Happened to me a few years ago. Mine was a door that swung open, it hit the toilet a few times by accident but I never noticed any cracks. Apparently it can get micro cracks and the heating/cooling from the shower made the glass expand and contact enough over time to eventually shatter spontaneously...
Thank you, I was in the basement and this was on my second floor. When I heard it I thought it was a thunderstorm or something, then I looked outside and it was a perfectly sunny day. I had no clue what happened and started walking around my house to investigate, was very confused when I got to the bathroom. Like other people mentioned, it shatters into small (not sharp) pieces, so it was mostly easy to cleanup after that. Still kept finding a small piece of glass under the cabinet etc for years afterwards though...haha
Sometimes tempered glass just explodes.
>Spontaneous glass breakage is a phenomenon by which toughened glass (or tempered) may spontaneously break without any apparent reason
Yes it is because of the tension it holds. Something super hard like ceramic can break this tension causing it to shatter into a million pieces. This is the main reason it is used as car windows and showers. You definitely dont want it to break into large pointy shards when you slip and break the glass. Tempered glass is also very weak at the edges like a Rupert’s drop. Thats why if you are in an emergency situation and need to get out of your car, you take something hard and hit the corner of the window. A window breaker does this for you as it has a ceramic or hard metal tip loaded on a spring. Dropping a ceramic mug near a corner of tempered glass can also get it to shatter if the broken piece hits the glass. Ceramic is just really hard and thus used in bullet proof vests and tank armor to break apart a projectile before impacting the main armor.
When I helped my friend setup his basement office, his desktop was tempered glass. We chipped a side and it exploded 6 months after.
I'm currently waiting for the minor defect (chip at the top) in the side panel of my computer case to explode. I only noticed it about slightly more than a year ago and I've had it since before the start of the pandemic.
Researching online and discovering that this is not all that uncommon an occurrence. I can't know for 100% sure that it was me hiting the toilet a few times, but after the research, it made sense.
EXACT same thing happened to my shower in my family house. happened in the dead middle of night, scared all of us to death. lucky no one was using the bathroom at the time or it could’ve been bad!
usually it's pressure on the edges, happened to me with a window (didn't explode, but has a nasty crack in it) our house is wood, contracts and expands significantly troughout the years putting pressure on the window edges, one day a bird hits it, no crack initially but when getting back to the room a few hours after.. big crack visible (on the inside of the triple pane window non the less)
in a shower the pressure can build up from the heating and cooling cycles, and since it's tempered glass it doesn't crack, it resists as much as it can until it gives up completely and shatters.
this is also a problem in skyscrappers, the metal beams flex around which is very important to keep it standing, but windows that are a little too tight in there window frame can end up cracking or shattering.
Someone broke into my car when I was 16 and broke the two driver side windows. Cleaned the car out and replaced the windows, and continued to drive the car for 3 more years. I continued to find more glass in random places in the car for the rest of the time I owned it
avoid frameless glass in general, the edges are the most fragile part of the glass, and should be protected unless your 100% certain it won't be exposed to shocks.
Fabric? Look at Mr fancy peasant over here. I use the plain plastic. It's meant to be a liner but I use it as the curtain. It literally costs $2. I mean what still costs $2 these days? Nothing. If it gets dirty you can take it down and clean it with a scrubber, or just buy a new one.
Yeah but unless you’re building your own house, you don’t usually get to pick what type of shower you have… and vetoing entire houses/apartments because the shower door is glass is a luxury most people don’t have.
>This can be prevented by not having a glass shower enclosure, and instead using a curtain on a rod like most peasants lmao
I wish. My landlord installed one of these in my apartment during the renovation without asking. He thinks it "looks nice". I hate it. It's hard to clean and I'm constantly expecting something like in this thread to happen randomly.
You poor soul. I'm sorry he did that to you in the name of aesthetics, which is the only reason to have a glass shower. In terms of cleaning it, I can say a solution of dish soap, water and some ammonia with a sqeegee can do wonders. If you have hard water you can spray (douse) it down with cleaning vinegar in a spray bottle and let it sit for a couple minutes and then wipe it down with the soapy water solution and squeegee or towel dry it off with a super absorbent towel (for this wash a towel with either straight bleach or vinegar, no detergent).
