When renovating your home, there are many things you need to consider.
You need to pick a décor style that you’re still going to like five years down the line. You need to pick materials and fittings that are of a good quality and that won’t rust, break or deteriorate after a year of use. You need to make sure that you don’t opt for eye-catching design that looks cool but makes day-to-day living inconvenient. You’ve also got to do all of this without going over your budget.
As anyone who’s renovated their home will tell you, this is no mean feat.
One consideration that should take precedence over all of these is safety.
It’s absolutely essential that you are able to feel safe and secure in your home; it should be a haven. That means designing a home that keeps your family safe – from both the weather and from burglars or home invaders. For this reason, you should always take safety into consideration when choosing the materials and methods you’re going to use in your home renovation plans.
Prioritising safety in your home renovation plans means considering a lot of different factors.
If you’re doing any renovations DIY, there any bound to be dangerous aspects that you need to take into consideration. Do you have the correct safety clothing, like proper boots, hard hats, safety glasses and heavy duty gloves? Are you fit and able to carry heavy materials and climb on roofs?
Even renovations that are carried out by professionals can carry safety risks. Are the chemicals and equipment being used safe? Are there any stages of your renovations that will make your home temporarily unsafe for your children or pets? Does the end result maximise your family’s safety?
From a safety perspective, choosing sandblasting on glass might not be the best choice for your home renovations.
Sandblasting on glass carries safety risks associated with both on-site and off-site installation.
Off-site installation leaves you vulnerable to the elements and to intruders.
The majority of the time, sandblasting on glass must be done off-site. This is because the sandblasting process requires the use of powerful machines. These machines blast an abrasive substance – like silica sand – onto your glass surfaces. In order to cut into the glass and achieve the textured, frosted effect of sandblasting on glass, the silica sand needs to be blasted at an extremely high pressure. This process is dangerous and as such is best done in a factory by professionals, where the machinery can be operated in a controlled environment.
Building sites are already hot spots for opportunist thieves. Your usual security habits are lax during this time because workmen need to constantly fetch materials from outside and so on. There are also valuable tools and materials lying around – a tempting sight.
Unfortunately, off-site sandblasting on glass requires having your window panes temporarily removed. With no windows or glass doors, you are unable to lock up, leaving your home, possessions and family even more vulnerable to intruders.
Sandblasting on glass on-site carries health risks.
In some instances, it may be possible to have sandblasting done on-site. However, because sandblasting requires the use of fine silica sand and produces an even finer glass dust, there are potentially very serious respiratory health risks associated with sandblasting on glass that could affect your family and pets. The process is also very messy and requires a lot of cleaning up; an added inconvenience.
Window vinyl achieves the same frosted look of sandblasting on glass, without the installation safety risks.
Frosted window vinyl can be used as an alternative to sandblasting on glass. Window vinyl is quick and easy to install on-site, with no health or safety risks.
Sandblasting weakens glass.
Sandblasting is often used as a privacy measure as the opacity of the frosted effect blocks outsiders’ views. However, because the frosted effect of sandblasting on glass is achieved by removing the top layers, glass loses up to 2mm of its thickness as a result. This weakens glass, making it more likely to shatter in the event of an accident or vandalism.
Frosted window film, on the other hand, makes glass shatterproof.
Unlike sandblasting, applying frosted window film to glass actually strengthens it. Installing window decals involves applying vinyl film over the surface of your glass. This extra layer makes glass shatterproof – so even if glass does break, the window film will keep the pieces together instead of sending shards flying.
