Storm-Ready Design Project

Impact-Resistant Windows and PGT Factory Tour Video

Bob is at PGT Industries in Venice, Florida, for a visit with Dave Olmstead, the code compliance officer for PGT Industries, makers of impact resistant windows. Olmstead explains how windows are a fundamental element in storm-ready buildings because they keep the envelope closed to damaging wind entry. If wind enters a home during a high wind event, it increases the pressure inside like air in a balloon. The air has to find a way out and typically pops off the roof, causing catastropic building failure. Olmstead then shows Bob the impact resistance test that is performed on windows to determine the level of protection they offer and whether they perform up to code. The first window is made of regular annealed glass. It is not tempered, heated, or coated in any way. The second window is made of tempered safety glass. The third is of impact-resistant, laminated glass. Olmstead runs the cannon test, where a two by four is fired from a pneumatic cannon at 50 feet per second or 34 miles per hour, simulating the force of 110 mile per hour winds. The annealed glass breaks and falls from the frame. The tempered glass shatters within the frame but leaves a hole where the board entered, allowing wind to penetrate the structure. The laminated glass shatters but is held in place. It does not perforate so the home is protected from wind entry. Impact-resistant window glass is safety laminated on site at PGT. They cut glass to the appropriate size, cutting two panes, then cut buticite to fit between them. The glass sandwich is then baked with the laminate between in a heat and pressure oven for four hours. Once it is cooled, it is ready to be assembled into a window.

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	Other Video Clips from this Episode

	NOW PLAYING Impact-Resistant Windows and PGT Factory Tour Bob is at PGT Industries in Venice, Florida, for a visit with Dave Olmstead, the code compliance officer for PGT Industries, makers of impact resistant windows. Olmstead explains how windows ...
	Manufacturing Impact-Resistant Windows Bob continues his tour of the PGT window factory in Venice, Florida. Dave Olmstead shows Bob a standard aluminum window with a thin, non-structural bead on the edge. He compares ... Watch video and view full description
	Installing Impact-Resistant Windows Aaron Renfroe from Great Southern Windows installs the PGT WinGuard windows as Bob looks on. He first applies a thick bead of polyurethane caulk to the flange on the window ... Watch video and view full description
	Installing Impact-Resistant Sliding Glass Doors Bob joins Scott Renfroe from Great Southern Windows for the installation of nine foot by eight foot sliding patio doors. Like the windows throughout the house, these are WinGuard impact-resistant ... Watch video and view full description