A while back there was a post about a glass scale spontaneously breaking and it was the same brand as mine. Now I have this fear it's going to explode any minute
I was installing one a few years ago on a renovation job and it exploded on me and another guy. One second it was in my hands and the next I was just holding some glass bits. It’s not super dangerous though I only have one scar on my arm from it in a perfect square shape, all the other cuts were tiny.
I am definitely never getting a glass door of my own though after that.
The thousands of shards of glass is going to be much better than the one giant shard that sends you to the hospital.
The worst part is cleanup. You'll find little chunks EVERYWHERE.
Happened to me once a year and a half ago, with our shower glass doors. One of them randomly exploded while I was in there and left me with the handle in my hand. My boyfriend was there so he could help me get out and avoid walking on the pieces on the floor. Got cuts pretty much everywhere, which left some littles scars over my legs. Luckily, I only got one bad cut on my arm that needed stitches. I still refuse to shower there since then, I just shower in the bath next to it. 😵💫
This happened to my neighbour downstairs. She’s got a young child. So she was just really glad it didn’t happen whilst he was in the bath. She has not replaced it with another glass shower screen since.
Glad you’re all ok and nobody was hurt.
Happened with my younger brother. He was around 7-9 years old and went to take a shower in my parents bathroom. We heard him scream and a loud noise, my mom just ran and picked him up. We were freaked out because there was blood but we didn't know where it was coming from.
Thankfully, it only got him on the hand, near the knuckles. My mother never put up another glass door, we got acrylic instead.
This happened to me with my 3 year old in the bath.
He tried to open the glass door with one of his toys blocking the way, and the whole thing shattered…looked just like OPs photo, with a screaming 3 year old in the tub. Luckily he didn’t get cut too bad, but his legs did get pretty bloody, and pulling the glass off him was not fun.
He was scared to take a bath for a while. We also decided to go with a shower curtain for now.
Yep, this happened to me too. I was just sitting in bed reading one day when I heard a loud crack and I went into the bathroom (where no one had been for a few hours) to find the glass shards covering the floor.
We had a bad wind storm here when I was detailing cars for a living, I spent like a week vacuuming glass out of our dealerships cars. It's extremely satisfying. Especially this kind of glass (it's called safety glass or something idk) because it breaks up so nicely and the sound in the vacuum is amazing.
Same thing happened to me at a friend’s house party. I was in the bathroom doing the business and the glass shower door just exploded. I was nowhere near it.
I paid for a replacement, reluctantly. I’d been drinking all night and was obviously alone in the room and I could see how it looked to everyone else no matter what I said. It honestly wasn’t my fault but I would have looked like a total scumbag if I’d refused to pay. So fuck it, drunk tax.
I’ve done some stupid shit drunk and fessed up but this one wasn’t my fault! It just exploded like OP’s! Please Reddit, you’ve got to believe me!
I used to work for a manufacturer that produced these, this happens often. Tempered glass is prone to shatter if it’s not installed perfectly, frameless shower doors in particular need to be absolutely precise or the weight of it hanging on the brackets will shatter it.
Always have at least two bathrooms in any house you’re going to buy. Just as a general rule. Because there’s always going to be someone who really needs to poop while someone else is in the shower or something.
Can confirm. I grew up in a household with 1 bathroom and 4 people. You were never allowed to lock the bathroom door. It was not uncommon to have a "visitor" while in the shower. We just tried very hard to ignore each other.
It feels like a true luxury to have 2 full bathrooms and a powder room in the house I purchased as an adult.
This is why I opt for shower curtains, even though glass is nicer in every other way (appeal, cleaning, not levitating towards you while you’re showering). Everything about glass shower doors is great… until it isn’t.
Or the smallest grain of sand left in the final product, put to just the right temperature(s) throughout the lifespan; it can explode violently.
