Actually, he wasn't. He just wasn't paying attention.

Figure 1 shows a picture of a door that had tempered safety glass installed. Actually, it shows the results of a person trying to walk through a closed door that had tempered safety glass installed. It's quite beautiful, isn't it? Broken glass is a common cause of injury in our homes, especially sliding glass doors, shower doors, and floor-to-ceiling windows.

  Figure 1. Shattered tempered safety glass

Tempered safety glass is very prevalent in today's world:

• car windshields and windows
• floor-to-ceiling windows
• windows in skyscrapers
• windows whose bottom edge is below a certain height (depends on jurisdictions)
• sliding glass doors
• shower doors and some walls

Figure 1 is even more beautiful because we know that the person who tried to walk through that closed glass door is alive and well. The only two things that were damaged were the door and the person's pride.

The difference between tempered safety glass and regular glass is that, excepting catastrophic events, tempered safety glass will hold together and simply shatter like that in Figure 1, preventing someone from falling through the glass and possibly having serious cuts. Tempered safety glass is significantly more expensive than regular glass, though, so many times when the glass is shattered, home owners replace it with regular glass without realizing the possible consequences.

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I have personally witnessed three instances of people trying to walk through glass doors, providing that I can include witnessing myself my own actions.

1. Back in 1999 I bought a house on a mountainside with a huge rear deck and 180° views of the Mexican mountains. I hadn't even been there 24 hours when I got tired of cleaning and decided to go out to the deck. I had already been on the deck many times that day and I had always left the door open. The last time, though, my partner had come behind me and closed the door. After I walked into it, it looked exactly like that in Figure 1. Hmmmmm. I wonder if that's the door. Ah, memories.
2. In 1994, I was in Tijuana with a large group of people when some started playing quarters. "Oh, no," I thought. "I'm not sure I want to be around for the outcome." Well, many hours later I was, and one the participants got up and, announcing that he was going out on the patio, walked right into the door. The door was not tempered safety glass, and he had shards of glass sticking out of every inch of his body. I don't think I've ever heard anything wail in agony like that, certainly not a person, and I don't want to hear it again.
3. In 1965 I had been a bad 10-year-old and was trying to escape my mother's punishment. I not only ran smack dab into the sliding glass door, but right through it. In 1965 we didn't know what tempered safety glass was. Mom rushed me to the emergency room where I got 18 stitches. I still have a nice 8-inch scar on my right leg.

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Moral: Many of our older homes still have sliding glass doors, floor-to-ceiling windows, and glass doors and walls in the shower area that are not tempered safety glass. An accidental fall into those doors, windows, and walls can cause serious injury. Check them in your own home, and check them in homes you are listing or your Clients are buying; ask your home inspector about them.

In one of the four corners there will be a tiny seal etched into the glass. Sometimes it will say "tempered" or "safety glass." Other times it will a group of letters and numbers, but if it's etched into the glass, it's highly likely that it is "tempered" or "safety glass."

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