A frightening series of spontaneous glass explosions on balconies of Melbourne apartment buildings has highlighted the dangers of cheap and faulty construction products flooding into Australia.

The falling shards luckily missed passing pedestrians by just a few metres.

The failures are suspected to be cases of spontaneous glass breakage linked to poor manufacturing.

It is thought the balcony balustrades contain nickel sulfide.

This can cause glass to fail when exposed to extreme temperature change, wind or other stresses.

It is also a startling example of growing issue of poor quality building materials making their way into Australia.

These items arrive by boat and plane unchecked.

Where they are then being installed in homes and on buildings – in some cases threatening lives and property.

“It’s a huge problem and more than we know about it,” said chief executive of the Australian Window Association.

Ms Gramlick said the prevalence of building products that did not meet Australian standards,

Ccombined with poor workmanship and installation, meant many buildings would have to undergo repairs in years to come.

The Housing Industry Association said the majority of building products entering the country were not being tested.

This is allowing poor quality items to get through that are not up to Australian Standards.

While spontaneous glass breakage is thought to be rare

There has been made at least three buildings in Melbourne where a number of explosions have occurred.

A builder was recently forced to replace a number of glass balustrades on a residential tower, This was due to the discovery of nickel sulfide impurities.

To read the full article please click below

The Age Article 

Although this incidents occurred in Victoria it is only a matter of time before more cases start to appear here in QLD.

Like most of our articles regarding glass incidents;

We cannot continue to stress enough the importance of using Trades people that you trust.

Read the reviews online to see if they have had many complaints for cutting corners.

Here at True Blue Glass we have shown over the years that we strive to continually exceed our customer expectations

And we do our research on where we are getting our glass from.

And that the materials we use are of the highest quality.

Call us today for any of your glass needs on 3209 8774 we are available 24 hours 7 days a week.

A glass panel exploded while a young boy showered in his family home recently.

Incidents such as these highlight the dangers that can occur when not using qualified glaziers or companies that continue to use poor quality glass products.

Please read the article below but be aware images may be considered graphic

A mother has issued a warning to others after her four-year-old son was seriously injured by exploding glass while he showered.

Cruz was just screaming and covered in blood,” she said.

He didn’t hit [the glass], there was nothing in the shower with him… it just exploded.

There was lacerations to both arms, head, chest and muscle damage in his arm.

The plastic surgeon said he was so lucky that’s all that happened.”

Ms Tilbury said the shower panels were installed around 18 months ago.

It was the same installer who was responsible for erecting a glass fence outside the family’s home.

This glass fence had also exploded.

Glass panel experts who have inspected the shower since the incident told Ms Tilbury;

It appeared the installer had not placed brackets between the glass panels and the shower tiles.

My sister rang the installer when my son was in surgery…

He sounded remorseful and said he would come out and replace it for free.

But when he cleaned it all up he said, 

These things can happen’ and that he couldn’t replace it for free as it didn’t have a warranty.”

To read the article in its entirety please click here  

Only recently we wrote an article regarding glass and if it can explode spontaneously

So please read to if you would like to get a better understanding of how a glass panel exploded.

Toughened glass is considered a safety glass due to the fact that it shatters into a million little pieces compared to large sharp chunks.

But please be aware that when it shatters can cover a large area and may can still cause injury as seen in this incident.

One of the main points to take from this article is to only use reputable companies with a proven track record.

Just picking a company for the lowest price could mean poor quality installation and poor quality glass.

Please visit True Blue Glass to see our shower installation section or call on 3209 8774 to book in a time to give a free quote.