The fireplace is made efficient with the installation of fireplace glass doors. It keeps the home and people protected from burning embers. It also protects against wood chips and fire sparks that may stray out of the hearth. Glass doors make the fireplace efficient by preventing chimney drafts. It also distributes heat throughout the home by radiating heat through the surface of the glass door. As with everything, glass fireplace door, although very durable and long-lasting, will still need to be replaced at a certain point.
Apart from practical uses, fireplace glass doors help you make a decorative statement and turn your fireplace into a strong focal point in the room. Fireplace glass doors update the look of your living room to a modern and stylish one while accenting the existing décor in the home and improving visual appeal.
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When is the Best Time to Replace Glass Fireplace Door?
To help you identify when the best time to do a fireplace glass front door replacement is, please examine the following tips.
Scratches
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Glass doors made for fireplaces are usually made of tempered glass. This is a safety glass that is up to seven times stronger than regular glass. It takes a significant impact for tempered glass to break, and when it breaks, it shatters into dull, flat pebbles instead of large glass shards.
Tempered glass is highly durable, but when you notice a big scratch on your glass fireplace door, it might be a good time to replace it. A scratch on a tempered glass surface can reduce the durability and strength of the glass. A single scratch can develop into multiple scratches, which will eventually lead to your fireplace glass door shattering unexpectedly.
To avoid such from happening, replace your fireplace glass door as soon as you notice a big scratch on the glass surface.
Cracks
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Similar to scratches, cracks are serious indicators that point to the need for replacing your fireplace glass doors. Unlike scratches that may need to develop into more to cause harm, which may push you to wait for a little before replacing the glass door on your fireplace, cracks are severe signs of replacement and should be treated as a matter of urgency when discovered on your fireplace glass doors.
Cracks make your fireplace glass door very weak and highly prone to breakage. A cracked fireplace glass door is just an unpredicted amount of time away from shattering, which most of the time is often a bum away.
Period of Use
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As mentioned earlier in this section, fireplace glass doors are durable and long-lasting. The period you have spent in making use of your fireplace glass door is an excellent indicator of whether it needs to be replaced or not.
The continuous exposure of your glass door to the blazing fire will weaken the durability of the glass over time, which will eventually make it susceptible to breakage. Before breakage happens, if it is difficult for you to recollect the exact time you installed the fireplace glass door or replaced it, it is a wise decision to get it replaced as soon as you can. This helps to prevent the glass door from failing unexpectedly.
Discoloration of the Glass Door
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Especially in a wood-burning and gas-burning fireplace, soot is something that will always be present in your hearth. You may clean the class regularly to get rid of soot buildup and keep the glass door clean. However, continuous exposure to soot will, over time, lead to a permanent discoloration on your fireplace glass door.
This won’t be solved with regular cleaning as it is a result of consistent use over time and continuous soot buildup. It makes your fireplace look dirty and makes flame watching difficult.
When you notice this in your fireplace, it is an indicator that your fireplace glass door needs to be replaced.
Tips for Glass Fireplace Door Replacement
To make the installation exercise of a new fireplace glass door easy for you, take into consideration some of the tips below.
- If you are working with a masonry fireplace, be careful when drilling holes in the fireplace walls. Especially if the hearth is an older one, the bricks may have become old and brittle and, therefore, susceptible to breakage when drilled.
- Be careful with the replacement glass door unit. Do not lay it on its front as this could damage the glass.
- When drilling holes into a masonry wall or any fireplace, drill needed holes into the bricks and avoid drilling holes in the mortar.
- Drilling, make sure to drill straight down.
- When installing the screws on the glass unit, do not tighten the screws immensely. This could lead to the glass breaking at the point of screw insertion. It could also make the anchor in the brick loose.
- Inspect the glass door unit after installation to ensure it is tightly fixed. If the door feels unstable, watch out for loose screws.
- After installation, get rid of debris and stains on the glass door surface. You can do this by using a clean cloth and water or by using a glass cleaner.
Which Type of Glass Fireplace Door to Use?
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Fireplace glass doors are of three types. They are,
- Cabinet glass doors
- Tracked bi-fold glass doors
- Trackless bi-fold glass doors
Cabinet doors are also referred to as twin-styled doors. Each door has a solid glass pane and opens as kitchen cabinets would. Bi-fold glass doors feature two panes of glass, and they fold in half. Tracked bi-fold glass doors have a rail on the frame of the door. The glass door opens along the rails while trackless bi-fold glass doors feature a full-swing glass door that opens entirely to the side, which gives a clear view of the hearth.
Cabinet doors are great for homes with lots of living room space. Bi-fold doors are great for homes with small fireplace sizes. The style maximizes the available space by closing compactly, even when the space is not much. Tracked bi-fold doors are especially great for homes with families, and they are daunting for young children to open.
How Much Fireplace Door Replacement Costs in the USA?
Fireplace glass doors made with high-quality tempered glass cost about six hundred to nine hundred dollars ($600-$900) on average. The price can go as high as $3000 for the best fireplace doors and accessories that are of high quality.
The amount a glass door replacement will cost will largely depend on the glass material used and the fireplace size.
