When you have a family, all the features of your home should work together to keep your family safe, including your windows. You can customize your windows with special glass, such as impact-resistant glass or laminated safety glass, or add special features to your glass, such as window tint, to increase the safety of your home.
Here are three safety features that will ensure your windows will keep your family safe and protected at all times.
1. Impact-Resistant Glass
When it comes to keeping your family safe, you want the strongest glass in your windows. One of the strongest types of window glass is impact-resistant glass.
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) tests impact-resistant glass to ensure the glass meets stringent guidelines. One key test the society performs is to test the glass’s ability to withstand the pressure of 200 mph winds.
Impact-resistant windows are specifically designed to protect against hurricanes. They can protect your home against other natural disasters as well, such as tornadoes and other storm-related damage.
That is not all impact-resistant windows can do. If a projectile is strong enough to break the outer layer of glass on your windows, the layer of polyvinyl butaryl (PVB) will keep the broken glass, as well as the wind and water from the storm, from getting into your home.
Impact-resistant windows are also very difficult for people to break through, increasing the safety of your home for your family. As a bonus, impact- resistant windows also help dampen noise from outside, increasing the peace and quiet inside of your home as well.
2. Laminated Safety Glass
If you are not worried about hurricane force winds and projectiles hitting your home, but still want glass in your home that is difficult to break, then laminated safety glass may be what you need.
Laminated safety glass contains an inner layer between the layers of glass. The inner layer is made out of either liquid resin, PVB, or even EVA. If the glass is ever shattered, from inside of your home or the outside of your home, the glass will stick to the inner layer.
For example, if your child were to fall into the glass, the inner layer would catch your child. Or if someone tried to break into your home from the outside, they could break the outer layer of glass, but could not get through the middle layer the glass sticks to.
Like impact-resistant glass, laminated safety glass can also cut down sound from the outside as well. The inner layer can also help block out ultraviolet rays from entering your home.
Laminated safety glass may not be as strong as impact-resistant glass, but it is an affordable alternative that will keep your family safe from broken glass and will help keep the inside of your home quiet from outside noises.
3. Window Tint
If you are worried about your privacy and don’t want other people looking into your home and seeing what your family is doing, a window tint is a great way to achieve the privacy you are looking for.
A window tint is a thin layer that is applied to the inside of your glass. Adding tint to your windows gives it a degree of shatter resistance and could help hold your window together if it shattered.
Window tint will help ensure people can’t see into your home, even when your blinds or curtains are open. Window tint will provide you with privacy and protection from ultraviolet rays.
When you install windows in your home, make sure they will keep your family safe. Our glass experts at JFK Window & Door Co. can help you select windows that will keep your family safe. Give our team a call today.
