A warning about tempered vs. laminated for a high-traffic storefront

I had a job for a coffee shop in a busy downtown spot and had to choose between 12mm laminated or 10mm fully tempered for the main door. The owner wanted the cheaper tempered option, but I pushed hard for laminated. It cost about $350 more for the whole install. Two months later, a delivery cart hit the door hard. The laminated glass cracked but held together, no shards on the floor. If it was tempered, the whole thing would have turned into a pile of cubes right at opening hour. Have you ever had to talk a client into the safer, more expensive glass? How did you handle it?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyfox1mo ago

Showing them a video of tempered glass exploding usually does the trick.

iris_dixon911mo ago

Totally agree about showing the video. I once saved a client from a bad choice by pulling up that exact clip on my phone during a meeting. The look on their face when they saw the glass explode was all the convincing they needed. It's a cheap and easy way to make the risk feel real.