Woodstove Glass Install Tips

In today’s economy saving money has become more important than ever. Rather than call a fireplace technician to replace broken woodstove glass, a home owner or renter will opt to tackle this project themselves. Though replacing woodstove glass can be relatively simple, it is important to avoid the common mistakes made when installing woodstove glass. These are some woodstove glass install tips to help you do the job right.  Installing woodstove glass properly is important. Though the ceramic glass will not break because of heat, it can break from improper installation.  Ceramic will break from mechanical failure.  If the glass is installed incorrectly, the door can warp during heat up or cool down and cause the ceramic to break.

Woodstove glass is technically not a glass but a transparent ceramic. Some common types of ceramic glass are known as Neoceram (3/16” or 5mm) and Pyroceram (1/8” or 3mm). What makes a ceramic glass unique is that it has a very low coefficient of thermal expansion, which is fancy way of saying that the ceramic glass doesn’t get bigger or smaller with temperature change. This property of the ceramic glass allows to it survive in high temperature applications.

Though these tips do not guarantee a successful installation, they will certainly help you avoid the mistakes that do-it-yourselfers will typically make.

• If possible, try to reassemble the broken glass on a piece of paper or cardboard that is larger than the original piece of woodstove glass. Trace the assembled piece of glass. After removing the broken piece you can easily measure the pattern.
• If you cannot measure the original piece of ceramic glass, when sizing your replacement ceramic glass, do not size the ceramic glass to be tight against the brackets. Allow up to at least 1/32” per side. Please note, more often than not you will need to allow for the gasket material as well.
• Do not over tighten screws. Though the glass does not expand or contract significantly with temperature, the metal door will. If the screws are too tight it can cause the glass to break as the door expands or contracts.   The glass can break if the screws are over tightened and the gasket surface is not flat; even if the glass has not been heated. This is the most common mistake that most people make when trying to install their replacement glass.
• When in doubt, replace gasket material. Compressed seals can allow the ceramic glass to touch the metal and not allow the ceramic glass to “float”. The door can deflect in the heating cycle and cause the glass to break.
• Do not use high temperature sealant when installing replacement ceramic glass. The sealant will not allow for the ceramic glass to move as the door expands or contracts during a fire. This can cause the glass to break as the door deflects.

Find out how inexpensive it really can be to replace your woodstove glass. You can get an instant quote by visiting our easy to use online quoting wizard.