I’m also an an affiliate member of the Florida Building Officials Association which has a similar forum as this. Most times it is more of a technical disscussion anout code interpretation and such, but sometimes I can pick up a good nugget.
How many times have you been on an inspection and a home owner is telling you that those glass doors are “Hurricane Doors” and have a product approval, but you are unable to read the poorly etched image on the glass and then after doing the finger tap test you are suspicious that the glass is not laminated but safety (tempered) glass. The following is pasted from a B.O.A.F. post and was confirmed by a later post from the manufacturer PGT.
An interesting point about inspecting windows. Pull out a Bic lighter and flick your bic next to the window. Look at the flame in the window. If you see two flames in the window it is usually tempered glass. If you see four or more reflections of the flame it is most likely missal impact resistant. Each layer of the window has a different diffraction rating and creates a separate reflection of the flame. fake and counterfit stickers are available. Don’t be fooled. this test won’t tell you what the window is but it will tell you if it is not what the sticker says
Come to think of it I am. Never used it for that though. I haven’t run into any questionable scenarios but definitely going to try it out the next chance where the home has impact glass or supposed impact glass.
Agreed John. I’m sure they’re not just going to accept a picture of four red dots claiming the glass to be impact rated. But definitely a good starting point from there.
Agree with John! Take a photo of the etching or verify via the paperwork that might be available to the HO at time of install. Bottom line is, CYA. For those of you that are ex military, you should know what CYA is.