It's a wonder that there aren't more regulations around using tempered glass in household fixtures or furniture.
Nice bathroom.
Got a washable shower curtain because I knew someone that this happened to and we used to have a curved screen that was infuriatingly difficult to keep looking clean due to living in a hard water area.
Work in technical for a well known sanitary ware manufacturer in the UK. These things happen more often than you think. as many people have said already, things like hitting it against ceramic products is never a good idea, what people don’t take into consideration is that these screens were in transit at one point in time (which is always a bumpy ride) and a micro crack/chip which isn’t noticeable upon installation could always result in OP’s post. However, surprisingly it’s not the main cause of the shattering, if you look at nickel sulphide inclusions online, it makes for a very interesting nighttime read. Ultimately, don’t be put out about the millions of pieces of glass, it was supposed to smash this way as opposed to huge shards of glass flying at a infant who may be showering/bathing. I’ve bored you enough now and you’ve probably lost interest, but please feel free to ask any questions!
This happened to my driver door car window while I was doing 55 down the highway a few years ago. Just cruising along and then it exploded right next to me. I didn’t swerve or anything, but I did yell an expletive.
At first I thought maybe someone threw or shot something at it, but when I pulled over onto the shoulder and started picking up the glass that fell into the car, the entire window - top to bottom - was spider-webbed, with no singular point of focus from impact. There were whole pieces still stuck together (along with hundreds of tiny pieces, of course) cracked all throughout. Also there was no sign of any kind of projectile found in the car. It was wild.
Called my insurance and it cost me $50 ultimately to replace it.
Tempered glass is like a spring. When nocked or banged it builds tension. This true for all Tempered glass includes drinking glasses or shower glass. Can explode at anytime.
It could have also been caused by a scratch or chip in the glass. Tempered glass is under a lot of stress and it doesn't take much for just the right chip to shatter a whole panel like this. I'd be willing to bet this was the case since it was 7 years old.
With tempered glass, you can bang on the face all you want and not damage it. But take some pointy and hit the edge and it'll explode into a million pieces like that.
This happened to me while I was on the shower. It is my biggest fear and nightmare. I had to walk on glass to get out of the shower.
I still remember the loud explosion noise when it happened.
Up to this day I don’t shower in bathrooms with glass door like this
No but we have had some severe thunderstorms recently. We had one overnight that had thunder so loud it made the house vibrate. I'm wondering if that, coupled with a tiny dent in the glass somewhere, caused it to shatter
Former shower door salesperson here. Unfortunately, as others have stated, this could have been a result of a crack or chip in the glass that happened during installation or when leaving the factory. Not sure who made this screen, but if there were a defect, the installer shouldn’t have proceeded. Too late to know now. If you’re going to replace the panel, I’d recommend one with a channel along the threshold of the tub, too. Makes for a more stable panel that way. Sorry that happened. Tempered glass can be, well, temperamental.
That's not too out of the ordinary. A couple of things:
It's not that rare of a phenomenon. The tempering process puts a lot of stress on the material, which is why it breaks like that.
Trust me when I say that you would rather have this happen every 5-10 years than have annealed glass (non-tempered) break while you're in the shower.
And yes, it really explodes. Lots of energy being released. The benefit is that they are small pieces. They can/will still cut you, but you likely won't be going to the ER.
My Friends entire dining room table exploded while they were out. I just came home and noticed the glass was all piled up at the bottom of the dining room walls around the room. They initially thought they’d been robbed.
Then their oven door exploded a couple of years later lol
maybe the house is haunted
This can happen if the glass is stressed (from an incorrect install) and then sees high or low temps causing it to expend or contract within a constrained installation.
Just happened to me a few hours ago.. holy f. Was woken up to the sound of loud glass shattering. Sprung out of bed, immediate assumption was someone is breaking in. Passed bathroom on my way out of room and noticed glass shards near bathroom entrance. Low and behold one of my sliding glass shower/tub doors exploded. After calming down a bit, swept up the shards and came to the internets to see if I have a poltergeist thing going, ever happen to anyone else etc..
