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I have been contacted by a friend who is in the process of re-modeling an 1890's log farmhouse. She says "We will have an area in the floor where we will have to tear up the wood and I would love to replace it with glass that would have a light under it. This part of the house just sits on frame which is on rubble." She is concerned about how to support it (weight of glass plus weight of someone standing on it). Approximate size would be 1 ft x 2 ft.

My thoughts are as follows: 1. I would have to do it in sections because my kiln is not big enough to do it in one piece.
2. I thought a steel or hardwood grid could be installed and the individual pieces of glass set into it.
3. I planned to use the Bullseye "Working Depp" (oops, not eye-candy Johnny)...make that "working DEEP" method. I did a small project with thismethod in a fusing class last year.

I looked in the archives and found a little information, mainly dealing with the scratching and slipperiness issues. I would really appreciate input from the board on:

How thick does it need to be?

Ideas for supporting it?

Best way to allow access for changing light bulbs?

Any other things to be concerned about, suggestions, experience etc.

This board is really great. I've learned a lot and get more excited about the possibilities every time I check out the latest posts. I know I'll get the help I need here. Thanks in advance.

Lynn

The answer to your query is a complex one. I believe that the National building code ignores glass floors.

I have encountered annealed, solid, glass floors made at the turn of the century. That turn. They were about 1 1/8" thick. Pretty rugged panels.

I have had glass floors engineered for me, at the turn of this century, by a glass fabricating company. The panels were a bit larger than yours and they specced 2 layers of 1/2" float glass laminated. I thought they would spec tempered laminated to annealed, but they wanted 2 layers of tempered.

Laminating insures that if the glass breaks, nobody will fall through. You can laminate BE using resin laminating techniques.

If you need to remove panels for light bulb access, I would glaze them in to a frame and make that frame removable with bolts or something.

You don't mention where you are located. There are some companies that can resin laminate for you.

Bert, thanks for your response. I hadn't thought of laminating. My question might actually belong on the kiln casting section; the technique I was planning to use is what Bullseye calls "Stack Fusing"...multiple layers of glass fused together with containment dams lined with fiber paper (like "Hot Damz"). I thought if the finished glass was thick enough, it could be walked on with no problem (like the glass sidewalk inserts in Seattle) so it wouldn't need to be laminated. The largest possibility for my kiln would be a 12" x 12" piece, and I was thinking more along the lines of 3 poeces 8" x 12" or 6 pieces 6" x 6"; these should be pretty sturdy chunks, don't you think?

Something to add into your thinking, not really an answer.

If you think of a piece of 1/8 window glass. If it's in a 2inch by 2inch frame, it's takes a whole lot of force to break it, same glass in a 2x2ft frame, you could break it with your hand.

Maybe the bullseye website has some info if you dig deep. The owners of bullseye's home was just featured in a magazine, and they had some fused floor panels. I have also seen 1/2 tempered used as stair treads in commercial applications.

Greg

lynn-

The best thing to do with whatever frame you decide to have built is to get it engineered. Find some young engineer in an office willing to do a side job and it should cost you very little. The main issue is not wether the glass breaks due to it thickness and weight. It's easy to make a glass panel thick enough to hold the weight and relatively intuitive.

The main concern is that the glass is rigid/brittle and Steel is not rigid. Steel can be designed to work in a rigid application but if I were you I would have the numbers run by a qualified person.

Another thing to consider might be mounting the glass underneath another panel of glass. The other panel may be impact resistant or even security rated. These panels will not break and will protect your beautiful artwork from scuffs and scratches.

Feel free to email me. I'm new to the glass part but I've been in architectural offices for a few years

I have also seen 1/2 tempered used as stair treads in commercial applications.

I actually have glass treads in my home. I didn't do them myself, as I wasn't brave enough for that large scale of a project.

They are 3/4 inch float, slumped over some thing (??) to give them a groovy wavy texture, also some friction for us walking on them. That 3/4 was then laminated to another 3/4 inch piece, and the edges polished. (That would have been a lot of polishing!!) They are then affixed to a steel structure, built by another guy which is one stringer, attached to the wall, with the treads cantelevered (sp??) out. It has a very light and airy look and feel to it. I've lived with the stairs for almost two years and they did get ONE chip on one tread. I keep thinking I've got to flip it around, but it hasn't bothered me enough to do that. All of this was contracted through the welder guy. He also used these really, really cool little rubber thingies between the glass and steel that give the treads just a little more give and softness to them when you walk.

The welder also did the railing. Actually, that was what I brought him in to do, the railing, then he noticed I like glass and came up with his idea for the treads. He was honest, that he had never done that type of thing in a home before (or only once... I forget) but he said it would look GREAT in my home. He did a little welded mock up of one stair and the cantelever, and a CAD drawing he did from digital photos of my house. He was GREAT to work with, and I really liked his sense of aesthetic. He had some one come out to take photos, he said he was thinking of putting my stair case on his web site, but I haven't seen it on there yet.

Gosh... wish I had pics...

Cool little rubber thingies, could be as simple as heavy Weatherstripping. Foam, heavy foam, with a sticky side.

Please continue to report back if you find something, or anything. More minds on the same project, make quick work.

Greg

The cool little rubber thingies are little rubber washers (??) Gosh, I really don't know how to explain them. The stairs have some give to them, from the steel welds, since they are cantelivered, then with the rubber washer, but it's acutally thicker than a washer... gives the step more give and makes it very comfortable to walk on.

I suppose now it's obvious why I didn't try to attempt that project myself!!

Hey, who did this glass floor insert? The home page has a flash presentation with a glass floor as one of the items. Also, under products, there is another link to a pdf.

http://www.artworkinglass.com/

Wait, that was under portfolio, not products...

http://www.artworkinglass.com/portfolio_comm.html

Debinsandiego wrote:Wait, that was under portfolio, not products...

http://www.artworkinglass.com/portfolio_comm.html

Nice work Deb

OH hey !!! WAIT!! Not MY work... just found it on the net... this thread got me thinking and I FOUND that site.

WISH I could do that work!

I still want to see photos of the stairs in your house, though, Deb. Any chance? I was fascinated by the story of how they came about.

Dayle Ann

depending on exactly the floor needs to be you can have a concrete floor with glass inserts imbedded into the conc. Many sidewalks that are actually over commercial basements in Chinatown (San Francisco) have this feature.

Terry Ow-Wing wrote:depending on exactly the floor needs to be you can have a concrete floor with glass inserts imbedded into the conc. Many sidewalks that are actually over commercial basements in Chinatown (San Francisco) have this feature.

Chinatown (Vancouver) also. Beautiful amethyst glass. Brock

I guess our are amethyst colored also - someone must of made a trip to Chinatown's west...Can recall of any being seen out east.

Chinatown (Vancouver) also. Beautiful amethyst glass. Brock[/quote]