Exploding Glass Doors A Growing Problem
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A routine, nighttime, shower ended with an emergency room visit for a 9-year-old boy after his glass shower door suddenly shattered.
It's a problem that appears to be happening more frequently around the country but there are things that can be done to protect yourself.
Glass shower doors are spontaneously exploding and causing injuries. Oliver Kwilinski, just 9-years-old was the latest victim.
"I was shaking it was really scary." he said.
Kwilinski was hit by sharp glass while showering before bedtime last month. He says it was all a surprise. He didn't hit the glass or bang into it.
"It just exploded," he said.
The glass shower door spontaneously shattered, lacerating his arm and cutting his leg.
"It kinda came down like rain," he recalled.
Amy Kwilinski, his mother, was terrified.
"I heard what I thought was a bomb or, the explosion was so loud that I ran upstairs and was expecting maybe an airplane through my roof, or a tree falling on my house. Something, I know I was yelling all the way up the stairs, 'what happened? What happened? What happened,'" she said.
Amy rushed in to find the bathroom covered in glass. She rushed her son to the hospital. Thankfully he's going to be fine.
What happened to the shower door?
Mark Meshulum, a professional shower door installer, knew exactly what happened.
"I hear about it on a regular basis. People send me e-mails and pictures. It happens pretty much every day," Meshulum said.
He says this all has to do with tempered glass.
"Tempered glass is the number one product that is used for shower doors. It is considered to be a safety glass because when it breaks it breaks into tiny little pieces. Safety glass - that if broken is supposed to shatter into tiny pieces to avoid injuries," he explained.
The problem is to make tempered glass, the glass itself is put under an enormous amount of pressure. One wrong move, Mark likens it to a balloon.
"It's exactly like a balloon. It catastrophically breaks. It just doesn't break in that area. The entire piece of glass will break in an instant," Meshulum said.
A lot of people are getting hurt.
Earlier this month, a 7-year old needed staples on her head and stitches on her leg.
"I looked up at her head and it was just gushing blood," the mother said.
Mark agreed to examine the Kwilinski's remaining shower door. He was not impressed with the quality of glass or metal components. But he says the bigger problem is an industry problem.
"There are no industry standards," he said.
The number of *reports* of glass shower doors breaking has increased.
Three years ago, during a 12-month period, there were six glass shower door complaints made to the Consumer Product Safety Commission but during the most recent 12 months there were 58.
So what should you do if you have one of these showers?
Meshulum says, "Ask for a safety film that's good for shower doors and have it installed on the side away from the water so that the water doesn't make it come unstuck."
This way, if the glass explodes, it stays together.
As for the Kwilinskis, they are avoiding glass for now.
"There needs to be either a safer shower door or I can't have them in our house. We don't want another glass door in our house. We just put up a shower curtain and we are not going to install any more glass doors ever until we see they are safe to install," Amy said.
Mark says the number of complaints filed is small, compared to the number of glass doors that actually break. He warns applying the protective film should be done by a professional and the film needs to extend underneath any metal hardware.
