Frosted glass panel doors

[keith micinski]

So I built these frosted glass panel doors as more of a design concept then anything. I have always wanted to use frosted glass panels on smaller projects but the cost of frosted glass has always been too much. I wanted to try a few things I found at the store to make it more economical so I started off using a film that I found at Menard's. The film would have worked except for the fact that I tried putting too big of a piece on by myself and when I was done I had a few small imperfections and dust got underneath of the film. I will try the film in the future on smaller projects because overall I think it would do a pretty good job. I do wish it was a little more opague then it is though. Next I tried a spray that you put on the glass I learned a few things about the spray. Number one it's nowhere near opaque enough and number two it's not very durable. Unfortunately adding more coats doesn't really make it any better either. Also I thought that you would want the frosting on the inside of the glass to make it more durable but it makes it less opague when you do it that way. I think if you have the spray on the outside of the door and someone bumps it and scratches it you would be royally screwed though. I guess I need to just break down and buy a sandblaster so I can start frosting my own glass

[Kurt Cady]

I thought glass was etched/frosted with acid, not sand?

[Jamie Buxton]

There's a trick to applying that film. It sounds crazy, but it is how the pros apply window film in cars. First you spray the glass with water, enough to get a film on the glass. Then you strip the backing paper off the film, and put it on the glass. The water film keeps it from adhering. You can slide it around to get it positioned where you want. Then you use a squeegee on the film to push the water along underneath the film to the edge of the glass. When the water is moved out of the way, the film's adhesive touches the glass, and it grabs. This approach gets the entire film stuck to the glass, with no air bubbles.

[keith micinski]

Ya thats what I did. It really was about 95 percent perfect. The one little air bubble I had probably would have been ok but getting the backing of such a big sheet while maintaing control and not letting it get anything on it was to hard to do apparently. The little particles stuck out like a sore thumb. I was so close and yet and the end of the day I couldn't leave it. I am pretty sure I would have no problem doing a smaller sheet plus I am modifying how the instructions say to do it. I think it would have been much easier if I would have rolled it up and then unrolled as I went like I do other films. I still want it to more opaque then it is also. A good product I think though once you know what your doing.

[keith micinski]

I thought glass was etched/frosted with acid, not sand?

That may be possible but I know you can do it with sand and it gives you the exact finish I am looking for. I wouldn't have been able to fit these large pieces in a cabinet so I would have had to have used a free standing unit and at that point probably would have just paid for the glass company to do it. Smaller pieces will fit in a cabinet though so I have actually been looking on craigslist tonight for a cabinet style blaster.

[Sam Layton]

Keith,

If you have a full length glass door, it should be safety glass. I would not want someone to fall through a glass door that was not safety glass. It is more expensive up front. However, it could be less expensive in the long run...

Sam