My Storm Door Glass Just Exploded
I was all set to write about my hour and a half visit to the acupuncturist (I have another appointment next week), but then something very strange just happened within the last hour.
I was sitting here on the couch with Charlie and heard a loud tinkling sound near the door. I picked up Charlie and opened the wood door.
My storm door that I purchased when I moved in four years ago had exploded into a jillion tiny little pieces of glass.
I didn’t know what to do. I looked out the window and saw the maintenance man’s shed door was halfway open. So I gently walked through the broken door holding Charlie and called out to him.
He immediately came and started cleaning up the glass. I was afraid to put Charlie boy down.
Living alone, I felt safer having that storm door locked and the wood door between me and whoever might knock on my door. Which means I have to go buy a new one.
This was a very pretty Larson door, and it wasn’t what I consider cheap. I think it was around $300. I clean that glass a lot and there was not a scratch or crack on it anywhere. It was pristine.
I called Lowes and there is no warranty for the glass. I wanted them to order a new one just like it, but they said they don’t keep records four years old. I purchased it from the Lowes here in town.
You’d think they’d have some kind of records of purchases, but apparently not.
Some of you may remember I had “The Door Man” company come out three years ago and build an enclosure (not sure what to call it) around the door because air came through and around and under the door.
You don’t want air escaping all around your door and letting bugs in.
Not only that, but the concrete underneath the door was in little pieces and there was no way to fix it besides taking it all out and laying new concrete.
Of course no one was going to repair that around here, so I paid to have it done myself.
It took “The Door Man” guy (yes, that’s the name of his company) eight hours to complete the job.
Of course this is Friday and I don’t know when I could get a new door put on once this one has been taken down.
The maintenance man is gone now, but he will have to take the door frame down and and remove the remainder of the glass before I get a new one.
Every time you touch it more glass comes raining down, even though most of the glass went flying when it exploded.
My daughter and Andrew are coming over tomorrow, so I’ll have to make sure all the pieces of glass inside and outside are cleaned up. If my wood door had not been shut, no telling how far those pieces of glass would have flown indoors.
So I’ll be telling you all about my appointment yesterday, but I’ve got to tend to this mini disaster right now.
Hello,
I happened to come across this article while doing some online research on exactly this issue. I am a senior lady and was sitting quietly in my living room when I heard something strange; not a bang or glass breaking but a strange sound. I looked around the house, didn’t see anything and thought I’d peak outside to see if there were something on my porch. When I opened the inner door the glass on my storm door came crashing down into the house. The entire glass insert on the storm door was shattered. My storm door is also made by Larson, installed by Lowes in the end of 2019. I called Lowes and of course it’s not under warranty; they said something must have been thrown to cause the break. Hmmmm, I’m certain I would have heard that if it were so. I’ve ordered a replacement glass and was told that this shouldn’t happen as it’s not a normal occurrence. I have to deal with the broken glass for the next few days until it can be replaced. The original door and installation cost close to a thousand dollars! Hopefully this won’t happen again. This was enough to completely ruin my day and give me the shakes! (Thanks for listening.)
I just had the same thing happen to me, I believe mine is Larson’s too but was purchased at Menards and funny thing is it happened last year as well. I’d like to know what’s up with the glass in these doors. .
Good morning Brenda. Your flowers are gorgeous and you certainly have a green thumb. I’m in southern cal and with so little rain we don’t have a lot of blooms yet. . Under water restriction mandates so have to be careful with watering. Tempered glass can shatter and the little pieces it explodes into are for safety. The pieces are usually not sharp like regular glass so youre less likely to get cut. We had a shower door explode once. It was loud and a mess. Have a good day.
Oh no. I’m sorry about your storm door. I hope you’re able to find a new one you like soon!
http://theheartlandchronicle.blogspot.com/
This is more common than people realize. Happened twice to me. Once when a glass fronted bread box exploded into a million pieces and another when a shelf holding Waterford glasses exploded and caused the shelf below it, also holding Waterford glasses, to crash, destroying about 10 glasses.