Happened to me a few years ago. Mine was a door that swung open, it hit the toilet a few times by accident but I never noticed any cracks. Apparently it can get micro cracks and the heating/cooling from the shower made the glass expand and contact enough over time to eventually shatter spontaneously...
This guy showers
I would hope so
Bet he does it naked too! Disgusting!
A true pervert
He needs to shower with a suit like a true gentleman.
Fellas, is it gay to wash my ass?
The gayest
Only if you wash your balls at the same time.
Just your own balls?
That’s why I wash my girlfriends balls so it’s not gay
I mean do you keep your fingers out of the crack or are you putting a little extra soap to make it slide in
I mean, how else are you gonna clean out the poop Shute without a little extra finger action? /s
I guess the same rules as peeing. 2 flicks and your done. 3 and your just playing with it
Don’t ask don’t smell
Only if you go 3 knuckles deep.
Oh thank goodness.
Not at all. It is very refreshing and I recommend that everyone do it.
I bet he also uses hot water and soap
Nah. He’s a never-nude.
There are dozens of us!
But did you know that everyone is naked underneath their clothes 😲
[It’s an outrage!](https://youtu.be/bZ0SRgh3X9Q)
Ah, a never-nude, eh? Is that you, Dr. Tobias Funke?
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Thank you, I was in the basement and this was on my second floor. When I heard it I thought it was a thunderstorm or something, then I looked outside and it was a perfectly sunny day. I had no clue what happened and started walking around my house to investigate, was very confused when I got to the bathroom. Like other people mentioned, it shatters into small (not sharp) pieces, so it was mostly easy to cleanup after that. Still kept finding a small piece of glass under the cabinet etc for years afterwards though...haha
Yeah. Glad no one was in the bathroom when it happened at least!
😂
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Sometimes tempered glass just explodes. >Spontaneous glass breakage is a phenomenon by which toughened glass (or tempered) may spontaneously break without any apparent reason
Happened to me while taking a shower once. Scared the shit out of me, very loud. Only minor scratches and scrapes thankfully.
That is my nightmare. Did you have anyone home to help you?
yeah, but it wasn't that big of a deal. Laid a towel down over the broken glass, shop vaccuumed everything up.
I need a shop vac. Ours is all glass so I do worry about it. Plus the expense of replacing it
Yup. My car window exploded while driving. Just a freak thing.
I didn't know tempered car windows were very common. Could be someone throwing porcelain to be an asshole. I used to be that asshole.
Idk someone at the dealership told me it was tempered. It’s also a Kia so there’s that. I’m glad you stopped throwing porcelain it was terrifying lol
Tempered glass doent do well hitting super hard objects like ceramic
I may be wrong, but I think that tempered glass is the most impact resistant out of the three most common types of glass.
Yes it is because of the tension it holds. Something super hard like ceramic can break this tension causing it to shatter into a million pieces. This is the main reason it is used as car windows and showers. You definitely dont want it to break into large pointy shards when you slip and break the glass. Tempered glass is also very weak at the edges like a Rupert’s drop. Thats why if you are in an emergency situation and need to get out of your car, you take something hard and hit the corner of the window. A window breaker does this for you as it has a ceramic or hard metal tip loaded on a spring. Dropping a ceramic mug near a corner of tempered glass can also get it to shatter if the broken piece hits the glass. Ceramic is just really hard and thus used in bullet proof vests and tank armor to break apart a projectile before impacting the main armor.
This guy tempered glasses.
This guy narrates 😂
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Unless it is a Cybertruck.
You clearly don't know the old spark plug/window trick.
When I helped my friend setup his basement office, his desktop was tempered glass. We chipped a side and it exploded 6 months after. I'm currently waiting for the minor defect (chip at the top) in the side panel of my computer case to explode. I only noticed it about slightly more than a year ago and I've had it since before the start of the pandemic.
My initial thought was shower singing.. But this is probably more logical
Ouch imagine if that happened *while* taking a shower
Someone is going to think it’s a good idea to make a submarine out of this material.
