# Outdoor Glass Table Tops That Spontaneously Shatter



## MACenstein'sMonster (Aug 21, 2008)

I was sitting out on the patio the other day with my family and friends when suddenly the glass top on one of our outdoor tables shattered. We looked for a brick or or maybe the piece of an airplane that caused it but there was nothing other than glass and the plastic tray that was once sitting on it. Conclusion - _spontaneous shatterous explosionous_  How common is this? Well, if you were unfortunate to buy a _Martha Stewart_ outdoor table from Zellers a couple years back then it was very common:

Sounds of Summer: Martha Stewart Tables Shattering

Our table wasn't a Martha model. Just an old table from a relative. Weird. Luckily nobody got hurt - just startled. Anybody else ever experience this?


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

Never even heard of it before. I, family and friends have all had glass table top outdoor furniture for years and no exploding tops. 

There is probably a commonality of manufactures of the glass in those tables that explode. From the article it sounds like they are made in "Asia". With so many countries and manufactures involved it could be almost impossible to find the common link.

Was anybody hurt in your experience?


----------



## FeXL (Jan 2, 2004)

I'd have been pissed if my beer would have gone down in that mess...beejacon


----------



## KC4 (Feb 2, 2009)

I haven't experienced an outdoor glass table shattering, but I did experience an indoor beveled glass (coffee) table top shattering - overtop of my then 2 year old daughter who was playing underneath it. 

Miraculously, she was not seriously harmed. We believe that she may have somehow pushed the heavy glass insert slightly upward (say 1/4 inch at the most) with her feet while she was underneath and then let it drop down. It shattered into long curved shards - it was obviously not safety glass and it also brought a hot cup of coffee down right next to her.

It was either the hot coffee (which had been placed on the glass without incident hundreds of times before) or the slight push, which neither my Mom or I had actually witnessed while sitting right there, but nonetheless could have been the cause. My daughter DID have her little feet up on the bottom of the table just prior to the incident.

I contacted the furniture manufacturer to advise them of the incident, even followed that in writing, and all they offered to do, (should I wish to jump through a couple dozen hoops), would be to replace the glass, as long as I released them from further liability. I declined, stating that I would prefer that they issue a recall on the product to prevent any future injury from happening.


----------



## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

Years ago, I worked at a place that sold such tables, and it was a regular enough occurence, perhaps one or two a week. Sometimes people would complain about it long after the sale, especially if the table was stored flat in the winter, rather than on edge. Storing flat creates much more stress than if it is on edge. It didn't matter if it was "Asia" or somewhere else, or "cheap" or "expensive", tempered glass is very strong, but when it wants to go, its dramatic. 

The NHL and NBA had a spate of such occurences a few years back, and not because of slamming or slap shots going astray, but quite often, when the teams were at the opposite end of the arena. Sometimes car manufacturers will have similar production run problems, and will go through a spate of windshield failures, with spontaneous cracks that erupt.

That said, I prefer wooden tables as they are not prone to such failures...


----------



## MACenstein'sMonster (Aug 21, 2008)

screature said:


> Was anybody hurt in your experience?


Nope. 

Just a bunch of people who, for a moment, were all simultaneously sitting nearby with their mouths and eyes wide with shock :lmao:


----------



## groovetube (Jan 2, 2003)

yowza. I just bought an all glass coffee table.


----------



## 401402 (Apr 12, 2009)

my brothers 6 ft oval outdoor glass shatterd last year after a summer rain..then sun came out and was hot to touch as we were ready to sit back outside the whole table split in two and crumbled with huge,shards of glass...pretty cool


----------



## Caillou (Jun 9, 2003)

This won't break !! See also this.

I suppose it can go outside too. 
This is really "wow" stuff.
:clap:


----------



## KC4 (Feb 2, 2009)

Caillou said:


> This won't break !! See also this.
> 
> I suppose it can go outside too.
> This is really "wow" stuff.
> :clap:


Wow - that IS cool looking stuff, but how do you know Caillou that it won't break? I looked at the site for safety information, but all I saw was "durable" ...which could be applied many ways, not necessarily the non-shattering way.


----------



## Caillou (Jun 9, 2003)

Figured if they do stuff for commercial purposes, I would suppose it is sturdy enough.
And 1.5" glass has to be quite a solid piece of glass. :yikes:

EDIT : just found this on their web site :


> Thickness
> When glass thickness exceeds 3/4", it becomes extremely solid. Anything above 1.5" is as strong as any stone!


----------



## KC4 (Feb 2, 2009)

Caillou said:


> Figured if they do stuff for commercial purposes, I would suppose it is sturdy enough.
> And 1.5" glass has to be quite a solid piece of glass. :yikes:


I would still be VERY wary of this glass. Sometimes the thicker glass is even more prone to internal stresses and shattering. 
I certainly wouldn't want this heavy glass coming down on anyone either.


----------