I’ll just add to the others who are glad that you and Charlie are ok. So scary, though! I confess, I’ll be looking at my doors out to the balcony a bit more concerned. I never heard of this happening. I just wanted to say your passionflower is wonderful! That first photo reminds me of a ballerina in a tutu lifting her arms up in a dance. Hope your week-end is good and that Charlie will handle being alone that little while. I think he’ll be fine, but I know you’re a bit concerned.
Mary
I’m glad you and Charlie are OK and you had the main door closed! It is so strange how this can happen to glass sometimes. It has been really hot (upper 90’s) here and I think extreme temperatures can have an effect on glass. Has it been really hot there? Who knows what caused it but I am so glad you and Charlie are safe! Enjoy your time with your daughter and Andrew this weekend.
Wow. I had the shower door shatter into a billion pieces on me one time when I got in the shower. I wasn’t hurt. But pretty scared. Thankful your wooden door was closed. It would have really upset Charlie.
I think safety glass breaks into small pieces rather than regular glass which breaks into sharp pieces. it’s like a windshield on a car.
Oh, I get it.
That happened to a sliding patio door my sister had. It faced south, and she had closed her vertical blinds. So the heat from the sun got trapped and caused it to shatter. No one was harmed, but it sure got her attention.
This sure got my attention too! The other day I read not to leave plastic water bottles in your car because they are known to explode in heat. Maybe the same is true with glass.
I have never heard of such unless a rock or something has hit the glass. You have gotten a lot of good advice, so I will only add that I am sorry for your bad luck and thankful that you or your fur baby were not injured.
It said online that this is pretty common with glass. Who knew?
The first thing I thought of was that I am so happy that neither you or Charlie were at the door! Make sure that when you buy something you keep the receipt and any paperwork attached to the product. It can solve many problems down the road for you. We have found this out in the past. I wonder if there is anyway to attach something to the glass so that glass doesn’t fly if this should ever happen again. But this doesn’t sound like some thing that would happen often. Faulty glass? I hope you get this resolved easily!
I’ve never been good with paperwork. I’ll have to figure something out with that. It broke from the center out.
Please call Larson directly. I’ve called them over other things and they were extremely helpful. I’m sure they would want to know that their door shattered.. Perhaps they’ll even offer some kind of compensation . The number I have for them 1-888-483-3768 or 1-800-352–3360 You should have a registration number on the door jam, I am sure they’d like to have that when you call. Hope that helps you.
I just called Larson, went through all the pressing of numbers. Then was told by automated voice the wait time was 20 minutes and someone would call me back.
Once we bought an expensive pella sliding door with blinds built in. We had numerous problems with it. We got a check for the full amount from pella and it had a note saying we had had too many issues with the door. We never even asked for that..but Home Depot or Lowe’s (can’t remember which) must have complained to pella. .
You just never know when you buy something what the quality is.
Wow! What an odd thing ! Thank goodness you and Charlie are ok. I have heard that a slice…or several slices of bread are food for picking up teensy pieces of broken glass. Hope the rest of your weekend are uneventful.
Love the passionflower! I have purple and also a red passionflower.
I have a broom I leave on the porch for when the lawn guys blow grass all over my tiny porch. And the maintenance guy used that. Luckily I had a hand held vacuum to get the teeny tiny pieces. I’ll probably find pieces of it for weeks.
That is so strange. It must have been safety glass thank goodness. Glad you weren’t hurt. But that shouldn’t have happened. I’d call the manufacturer just to let them know.
I don’t see how it would be safety glass if it exploded into tiny pieces… Maybe I don’t understand what you mean.
I’m glad you and Charlie are ok! If it was me, I would call a glass co and have safety glass put in. It saves alot of money..you will have the same door you like too.
What kind of flowers are in the 1st picture? I’ve never seen any like that before Brenda.
The flower is passion vine. It would end up costing me more to have someone come get this mess and then get the glass and then put it in and bring it back. The frame of the door looks exactly like the old one. Only thing different was the scroll work etching in the glass. And the glass is history.
I agree with All the comments and it may just be a recall. Glad you’re ok . Just LOVE the pictures of your flower. Enjoy your family tomorrow
I’m so glad you aren’t bored with my flower pics!
Sorry about the glass breaking. Hope you like the new door. Your flowers and patio garden are delightful. ?
Oh yes, the back of my home is pretty. Just not the front at the moment.