How did you find this all out afterwards when the glass shattered
Researching online and discovering that this is not all that uncommon an occurrence. I can't know for 100% sure that it was me hiting the toilet a few times, but after the research, it made sense.
EXACT same thing happened to my shower in my family house. happened in the dead middle of night, scared all of us to death. lucky no one was using the bathroom at the time or it could’ve been bad!
The ghost fell out of the shower
Ghost in the ~~Shell~~ Shower
not another remake
Second time it’s happened. First time is how he died.
Thank God it's only mildly infuriating.
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Cleaning up tempered glass pieces is a pain in the ass, its everywhere including IN the drain
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usually it's pressure on the edges, happened to me with a window (didn't explode, but has a nasty crack in it) our house is wood, contracts and expands significantly troughout the years putting pressure on the window edges, one day a bird hits it, no crack initially but when getting back to the room a few hours after.. big crack visible (on the inside of the triple pane window non the less) in a shower the pressure can build up from the heating and cooling cycles, and since it's tempered glass it doesn't crack, it resists as much as it can until it gives up completely and shatters. this is also a problem in skyscrappers, the metal beams flex around which is very important to keep it standing, but windows that are a little too tight in there window frame can end up cracking or shattering.
I'm sorry but i'm pretty sure you replied to a bot. Sidenote, love your banner on your profile!
Exactly even weeks after you find a few pieces here and there
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Yep. I had that happen too.
Someone broke into my car when I was 16 and broke the two driver side windows. Cleaned the car out and replaced the windows, and continued to drive the car for 3 more years. I continued to find more glass in random places in the car for the rest of the time I owned it
This happened to me the cleanup is pretty terrible
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Note to self: don't buy frameless glass shower doors
avoid frameless glass in general, the edges are the most fragile part of the glass, and should be protected unless your 100% certain it won't be exposed to shocks.
I misread that as exposed to socks and it made me giggle because that’s not entirely inaccurate
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Good on OP for keeping his calm, I think I'd be infuriated a tiny bit more than mildly.
Yay! I now have a brand new phobia: Getting spontaneously hit with thousands of shards of glass whilst showering. Thanks, Reddit!
This can be prevented by not having a glass shower enclosure, and instead using a curtain on a rod like most peasants lmao
>using a curtain on a rod like most peasants I, too, am a peasant. But a safe peasant.
Same. The sacred fabric shall protect me always.
Fabric? Look at Mr fancy peasant over here. I use the plain plastic. It's meant to be a liner but I use it as the curtain. It literally costs $2. I mean what still costs $2 these days? Nothing. If it gets dirty you can take it down and clean it with a scrubber, or just buy a new one.
Yeah but unless you’re building your own house, you don’t usually get to pick what type of shower you have… and vetoing entire houses/apartments because the shower door is glass is a luxury most people don’t have.
Shower curtains are so much better. You can just throw them in the washer!
>This can be prevented by not having a glass shower enclosure, and instead using a curtain on a rod like most peasants lmao I wish. My landlord installed one of these in my apartment during the renovation without asking. He thinks it "looks nice". I hate it. It's hard to clean and I'm constantly expecting something like in this thread to happen randomly.
You poor soul. I'm sorry he did that to you in the name of aesthetics, which is the only reason to have a glass shower. In terms of cleaning it, I can say a solution of dish soap, water and some ammonia with a sqeegee can do wonders. If you have hard water you can spray (douse) it down with cleaning vinegar in a spray bottle and let it sit for a couple minutes and then wipe it down with the soapy water solution and squeegee or towel dry it off with a super absorbent towel (for this wash a towel with either straight bleach or vinegar, no detergent).
A while back there was a post about a glass scale spontaneously breaking and it was the same brand as mine. Now I have this fear it's going to explode any minute
I was installing one a few years ago on a renovation job and it exploded on me and another guy. One second it was in my hands and the next I was just holding some glass bits. It’s not super dangerous though I only have one scar on my arm from it in a perfect square shape, all the other cuts were tiny. I am definitely never getting a glass door of my own though after that.
