Standard glass partition walls may be functional (they divide rooms and move light through to the interior rooms) but they don't always make rooms distinctive and memorable. If you want your interior design to pop with color, design, and personalization consider the use of etched, colored and satin finished frosted glass block. In this article you'll learn 5 steps to design and purchase a partition wall divider with colored, frosted and etched blocks Glass Partitions Leeds
Step 1 - Determine where you want to use the blocks - Glass partition walls are useful in any housing or commercial space where you want and need to move light through interior walls (to eliminate dark interior spaces and in business improved productivity is tied to increased natural lighting). Some of the more popular uses of interior glass block partition wall dividers include the following:
o Conference room walls o Half wall projects in loft housing o Lower level finished recreation rooms o Kitchen wall dividers o A shower wall separating the bedroom from the bathroom o Interior walls in schools, hospitals, churches, and health care facilities.
Step 2 - Develop a color and design theme for the space - Think through the color scheme and design elements in the two rooms. The colored and frosted glass block are available in a wide selections of color series including jewel tones, a kitchen and wine series, and a mother earth series. These vibrant colors can also be muted through a frosting process on the faces. To create a contrasting pattern consider alternating the use of smooth faced blocks with frosted blocks to create either a coining or checkerboard effect.
Other designs can also be created in the clear or colored glass through a laser etching process. Virtually any design is possible with this process including making decorative murals or directional signs into the blocks. What's nice is that you can create a decorative art piece while simultaneously having a structurally sound wall.
Step 3 - Measure and design the size of the wall or interior window opening - Although the blocks are available in a wide variety of sizes - including 4" x 8", 6" x 6", 6" x 8", 8" x 8" and 12" x 12" (and even a metric size 7 ½" x 7 ½") it usually looks the best to keep the sizing consistent through the wall or interior partition window opening (if possible). The window and walls can be made different sizes not only through the use of different sized blocks but also by using different installation and fabrication materials (more about this in step 4). In most cases the cost of the blocks between the 4 x 8, 6 x 6, 6 x 8, and 8 x 8 sizes is pretty much the same. Given this fact you'll usually get the biggest bang for your buck by designing with the 8 x 8 units (they are the largest blocks of these 4 most common sizes and will result in the lowest installed cost per square foot).
If you'd like to create a rounded, angled, or straight glass block wall there are now specialty shaped blocks to make these designs which also improve the finished quality of the wall. Most of the blocks for the rounded walls are made in an approximate 22 degree angle design that allow a full rounded corner to be created with 4 specialty blocks. The corner blocks make a 90 degree turn with one block, and the angled blocks make a 45 degree angle with one unit. Rounded glass block partition walls are much more cost effective than tempered bent glass which has made them very popular for shower walls.
Step 4 - Choose between mortar grout or silicone to join the blocks together- Like most installation systems that are advantages and disadvantages of both mortared (or grouted) and silicone joints to put your partition divider walls together. In general for larger walls it's usually more structurally sound to go with the mortared/grouted process. The grout joints can be made in a wide variety of colors to compliment or contrast your interior design.
For smaller interior partition openings and/or for etched glass block wall projects the silicone jointing process is preferred. This process creates a smaller joint between the blocks (the joints can range from about 1/8" to a process where the blocks are almost butted together) which can allow the blocks in an etched mural to be closer together and the silicone process creates a continuous look between the blocks.
Step 5 - Save money and improve quality with glass block prefabricated wall sections - Would you go to a department store like Best Buy and buy a washer and dryer in pieces that you had to put assemble piece by piece? Of course not - it would not only be a pain in the neck to get done, the finished quality of your home assembly should not match factory built conditions as well.
To save effort and time and improve the finished quality of your partition block wall purchase prefabricated wall sections. These sections are put together with vinyl members that make it much easier to stack the sections together, anchor them to an existing opening or wall, and then field grout or silicone the assemblies together. This process will result in a much better finished project which will save time, look good, and stand the test of time as well. With these 5 steps you're now equipped to design a glass partition wall divider with colored, frosted and etched glass blocks that can really stand out from the crowd.