Structurally Bonded Glass in Sliding Doors

Super slim aluminium sliding doors are unlikely to reduce in popularity any time soon. Over the last few years, the race to create the slimmest sliding door frame possible has led to a wave of different products: all with beautiful brochure images and all loudly advertising how slim they’ve been able to make various different parts of the doorset. Conveniently for the manufacturer, most of these super slim options don’t explain how they’ve achieved such an invisible appearance…

Images from our Slim-line Sliding doors image collection

Glass in “Normal” Sliding Doors

Glass in almost all aluminium windows is supplied completely separately to the frames. We fit the frame into your home, and then we fit the glass.

This is how it works with our Sunflex sliding doors too: the frames are fitted, the sliding leaves are fitted, and then we install the glass using rubber seals inside and outside.

In the unfortunate event of a glass unit breaking, this glazing method means that replacing the glass all by itself is fairly simple. Remove the glazing beads and rubber seals, take broken glass out, put new glass and re-seal.

Slim Modern Sunflex Sliding Door in Modern Extension

Images from our Oak garden room extension in Cheltenham gallery

Structurally Bonded Glass

Also known as “wet-glazed”, a structurally bonded glass unit is permanently glued into its own frame at factory. This is great news for thin-frame enjoyers! When glass is fully bonded to an aluminium frame, the system as a whole becomes naturally stronger. And therefore, thinner frame profiles can be used without compromising the solidity of the door.

Sounds great on paper, looks great in reality, and that’s the point where someone decides to buy it. But what happens if a problem arises with the glass a few years down the line?

If a structurally bonded glass unit breaks, you have to go back to the original manufacturer and buy an entirely new leaf with a newly wet-glazed glass unit install, again, at factory.

There are two worst-case scenarios here, neither of which are too far of a stretch to imagine:

The original factory no longer make the same product. Either due to their latest version being incompatible, or if the product has been discontinued entirely. Both general product improvement and updates to Building Regulations can change a product significantly.
The original manufacturer has closed down, is no longer trading and therefore cannot remake any part of your product. Obviously, this is a risk with any product. But this is why more easily breakable parts (glass for example!) are generally designed to be an easily-serviceable item…

Aluminium sliding doors and picture window with corner post

Images from our Warwick 16th Century Oak Post and Beam Farmhouse gallery

We Choose Our Products to Last a Lifetime

This is why we don’t offer any products that arrive with structurally-bonded glass. A warranty period only tells you so much, and we expect our windows and doors to be fully functioning decades down the line.

In our opinion, if a stone gets thrown up by a lawnmower and hits a pane of glass, “you could require an entirely new sliding door” is simply an unacceptable response. We strongly advise avoiding wet-glazed sliding door systems.