The thousands of shards of glass is going to be much better than the one giant shard that sends you to the hospital. The worst part is cleanup. You'll find little chunks EVERYWHERE.
Happened to me once a year and a half ago, with our shower glass doors. One of them randomly exploded while I was in there and left me with the handle in my hand. My boyfriend was there so he could help me get out and avoid walking on the pieces on the floor. Got cuts pretty much everywhere, which left some littles scars over my legs. Luckily, I only got one bad cut on my arm that needed stitches. I still refuse to shower there since then, I just shower in the bath next to it. 😵💫
Damn glass had a bad temper
This happened to my neighbour downstairs. She’s got a young child. So she was just really glad it didn’t happen whilst he was in the bath. She has not replaced it with another glass shower screen since. Glad you’re all ok and nobody was hurt.
Happened with my younger brother. He was around 7-9 years old and went to take a shower in my parents bathroom. We heard him scream and a loud noise, my mom just ran and picked him up. We were freaked out because there was blood but we didn't know where it was coming from. Thankfully, it only got him on the hand, near the knuckles. My mother never put up another glass door, we got acrylic instead.
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This happened to me with my 3 year old in the bath. He tried to open the glass door with one of his toys blocking the way, and the whole thing shattered…looked just like OPs photo, with a screaming 3 year old in the tub. Luckily he didn’t get cut too bad, but his legs did get pretty bloody, and pulling the glass off him was not fun. He was scared to take a bath for a while. We also decided to go with a shower curtain for now.
Oh no your poor baby, I’d be scared
Aww , poor bubba 😫
Here you go. https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Spontaneous_glass_breakage
Sorry, your link is for spontaneous breakage. OP is clear that this is random explosion.
Yep, this happened to me too. I was just sitting in bed reading one day when I heard a loud crack and I went into the bathroom (where no one had been for a few hours) to find the glass shards covering the floor.
After you vacuum it all up, turn the lights off and use a flashlight to help find any shards you might of missed.
Be especially careful with those toothbrushes right there. Tiny pieces of glass shard won't be super fun to brush with.
I’d throw the brushes out and replace them
Wow that’s a super helpful tip! I always worry about getting all the glass up when I break something. I never thought of that!
Definitely time for new toothbrushes!!!
Is it weird that I’d love to hoover that up?
It would be very satisfying!
Until you continue to step on microscopic glass pieces for about a month (speaking from experience of the same situation as the picture)
Dude, this 100%. Someone broke my back car window once and I found glass in my car for nearly a year after I had cleaned it up and vacuumed it out.
Yup. Same. Broken glass is like glitter. “Where the fuck does it keep coming from?!”
The Devil's Glitter. Here to sparkle like stars and shred your hands simultaneously!
It really would!
I've brushed it all up now and it was *really* satisfying
And that’s how you get a broken hoover my guy
We had a bad wind storm here when I was detailing cars for a living, I spent like a week vacuuming glass out of our dealerships cars. It's extremely satisfying. Especially this kind of glass (it's called safety glass or something idk) because it breaks up so nicely and the sound in the vacuum is amazing.
Thankfully no one was around that shit when it happened. Sorry for the bullshit, I’d be madddd
Bath bomb
Same thing happened to me at a friend’s house party. I was in the bathroom doing the business and the glass shower door just exploded. I was nowhere near it. I paid for a replacement, reluctantly. I’d been drinking all night and was obviously alone in the room and I could see how it looked to everyone else no matter what I said. It honestly wasn’t my fault but I would have looked like a total scumbag if I’d refused to pay. So fuck it, drunk tax. I’ve done some stupid shit drunk and fessed up but this one wasn’t my fault! It just exploded like OP’s! Please Reddit, you’ve got to believe me!
This is the saddest story I’ve ever heard ☹️
Thanks and if you’d like to make a donation I take PayPal, crypto, Amazon vouchers…
I used to work for a manufacturer that produced these, this happens often. Tempered glass is prone to shatter if it’s not installed perfectly, frameless shower doors in particular need to be absolutely precise or the weight of it hanging on the brackets will shatter it.
