Is my door window made of glass?
Question:I have an exterior door with a window panel of thickness only 1-2mm (I put my thumbs on the inside and out to estimate). Can it possibly be glass? When I tap on it the sound is quite different from other glass windows I have.
Answers:
it is probably plexi glass
Find out what brand the door is and possibly the model. There may be a sticker or imprint somewhere. Look it up on the manufacturer website.
Push on it. If it "gives" it is not glass. Tap on it with your fingernail. Glass has a solid sound. It could be plexiglass or Lexan (break resistant plastic)
If it's tempered it would be at least 3mm thick. If it's laminated glass, it could be as thin as 3mm, but that is rare. If you door was made before the Safety Glazing Act of 1971 (which requires tempered or laminated glass, or acrylic/plastic in doors and sidelites), it's possible that it is just regular glass. If it is, it could be like regular picture frame glass which is usually 2 - 2.3mm.
The only way to tell if it's laminated is by taking it out and seeing the clear plastic inter-layer in between two pieces of thin glass. There's no easy way to tell if it's tempered, but if you look at my past answers I do explain a way. If it's acrylic, it may flex by pressing on it with your finger. However, I think acrylic would have yellowed by now. Lexan /polycarbonate doesn't yellow, but I'm not sure it was invented that long ago.
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