Which Type Of Greenhouse Glazing Is Best For You?

When buying a greenhouse, one of the most important factors is the glass, in this guide we will outline the most common types of glazing with pros, and cons of each type to help determine which will be best for you.

Horticultural Glass

This is historically the most common greenhouse glazing, found on the vast majority of allotment greenhouses and many domestic greenhouses, it is very cost effective, light transmission is excellent and looks the part, there are many reasons why it's been the standard for decades!

It can however be broken relatively easily, if a football hits it, it will likely break into shards and need to be replaced, replacements are reasonably cheap and easy to source, we're open 7 Days a Week and we always stock Horti Glass at low prices making sure we're competitive with other suppliers.

Toughened Safety Glass

Tempered Glass has become the most popular glazing for domestic greenhouses, ours is supplied in long sheets which look streamlined and keeps cleaning the greenhouse nice and easy.  It's extremely tough, footballs and even golf balls can bounce straight off it without damage and in the rare occurance it can break, it breaks into safe granules so it's a very popular option for use when there are children running around or for use by people who might be vulnerable to falling.

Toughened Glass is more expensive than Horti Glass and can be harder to source in the rare instances it is broken, we stock the most common sizes which we buy in bulk to keep costs down.

Polycarbonate Glazing

Plastic glazing has seen a spike in usage recently, it is generally seen as a cheap alternative to glass and although there are very low cost options available, this is something of a false economy as it is important to make sure it is Fully UV Stable and at least 6mm Twin Wall Polycarbonate to ensure it will last in the Sun, and have some resistance to flexing in strong winds. 

Polycarbonate which is of a reasonable thickness and protected against UV rays is generally more expensive than Toughened Safety Glass!

Polycarbonate which is not fully UV stable will quickly degrade in the Sun turning opaque and brittle needing replacement, this is not always easy to do with some greenhouses adopting a new "trapped" method of glazing rather than the traditional clip system, trapped systems may need to be fully dismantled to replace glazing - turning a 5 minute job into something which could take hours.  

Acrylic is often misleadingly marketed as unbreakable but plastic panels will always have some flex where in windy conditions the sheets will bend and be liable to blowing out of the glazing bars, this can quickly result in the rest of the panels blowing out and away when the wind can get into the building.