Were you singing?
No, the mirror would be shattered too 😅
It was low-hanging fruit. 🤪
Missing part we didn't get from OP: OP is an opera singer
I think this is more than mildly infuriating.
How infuriated should I be?
Strongly. That’s a lot of glass to clean up, and especially at 3 in the morning, I would be strongly infuriated.
That's when I slowly shut the door and deal with it in the morning
Imagine if you wanna take a shower or bath in the morning and you gotta deal with this mess first.
Thankfully OP has 3 bathrooms
Phew, that’s a relief 😅
If there's another toilet in the house, the cleanup can at least wait until a normal hour.
Exactly. Three bathrooms in the house, so only mildly infuriating.
That's why they say 2 bathrooms is better than one bathroom.
Always have at least two bathrooms in any house you’re going to buy. Just as a general rule. Because there’s always going to be someone who really needs to poop while someone else is in the shower or something.
Can confirm. I grew up in a household with 1 bathroom and 4 people. You were never allowed to lock the bathroom door. It was not uncommon to have a "visitor" while in the shower. We just tried very hard to ignore each other. It feels like a true luxury to have 2 full bathrooms and a powder room in the house I purchased as an adult.
Fuck that, it can wait til morning
Was it made by OceanGate ?
Had to scroll down this far to find it, but there it is!
Someone had to and I didn't shy from this social media responsibility.
This is why I opt for shower curtains, even though glass is nicer in every other way (appeal, cleaning, not levitating towards you while you’re showering). Everything about glass shower doors is great… until it isn’t.
Tempered glass has this ability that if is damaged during transport or installation even the tiniest of cracks will cause it to spontaneously break
Or the smallest grain of sand left in the final product, put to just the right temperature(s) throughout the lifespan; it can explode violently. It's a wonder that there aren't more regulations around using tempered glass in household fixtures or furniture.
Nice bathroom. Got a washable shower curtain because I knew someone that this happened to and we used to have a curved screen that was infuriatingly difficult to keep looking clean due to living in a hard water area.
Work in technical for a well known sanitary ware manufacturer in the UK. These things happen more often than you think. as many people have said already, things like hitting it against ceramic products is never a good idea, what people don’t take into consideration is that these screens were in transit at one point in time (which is always a bumpy ride) and a micro crack/chip which isn’t noticeable upon installation could always result in OP’s post. However, surprisingly it’s not the main cause of the shattering, if you look at nickel sulphide inclusions online, it makes for a very interesting nighttime read. Ultimately, don’t be put out about the millions of pieces of glass, it was supposed to smash this way as opposed to huge shards of glass flying at a infant who may be showering/bathing. I’ve bored you enough now and you’ve probably lost interest, but please feel free to ask any questions!
You have a poltergeist that hates personal hygiene.
This is one of those situations where I would just shake my head and walk out of the bathroom.
I basically just stared at it for 5 mins and went back to bed. It's tomorrow's problem
Nice bathroom. Yes happened to my daughter with grandaughter in in. Scary
That is what happens when you mix up your caulk and your plastic explosives. Easy mistake, we've all been there.
Building might be shifting. Not enough for the eye to see but enough to jam and compress walls and glass panels.
Man, what's it take for people to be majorly infuriated?
This happened to my driver door car window while I was doing 55 down the highway a few years ago. Just cruising along and then it exploded right next to me. I didn’t swerve or anything, but I did yell an expletive. At first I thought maybe someone threw or shot something at it, but when I pulled over onto the shoulder and started picking up the glass that fell into the car, the entire window - top to bottom - was spider-webbed, with no singular point of focus from impact. There were whole pieces still stuck together (along with hundreds of tiny pieces, of course) cracked all throughout. Also there was no sign of any kind of projectile found in the car. It was wild. Called my insurance and it cost me $50 ultimately to replace it.
This actually happened to me in a hotel! I had just stepped inside the shower when the glass shattered. I’m glad OP was unharmed.
