One of the hottest new trends in bathroom sinks is the manufacturer’s attempts to see just how many unusual materials they can be made from. From their early days, rocks and stones that had been eroded by weather into concave shapes were further carved and used for storing water and also used as a primitive form of the sink. In later years, metals such as copper or tin were commonly used to form basins or bowls that were used in a similar fashion to which we use the modern bathroom sink today. In the 19th century, ceramic became the material of choice, being affordable as well as extremely durable. Today, materials such as granite and marble, along with various composite materials, are used to create the modern designs that are prevalent on the home improvement and bathroom design marketplaces. One of the most striking new materials to hit the market in recent years, however, is glass. Glass bathroom sinks are not only striking in a visual sense, they are also affordable and much more durable than one would initially expect them to be.
When many people think of glass, they immediately think of fragility. In most cases, glass is an extremely fragile material. While it can be reinforced for use in windows, for both home and auto use, it is frequently found in dinnerware, food packaging, and decorative art works. Bathroom design is a fairly new media for glass, as it is quickly gaining in popularity for use in both bathroom sink design as well as shower construction. The glass used for these purposes is, in fact, tempered safety glass. Much thicker than the glass we are accustomed to seeing in everyday use, tempered safety glass is also subjected to high levels of heat which, essentially, work to change its chemical composition. This composition change , in turn, affects the strength of the glass as well as the manner in which it breaks should a substantial impact occur. While it does take a significantly stronger amount of force to break tempered safety glass than it would ordinary household glass, the results are far less expected. While typical glass is known for shattering and splintering into shards and other sharp fragments, tempered safety glass breaks into a pebble-like matter, completely smooth and much less likely to cause injury of any kind.
One of the most popular styles for glass sinks lies within the vessel sink family. While glass can be used to create nearly any style of sink, the vessel sink’s nature of being set on top of a bathroom counter allows the design to better display the glass composition. These glass sinks can be created in any shape, whether it be a modern angular design or a more traditional curved structure. The glass can be tinted to a variety of colors to further increase the visual appeal, and can also be pre-cracked. In essence, this gives the glass the appearance of being fractured and then reformed into a whole piece. The process involves slightly fracturing the interior portion of the sink and does not affect the overall load bearing capacity of the piece itself, providing a stunning visual impact in the process.
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