Whenever it comes to balcony glazing, the image of serious, solid frames arises in people's thoughts. But sometimes they do without frames at all. A similar opportunity has arisen thanks to modern technology - and it deserves the most careful consideration.
Features
Glazing without frames performs the following tasks:
- to achieve an elegant appearance of the facade and the interior of the room;
- make optimal use of space;
- guarantee the passage of as much light as possible.
A similar principle has been used for the past 20 years. Frameless glazing of balconies and loggias was first used in Finland, therefore the term “Finnish glazing” is often used. The frame part is formed of a pair of heavy aluminum profiles. One profile is attached to the upper balcony slab, and the other to the floor or parapet.
Frame assembled from profiles, connects with special plastic rollers and glue. Sashes are mounted on top of the frame, in which glass canvases are already integrated. The edges of the glasses must be ground and carried out another treatment. These manipulations can eliminate the appearance of cuts.
The formed structures will be strong and light, so the base of the balcony will not be subjected to increased load.
Glazing without a frame can be performed not only on the basis of ordinary transparent glass. Matte and tinted designs are also found. Widespread classification according to the discovery method, namely:
- expandable partitions (opening automatically or by hand);
- swinging shutters;
- pendulum doors.
Positive and negative sides
Obviously giving up the frame allows you to increase the illumination of the balcony. This circumstance is especially valuable if it is directly connected to the living room. An equally important property is the safety and increased ease of cleaning glass. Where swing-out or pendulum sashes are installed, the windows can be put in order without any risk. This will undoubtedly please those suffering from acrophobia.
Quality frameless balconies are highly durable. Such partitions can carry even strong gusts of wind. The reason is simple - they use tempered glass designed for an air load of at least 200 MPa. The thickness of the glass varies from 0.6 to 0.8 cm. Experts say that professionally made frameless design can last up to 30 years.
These products can be made on any type of balcony. Even in very old houses of various architectural forms, reliable retention of dust, liquid or solid precipitation is guaranteed. Of course, glass remains glass even after red-hot, and it can break. But if the frameless structure is destroyed, the fragments will not do any harm. The opening of the balcony is 100% and the same movement of the glass sheet is ensured by the use of movable rollers resistant to destruction.
High-quality products guarantee fairly high security and minimize the threat of criminal intrusion.
But one must also take into account the objective weaknesses of frameless technology. It is always sold only in the cold version. therefore inside the loggia it will at best be 2–4 degrees warmer than on the street. Obviously, how inconvenient to use such balconies. Even worse, there is no way to expand the usable area in the house by combining the main part of the home with a balcony.
To some extent, to compensate for this drawback allows the use of insulation and soundproof materials. But they invariably reduce the transparency of the structure, that is, undermine the main advantage of frameless glazing. Compared to double-glazed windows, it also absorbs 50% less noise.
Obviously, this problem does not allow the use of frameless balcony systems in houses located near roads or railways. And on a crowded busy street there are many inconveniences. It should also be remembered that frameless glazing is not compatible with mosquito nets. You will have to use expensive electronic gnat repellers. One more problem - insufficient tightness, due to which moisture and snowflakes will get into the structure.
Selection and use
The popularity of frameless glazing has led to the fact that it began to be widely falsified. In order not to fall for a fake, you need to pay attention to the following rules:
- select only products with glass of a certain thickness (for an opening of 2 m high you need 0.8 cm or more);
- watch that there are no smallest spots, mechanical deformations and irregularities;
- check the quality of grinding edges;
- assess the literacy of the manufacture of aluminum profiles;
- check the characteristics of the fittings and the dignity of the materials used in it.
Structures for frameless glazing are supplied not only by Finnish, but also Russian companies. Moreover, the products of such brands as STS and Estelle are not inferior to the Scandinavian models. The flaps of these two frameless balcony options are fixed to both the upper and lower profiles. Therefore, they are more stable than usual to wind load, and the parts wear out more evenly. As a result, the total operating time increases significantly.
Estel prefers to use not light aluminum alloys, but stainless steel. Therefore, the anti-vandal properties of products are significantly increased. If they are insufficient, customers can always order additional protection.In the standard version, the flaps have a width of 0.5 to 0.8 m. When submitting an individual application, you can change these sizes.
Other Russian factories do not deserve attention at all. They use outdated equipment that does not allow tolerances to be maintained within the required limits. From foreign companies it is worth taking a closer look at Lumon products. A particularly resistant aluminum alloy is used in this factory. Precise adjustment of the chemical composition of metal parts increases their resistance to corrosion. Advanced products are equipped with ultraviolet filters. Thanks to them, the risk of sunburn is minimized.
Whatever type of frameless glazing is chosen, it needs to be carefully thought out and prepared. Each case here is strictly individual. The metal parapets or made of thin reinforced concrete, which prevail in the old multi-storey buildings, are obviously not designed for the load created by frameless balconies. Therefore, such parapets will only have to be dismantled and replaced with modern options. Before doing this, you need to inspect the bearing panels of your own and upper balconies. If there are deficiencies in them, the structure will have to be strengthened.
Important! Both inspection and reinforcement can only be entrusted to professional builders. Their independent implementation is fraught with serious consequences, up to the collapse of the whole entrance.
Metal parapets as a basis for frameless glazing are not suitable. Structures made of bricks or non-thick building blocks show themselves much better. It is necessary to remember the effect of urban development standards at the national and local level. It is worth checking with them in advance, so that later you do not encounter sanctions from supervisory authorities and judicial sanctions. The easiest way is to install frameless glazing on the ground floor.
But there is its own subtlety - under the supports it will be necessary to form columnar foundations, as well as to protect the supports from heaving of the soil. On higher floors, laying reinforcement into holes in the slab is practiced. A reinforcing concrete belt is necessarily created. This is the case when the rule “the more concrete the better” does not work. The thickness of the belt and its mass must be strictly calculated in advance.
We bring to your attention a video from the manufacturer of frameless designs for balconies, which describes in detail the advantages of this type of glazing.