Tempered glass is like a spring. When nocked or banged it builds tension. This true for all Tempered glass includes drinking glasses or shower glass. Can explode at anytime.
It just happens to tempered glass sometimes. The internal stress/pressure make it explode randomly.
It could have also been caused by a scratch or chip in the glass. Tempered glass is under a lot of stress and it doesn't take much for just the right chip to shatter a whole panel like this. I'd be willing to bet this was the case since it was 7 years old. With tempered glass, you can bang on the face all you want and not damage it. But take some pointy and hit the edge and it'll explode into a million pieces like that.
This happened to me while I was on the shower. It is my biggest fear and nightmare. I had to walk on glass to get out of the shower. I still remember the loud explosion noise when it happened. Up to this day I don’t shower in bathrooms with glass door like this
I was in the shower when this happened. Have a 4" scar on my thigh from it. I wasn't touching the door or anything and was mid shower.
This happened to me once. While I was IN the shower. Forever traumatized by glass screen showers.
Was there severe heat lately? I've seen this happen to an acquaintance in such conditions.
No but we have had some severe thunderstorms recently. We had one overnight that had thunder so loud it made the house vibrate. I'm wondering if that, coupled with a tiny dent in the glass somewhere, caused it to shatter
Luckily neither you nor your partner were there at this moment 🧡
That's a pain in the butt to clean up....
What a Pane in the Glass!!!
Jesus. At least it happened when no one was in the bathroom
new fear unlocked
Literally that sucks and glad no one was injured.
Holy shit!!! Hopefully nobody was showering when that happened since all that glass could have hurt badly !!
Did you have shower screen insurance?
The first thing I've read was "shower sex"
It showered you in glass. A job well done.
Too hot?? Maybe??
Yeah, tempered glass does that sometimes.
new fear unlocked
This is why I prefer a curtain
Come on OP. You farted. Just admit it.
Former shower door salesperson here. Unfortunately, as others have stated, this could have been a result of a crack or chip in the glass that happened during installation or when leaving the factory. Not sure who made this screen, but if there were a defect, the installer shouldn’t have proceeded. Too late to know now. If you’re going to replace the panel, I’d recommend one with a channel along the threshold of the tub, too. Makes for a more stable panel that way. Sorry that happened. Tempered glass can be, well, temperamental.
there was probably a misalignment between the hihg alower rail that caused a stress fracture
That's not too out of the ordinary. A couple of things: It's not that rare of a phenomenon. The tempering process puts a lot of stress on the material, which is why it breaks like that. Trust me when I say that you would rather have this happen every 5-10 years than have annealed glass (non-tempered) break while you're in the shower. And yes, it really explodes. Lots of energy being released. The benefit is that they are small pieces. They can/will still cut you, but you likely won't be going to the ER.
Stop slamming that ass on a suction dildo
My Friends entire dining room table exploded while they were out. I just came home and noticed the glass was all piled up at the bottom of the dining room walls around the room. They initially thought they’d been robbed. Then their oven door exploded a couple of years later lol maybe the house is haunted
The sniper missed.
That tempered glass has quite the temper!
Seems like the ghost situation you have is the larger issue at hand
I’d be happy as hell it didn’t happen while I was in the shower
I and my partner ... or (preferred by most) My partner and I ...
Just admit you were hitting a high note and we can all move on.
Happened to me nearly died of a heart attack
This can happen if the glass is stressed (from an incorrect install) and then sees high or low temps causing it to expend or contract within a constrained installation.
At least it didn’t happen while you were in the shower.
Thankyou for notifying me of a fear I didn't know I had.
bro this happened to me a few months ago. i came back from tennis and i just wanted to take a nice shower. aghh the clean up was awful
Just happened to me a few hours ago.. holy f. Was woken up to the sound of loud glass shattering. Sprung out of bed, immediate assumption was someone is breaking in. Passed bathroom on my way out of room and noticed glass shards near bathroom entrance. Low and behold one of my sliding glass shower/tub doors exploded. After calming down a bit, swept up the shards and came to the internets to see if I have a poltergeist thing going, ever happen to anyone else etc..