Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | May 20, 1999 08:37am | #1

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   Well, yeah, I've been involved in exactly two projects like what you mention. Both times there was a fabricated metal grid framed into place. The glass block was then grouted into the grid and held there by plywood forms until the grout set up. Looks cool, but I was always terrible worried about liability.

2. 
   ChrisT | May 20, 1999 07:15pm | #2

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   Or you can do solid piece of material (don't know what kind but some kind of plastic) like the compass in the floor at the REI in downtown Seattle. The second floor near the bookstore. Everyone once in awhile, someone wearing a dress or skirt will not be paying attention :). I imagine you could get an opaque or swirled pattern put into the material. Sounds safer but $$$$.

   Chris

3. 
   Guest_ | May 20, 1999 08:45pm | #3

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   In the days when cities had thriving downtowns and most buisnesses had cellars, freight elevatiors came up out of the sidewalks. Often there were glass block "skylights" set into these sidewalks.
   I have never had occassion to use glass block in this way, but if I did I would use a steel grid as a structural frame work and set the block into it.

   If you have excessive concern over failure of the block itself, you can get blocks made from solid glass that are literally bullet proof. However, from what I understand, it would be cheaper to use gold blocks.

   Any glass block floor-roof system will probably not be 100% water tight over the long run, since rigidity necessary for structure and flexibility necessary for water proofing are mutually exclusive.

1. 
   Guest_ | May 21, 1999 06:57am | #4

   *Mike: your last pp of post 3.0. What about a two part system? You know, glass block AND an elastomeric caulking? That would be structural and flexible, right?

1. 
   Guest_ | May 21, 1999 07:58am | #5

   *I am a firm believer in elastomeric deck coatings, but I'm not convinced that elastomeric caulk thick enough to hold block would take the foot traffic without movement.

1. 
   Guest_ | May 21, 1999 12:38pm | #6

   *ChrisT: It's fun to watch people approach that compass in Seattle REI. Some reptile portion of their brain refuses to walk over a transparent surface (like REI would have put something there that wouldn't hold up an SUV full of pre-teen soccer players). Kind of like how your hand refuses to go into the garbage disposal. As if your other hand (it's always been jealous of righty) will leap over to the switch and turn on the disposal before you can stop it).Lucite or polycarbonate is used as "bullet-proof" glass. Even thin small pieces (in some sunglasses) will stop .177 pellets and .22's.Mike: the glass in most of those downtown business basement skylights (before widespread electric lighting) has turned purple with age. Potash is now put in glass so it doesn't turn like that. There were/are similiar semi-waterproof skylights for boats. Not being limited to a flat sidewalk above, some were a prism shape to catch and refract sunlight from any angle. -David

1. 
   Guest_ | May 21, 1999 07:05pm | #7

   *Anyone ever stood on the "glass floor" in Toronto's Cn Tower? There's only 2 1/2" of tempered glass separating you from the pavement 1111 ft. below. It's an awesome experience!

4. 
   Lisa | May 21, 1999 10:25pm | #8

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   Sloat,

   I have seen numerous examples of both glass block and glass sheets used as floors between levels. They are generally pretty awsome looking. Check out the FHB Houses a few years back, a second floor sleeping area over a fireplace - very slick. Also Global Architecture (GA) often has this type of treatment shown - even a house with a see through bottomed, second floor lap pool!!

   We also have a patch of the block type at the enterance to the science library here, but I do have concerns about it. Not leaking or structural ones, but about traction. They are slippery, and I have seen women in heels go down in a heap trying to cross it. I think the sheet type would be even worse. I would definately keep it to small areas, perhaps a series of squares laid checkerboard style, to make walking safer. And definately keep it away from the stairs!

   I really like what James Cutler did with it in a house in Washington. It was a bridge house, over a ravine and creek, so he put a square of blocks in the floor over the creek - and put a wood stove on it! Very, very beautiful.

   I'd say go for it, be creative, and post pics!
   -Lisa

1. 
   Don_Lauer | May 25, 1999 09:14am | #9

   *Sloat; I belive PPG is the glass block people you should talk to.They sell glass block pavers that are solid and rated at 80,000 psi.Normal glass block are hollow and not recommended {a rating of about 600 psi.} We are building a masonry home at this moment and are installing five in-floor second story skylights.I built a steel frame for each and then fabricated a steel grid of one inch angle to frame individual block.We will pour the concrete slab around the steel frames and after it cures we will weld the grids into each frame,lay in the glass block,and grout. PPG can lead you to custom aluminum frames if you want to go that way.They have rubber gaskets that capture each glass block in the grid. Don Lauer

5. 
   Sloat | May 25, 1999 09:14am | #10

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   A home featured on TV includes a large section of a floor which provides natural light to the lower level. I remember seeing such flooring in old public library buildings. Anyone out there with information and experience?