Glass Door Inserts - What are they? - Etched Glass Doors Florida

Fiberglass Exterior Doors with Decorative Glass Door Inserts Panel

Glass door inserts are manufactured only for fiberglass exterior doors. Interior doors are manufactured differently and the glass is built into the door at the time of manufacture. The exterior doors are injection filled with polyurethane as a solid door and with different decorative profiles. These profiles give the door 2-8 recessed panels for customers that would prefer solid doors.

The glass door inserts are inserted into the door after manufacturing and are usually paired with a solid flat door with no molded panels. This gives the glass door insert frame a tight fit against the door slab. The manufacturer usually cuts a hole to size for the glass door insert in standard sizes for today’s glass door insert sizes.

Flush Glazed Exterior Fiberglass Doors

Flush Glazed glass door with non removable glass

Exterior fiberglass doors can be manufactured to receive removeable glass door inserts or to have non removable flush glazed glass panels. These glass panels are made as a glass unit then sealed into the door during manufacture and are not removeable.

We only recommend the removeable glass door inserts for many reasons.

Selection. Wide range of choices. You can order clear or textures, Decorative or plain! The flush glazed typically only comes clear and plain.
Hurricane Impact choices. The flush glazed fiberglass doors with glass are not impact resistant. The removable glass door inserts are standard tempered or hurricane impact. We can offer glass etching on removeable only.
Cost effective. In the event of breakage of the glass, it can be replaced without the need to replace the doors.
Decorative glass door inserts are 1″ thick and provide better insulation with the increased airspace. The flush glazed doors are offered at 1/2″ only.

How Are Glass Door Inserts Secured in the Door?

The frame for glass door inserts holds the glass in the door with an overlap of 1/2″ all around the cutout area where the insert fits into the door. This is the main difference between glass door inserts and flush glazed fiberglass doors.

The frames accommodate the thickness of the glass and hold the glass in the frame at the same time as holding the glass in the door. The glass door inserts are either a sealed insulated unit overall glass thickness of 1″ or 1/2″. The 1/2″ thickness is only found on standard tempered clear door glass units. All decorative, textured, or miniblind units are 1″ thickness overall.

The frames for standard tempered have a pressure sensitive aggressive glue that is factory applied to the perimeter holding the frame to the glass and the glass to the door. This also prevents water infiltration.

Hurricane impact glass door inserts are extra strong to achieve hurricane impact rating to approved glass door inserts. They also have to be able to hold the extra weight of the impact glass. The similarity is the overall thickness of the glass at 1″. The frames are screwed together with plugs to cover the screw holes. Additionally they also have factory applied aggressive glue holding the glass to the frame and the frame to the door.

Plastpro Doors

Glass Door Inserts – What are they?

Fiberglass Exterior Doors with Decorative Glass Door Inserts Panel

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Non standard height door solution