My vanity just exploded in my new bathhrom

[daydream**believer]

Im so upset. I dont know what to do.

Have been working on this bathroom for a year.

I took this photo  a month ago. Things in place but water not connected

Have had a few plumber problems but they have been fixed.

Today plumber was here connecting final pipes for the vanity. He did it and called me to see. We were standing in front of the vanity when there was a BOOOOM and the glass top exploded.

Plumber says "Oh dont know why that would have happened. Oh well, it was installed. Maybe you can claim it on insurance"

I dont know what to do. Im in shock and in tears.

Hubby bought this vanity 5 years ago. I know theres no way we can replace it.

And now im gonna have to pay a plumbers bill of fitting this vanity and then also to fit a new one

[**meep**]

i think it might be more common than we realise, i've had a very scary experience with exploding glass as well for no apparent reason, lucky no one got injured.

more info about possible causes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_glass_breakage

[lurker17260]

I find my vanity explodes most mornings when I go into the bathroom and look in the mirror :O:^O

[mugssy65]

It happened to one of my doors once at the front of the house.  The glass just exploded!  It's that safety glass though that explodes into little pebbles.

Then I found the brick at the back wall of the room so it wasn't really unexplained.

Drive by from the Rd?:O

Good arm!;-)

[j*oono]

A very good arm Mugsy :^O  We are a fair distance from the road so I would say they were a little bit closer.

[id-to-post-anything]

we had it happen with an oven door.

It was morning and hadn't been used since at least the night before. We suddenly heard and massive crack and went into the kitchen to find it shattered all over the floor.

apparently its not that uncommon

[daydream**believer]

"5 years without shattering, the plumber fits it and it shatters?

The plumber is at fault...... imo.

The insurance people will sort out that part, I am sure."

I hope so. I really dont want to have to deal with the plumber about this

[superscanner4]

It's not the plumber's fault, it's poor quality glass from China, as with the glass table tops that have been shattering (it's common).  Anything installed in the bathroom like that should be able to withstand the normal handling of installation and subsequent use.  If it didn't shatter yesterday it would have shattered next week or a month down the track.  I personally would have chosen something more sturdy.  You may be able to get it replaced by a custom made top - it may cost you a bit though.  If you'd just bought it recently you could have gotten your money back from the supplier.

Years ago I witnessed my car's rear windscreen shatter.  I was just walking towards the car, parked on the rooftop of a shopping centre, there was no-one else around, it was totally random. 

[superscanner4]

I have been informed by my other half that it was rust that was causing the stress in my car's windscreen. 

Glass (which is actually a liquid not a true solid) shouldn't be used for something structural that is going to be subjected to stress.  A sink is subject to various stressors such as change of temperature, stress from the fittings and connections, objects being place on it etc. 

In older car windscreens that used toughened glass, (pre-laminated era) you could see the residual stresses when wearing polarized sunglasses.

At my husband's office, a glass louvre in the ceiling shattered without warning and made a huge mess.  Also we used to have kitchen sink made from some kind of ceramic material, which shattered one day when we suddenly put in hot water after having iced water in it.  It happened to other people too and this sink was taken off the market.

[twinkles**stars]

What a shame Amy......but I too have my doubts as to the plumber being at fault considering it was installed, he came to show you, then it broke? Those made in China unfortunately often do not hold to Austranlian standards and I suspect as you have had it for 5 years it had been a good buy?

Change in temp be it hot or cold can break glass.....I have friends in the glass business. They are often called out to 'unexplained' shattered shower screens.

The plumber will be used to tightening the fittings.....same can happen with tiles so don't lay blame on him just yet.

Good job it didn't happen when the children where in there 🙂

[catsnknots]

Your bathroom looked very pretty... sorry this happened... 

It is the nature of this type of glass. 

I know two people that had their bathroom basins explode. both were told by the insurance companies it is common with this type of basin. 

Ovens, cookware, plates and bowls... all that stuff should not be made of glass... I have had a glass mug shatter cm's away from my face and had hot tea and glass shards all over me... ceramic all the way now.