Splashback Questions
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| How long has the supplier been in business? |
Companies who supply glass products such as kitchen splashbacks may offer warranties ranging from nil to ten years and more. It is noteworthy that many of these companies may have only been trading for a short time. It is necessary for the buyer to consider what the warranty is worth from a company that has only been in business for a short time and is offering long warranties compared to a warranty from ASG Splashbacks, a company that has been in business for over 50 years.
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| Is the supplier a manufacturer or only an installer? |
There has been a proliferation of small registered and unregistered traders who have set up in recent years who do not produce the splashbacks but order them as safety toughened or raw untoughened glass from various toughened glass suppliers, some suppliers who may or may not have their glass product certified to Australian standards, and then they have them painted by another company or paint themselves. Then they install.
At ASG Splashbacks we produce fully finished toughened safety glass splashback panels certified to Australian standards, and we do the colour back painting, all in-house, as well as the measure and installations of the splashbacks, so that quality and service are totally controlled by us to achieve an optimum result.
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| Why should all of my splashback panels be toughened? |
Some companies do not supply toughened safety glass splashbacks, while others choose to supply toughened safety glass only for heat affected areas and do not supply other splashback panels toughened.
ASG Splashbacks, a division of ASG Safety Glass, consider it important to toughen all of the glass splashbacks that they install in a kitchen. We consider that if we give a warranty then we should warrant every splashback panel in the same way. The reason for toughening the glass splashback which is behind the cooker top is that the toughened glass splashback will withstand to 250 degrees centigrade variance from ambient temperature. This means that it is assured to stand up to the temperatures reached when cooking meals on a gas or electric stove. The glass splashback panels that may not be directly behind the stove may however be subjected to nearby heating from other appliances or future appliances such as benchtop grillers or cookers, or jaffle makers. When ASG give a warranty it is envisaged that the safest installation will be that which has toughened safety glass for all splashback panels no matter where they are installed in the kitchen. In this way our warranty should remain in force in future years for all of our splashbacks installations.
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Are there any panels that cannot be toughened? |
Toughening furnaces generally operate with rollers to transport the glass pieces through the furnace.
There may be some tiny trim sizes of glass that cannot be toughened because they may be too small to be transported through the toughening plant. These panels are usually less than 300 x 300mm in size.
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Can you show me a certificate that all of the glass panels are toughened for my family's safety? |
The buyer has a right to request a certificate from the supplier of the installed splashback panels verifying that the glass splashbacks they have purchased have been supplied with toughened safety glass certified to Australian Standard 2208.
At ASG Splashbacks, our company name on the certificate assures the buyer not only that the glass splashback was toughened to comply with the Australian standard, but we further assure that all other painting and installation processes were performed by our company. It would we think be preferable that the name of the manufacturer on that certificate be the same as the name of the company that produced the colourback painted glass splashback, as well as the final installation, so as to have an assurance that the splashbacks were fully finished and installed by the same company.
On this basis if a warranty then covers all of the work done by the one company then this warranty should be an acceptable warranty.
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Are all paints made for coating onto glass? |
Many different paint types are used by the various splashback supplier companies.
Some paints may have an unsuitable co-efficient of expansion compared to that of glass splashback, which means that as the finished painted glass splashback is exposed over time to a hot or cold atmosphere, the glass and the coating of paint may expand and contract at different rates, which may cause the paint to delaminate from the glass splashback over time.
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| ASG Splashbacks only use primers and paints that are specifically manufactured for glass splashback coatings. |
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Can you make any colour for my splashback? |
The latest colour matching technology allows the manufacturer to produce almost any colour of paint for glass splashback coatings. It is even possible to electronically match to colour swatches or samples and result in a very reasonable copy of colour to the original.
If a special colour is required then thought must be given to the fact that ordinary glass, commonly known as Clear float glass has some greenness inherent in the manufacture of that glass. This greenness is caused by "iron content" in the glass which is normal for the production of Clear float most commonly used for window glass.
This greenness is noticeable if the glass is viewed through its edge. This glass when painted will alter the colour of the paintwork when viewed through the front unpainted face of the glass, so that, for example, white paint will appear pale green.
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Can we use Krystal clear glass so that the colour chosen is what we get? |
An alternative to using Clear float glass for colour back painted splashbacks is for the use of low iron glass such as Krystal clear as supplied by ASG Splashbacks. This glass is actually not absolutely crystal clear but has substantially less greenness than that of clear float glass.
The result using this glass for a splahback, is that white paint appears white through the front face of the glass splashback, so that any and all colours appear very reasonably true to colour when Krystal clear glass is colourback painted. For metallics and other high-end textured decorator coatings, ASG Splashbacks only use Krystal clear toughened safety glass for feature wall claddings such as splashbacks so as to ensure the brilliance and accuracy of the colours that they coat onto toughened safety glass.
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Does it cost extra to use a non-standard colour? |
Some companies have a standard list of colours and will charge extra to the homeowner who wishes to have a colour which they wish to uniquely select for their kitchen or bathroom walls.
ASG Safety Glass will charge the same price for any colour, as our unique colour matching technology will allow us to do any colour mixing at the same cost.
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Can you make my splashback in one piece up to 3.6 meters? |
In most cases ASG Splashbacks can supply glass splashback panels to 3.6 metres in length in colourbacked painted Clear or Krystal clear toughened safety glass, although care must be taken to ensure that the splashback panel can be carried into the site of installation.
It will be necessary to do a site inspection at the time of measuring to determine whether this maximum size can be supplied and installed.
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Are the splashbacks produced on a multifunction CNC Machine? |
A multifunction CNC Machine ensures that the external edge finishes are all the same around the perimeter of the glass splashback and around the perimeters of the corner cutouts and powerpoint cutouts. The same finished profile ensures long term durability of the splashback panels.
Care must be taken to provide toughened safety glass splashback panels with the best edges finishes to maintain long term durability of the panels. Some companies supply toughened and untoughened glass splashback panels with edges finishes that would not be acceptable to ASG production standards.
All edgework finishes at ASG Splashbacks are produced with flat arris grind and polished finishes, mostly these finishes being produced on a CNC fully computerised multifunction processing machine, which not only accurately cuts the glass splashback panels to within tight size tolerances, but also finishes the cut edges to flat arrised grind and polished finishes. In this way this is the highest finish for the colourback painted toughened safety glass panels, to maintain their long term durability.
Some companies use Waterjet machinery to cut the glass splashback. It is possible to accurately cut the glass and cutouts using waterjet machinery but the resultant edge will be reasonably sharp unfinished. Then all edges need to be refinished by manual arrising (or chamfering), which does not result in as good an edge finish as does a Mutifunction CNC machined finish.
Having asked these questions and being satisfied with the answers, glass splashbacks are the way to go. There is nothing more beautiful to brighten, refresh and add colour to your kitchen or bathroom.
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