I agree with the above posts. Contact the company. I seems to me that they should be glad to replace your door free of charge. You could return the one you already bought.
Will definitely check into doing that.
OMYGOSH. stay strong darling bean!
thank heavens you and Charlie aren’t hurt.
as if you don’t have enough on your plate already. xo
Well, it isn’t the end of the world. In the big scheme of things, a mere blip.
Call the company, especially if there have been other reports of this. Take lots of photos and complain. Remember, the squeakiest wheel gets the most oil. This is not normal.
I will. But the maintenance guy has already knocked most of the glass out for safety reasons. Like the mailman, etc.
That is a bit scary! Glad no one was hurt. Hope you get some help replacing it.
Me too.
Holy cow! Haven’t heard of that happening, that is just downright scary. I would search for the model number on the door and then contact Larson customer service, tell them what happened and ask if they have received other reports of this happening before, and what could possibly cause such a thing? I’m wondering if maybe it wasn’t hit by some BB gun pellets or a sharp edged stone that hit it just the right way and bounced off. There might not be a way necessarily for you to tell that something punctured the glass and started the chain reaction of the crumbling of the safety glass. You may just be able to get the glass replaced if the frame is not damaged. That would save you money but you would have to have a glass company come out and measure and cut safety glass to size and install for you. Also – I just did a quick google search on “Larson storm door glass shattered” and evidently this has been happening to other people country over several years. Might be worthwhile checking out some of these reports to see if a cause of the shattering glass was able to be determined.
This is the info online…
Exploding glass is a phenomenon by which toughened glass (or tempered) may spontaneously break (or explode) without any apparent reason. The most common causes are: Internal defects within the glass such as nickel sulfide
That is such a freaky thing to happen. I’m just glad you and Charlie weren’t injured. Enjoy your afternoon with your daughter and grandson. I hope your weekend will be brighter!
Carol and Molly
Yes, I’m sure we’ll have fun. Just hate to leave Charlie.
I’ve never heard of this happening before! Just have to make sure Charlie and your grandson don’t injure themselves with any wayward broken glass. Check into your renters policy.
Tried them and no one answered. Will try again.
Just called again. Wouldn’t be worth it. My deductible is $500 and the door wasn’t that much.
Well when it rains it pours they say. What a weird thing to happen. I experienced the bottom glass shelf of my fridge busting into jillions of pieces once. I think I found bits in places for two months. Oh dear Brenda I hope your weekend is nice. By the way I am glad to hear Charlie boy is doing well. You take care.!
I just read that tempered glass is a bomb waiting to happen.
IF YOU HAVE RENTER’S INSURANCE, CHECK WITH THEM IT MAY BE COVERED. CERTAINLY WORTH LOOKING INTO, IT WAS PURCHASED BY YOU, AND INSTALLED AT YOUR EXPENSE.
HOPE YOU CAN GET IT RESOLVED QUICKLY AND TO YOUR SATISFACTION.
I do have Renter’s insurance, but I think the deductible is $500, and the door didn’t cost that. I’ll call them though.
That happened to my parents…. but… My Dad was mowing the front lawn and a small garden rock.. (very small ) shot out from under the lawn mower and hit the door… which in turn shattered the glass into a million pieces!! 🙁 …. sooooo… in their case… had to purchase a new storm door at Home Depot !!
If I’d have the wood door open, Charlie and I would probably have been hit with glass.
Oh my gosh, that’s frightening, Brenda!! Did you try contacting the Larson company directly? Perhaps they have a warranty? I just put in a Larson storm door in the fall….now I’m going to be worried the same thing will happen to mine!
Haven’t yet. I didn’t think to. I just called Lowes and they had a bunch of dummies answering the phone. I just bought another one, not quite as pretty as the other one, as I’d have to wait 2 weeks while they ordered it. The door is now in my Pathfinder and I’m hoping I can find someone to take it out.
It seems like you could have kept the door, if it wasn’t broken, and had the glass replaced in it. A glass company could have done that, or Larson might have replaced the glass. Maybe you would want to check into the cost of just the glass with a local glass company. Or, get plexiglass, which won’t shatter like the glass did.
And if you get the glass replaced, then return the new door, of course!
Larson called me back. They said glass is never under warranty.