadlight windows and privacy on the street side.
Reference
- Safety Glass, Kidsafe (Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Australia), March 2013. Explains how annealed, toughened and laminated glass break, which glass in a home carries the most risk, and how to find out what glass you have.