Exploding glass!

[offagen]

Well, four months later we have a sink top again. An enquiry to Auto-Trail took quite some time to be answered but eventually they said that the glass cover could not be bought separately. We'd have to buy a whole new sink that would cost £140 Inc VAT. To replace to sink would require removing the fridge below it so with disconnectio/reconnection of services the labour cost was not going to be insignificant.

Instead we followed Jimbohorlicks' suggestion. I measured up and prepared a drawing of the glass top and took it to a very good glaziers that we have used a few times before. They made the replacement in 4mm grey tinted toughened glass and it was a simple job to fit it myself. It's not identical to the original but fits well and looks perfectly good. Cost was £48.

Since the incident that broke the original glass lid we have fitted telescopic guards to the wall cupboards above the kitchen area to prevent anything more falling out. I'll also look at the shatterproof safety film suggested by PP Bear.

 

[FrankNicklin]

Now that sounds a really good idea. We also have a glass cover over the hob. Thanks for the suggestion.

What really shocked me was how long it was from the small chip to the whole thing exploding. That cuppa saved me from potentially nasty injuries if I'd been taping up the chip first.

Tempered glass. The stresses build over time until it will take no more and shatter. When I was a kid we used to have tempered glass water glasses in the school canteen. I dropped one and it didn't break initially, just bounced around on the floor. Must have been at least 30 seconds before it exploded in to tiny pieces.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

When we travel we cover the sink and cooker glass tops with the non slip mats and then on top of those a thin plastic worktop saver/ chopping board..then when we open the top cupboard doors anything that falls out will hit the plastic rather than the glass tops.

 

[offagen]

When we travel we cover the sink and cooker glass tops with the non slip mats and then on top of those a thin plastic worktop saver/ chopping board..then when we open the top cupboard doors anything that falls out will hit the plastic rather than the glass tops.

Good advice while travelling. In our case the glass was hinged up in the vertical position to use the sink when a jar fell out of the top cupboard and chipped the top edge of the glass. The new telescopic guards should stop that happening again.