Joining Glass Partitions - Silicon or dry joint?
When creating glass partitions there are six different types of vertical join that you may need to consider.
1) 180 degree - Vertical joints between glass panels
2) 90 degree – Vertical joints between glass panels
3) 3 way – T joints between glass panels
4) 180 degree – Vertical joints between glass and solid walls
5) 90 degree – Vertical joints between glass and solid walls
6) 3 way – T joins between glass panels and solid walls
1) 180 degree - Vertical joints between glass panels
There are 2 options when joining glass panels in a straight line to create a frameless glass partition wall. You can either use a “wet” silicon joint, or a “dry” pre formed rubber jointing strip. There are advantages to each system. Dry joints are uniform, easy to fit and require very little skill to obtain a professional finish, however they give lower acoustic insulation and offer little or no flexibility in the size of gap between each panel. Wet joins give your partition wall greater rigidity and strength, better acoustic insulation and can be anything between 3-6mm in width, allowing flexibility when using fixed width glass panels in fixed width openings. However for the uninitiated the prospect of silicone a large number of vertical glass to glass joins in a glass partition wall can be daunting given the high level of finish anyone commissioning a glass partition will aspire to. Dry joins are available here for £35 for 10 x 3000mm lengths.
More information and glass partitioning wet siliconjoints demonstration video
More information and glass partitioning dry joints demonstration video
2) 90 degree – Vertical joints between glass panels
Where a 90 degree join is required, for example where a corner office is created with 2 glass walls, the join can be acheieved in exactly the same way as with a 180 degree straight join.The glass panels are arranged so that a 3-6mm perpendicular gap is formed between the end of the face of one panel and the edge of the other. The glass panels are clamped in place and resulting gap is either filled with clear silicon (wet joint) or a pre formed 90 degree dry join is inserted.
More information- Joining glass panels at 90 degrees wet silicon joints demonstration video
More information - Joining glass panels at 90 degrees dry joints demonstration video
3) 3 way – T joints between glass panels
Where a 3 way T joint is required, for example where several cubicle offices are created with 1 glass wall is intersected by several other glass walls , the join can be achieved in exactly the same way as with a 90 degree join except in this case the “abutment join” should be created in such a way that one glass panel intersects the other glass panel at or about its mid point. The glass panels are arranged so that a 3-6mm perpendicular gap is formed between the centre of the face of one panel and the edge of the other. The glass panels are clamped in place and resulting gap is either filled with clear silicon (wet joint) or a pre formed abutment dry join is inserted.
More information- T Joins between Glass Partitions wet silicon joints demonstration video
More information – T Joins between Glass Partitions dry joints demonstration video
4) 180 degree – Vertical joints between glass and solid walls
There are 2 options when joining a glass panel to a stud or solid wall in a straight line to create a part frameless glass partition and part solid wall. You can either use a vertical U Channel silicon join, or create a channel within the soild wall with a router or SDS drill and slide the the edge of the glass into the wall. There are advantages to each system. U channels are uniform, easy to fit and require very little skill to obtain a professional finish, if you are using U channel at the top and bottom of the wall , then using it at the wall ends will give a neat and continuous perimeter to the glass partition. However U channel will be more expensive. Creating a channel into the solid wall and sliding the glass into this , if done well, will create an excellent finish and cost less than using U channel. Where the timber stud walls are being created at the same time as the glass partitioning is being built disguising the join between stud work and glass work can be achieved to create both an excellent finish and a cost effective solution.
5) 90 degree – Vertical joints between glass and solid walls
It is generally ill advised to join solid and glass walls at 90 degrees, as the end of the solid wall and any join is visible through the glass. It is much better to use a 90 degree glass to glass join at any interjection by extending the solid wall by 150mm with a small “glass fin” which joins the solid wall at 180 degrees, see 4) above
More information- Joining glass panels at 90 degrees wet silicon joints demonstration video
More information - Joining glass panels at 90 degrees dry joints demonstration video
6) 3 way – T joins between glass panels and solid walls
The same is true here as with 90 degrees joins between glass and solid walls. The solid wall should be extended with a “glass fin” which then joins the perpendicular glass wall.
More information- T Joins between Glass Partitions wet silicon joints demonstration video
More information – T Joins between Glass Partitions dry joints demonstration video