On Sun, 05 Feb 2006 01:59:04 GMT, Chris Jarshant
wrote:

All,

A few nights ago I had a good fire going with the
tempered glass doors closed on my pre-fabricated
fireplace. Well, I guess it got too hot, after an
hour or two, because one of the glass pieces shattered
into small cubes. No biggie, I had a replacement, but now I have
questions.

Questions:

1. The fireplace has tempered glass (it is a "Majestic BR42")
whose glass doors are able to withstand a documented gradual
rise to 550F.
Did my fire get that hot? I admit I loaded it with 4 or
5 small logs but it was not roaring by any means (I had
good embers at the bottom tho that were burning quite hot).

2. I'd like to not worry about the glass doors anymore.
My choices are a) get rid of them, b) never close them,
c) rebuild a *real* fireplace or woodstove, or d) get
better doors. I'd like to do d) for now. If I were to
replace the glass, should I simply get thicker tempered
glass? Or is there some other product that is the same
thickness (3/16" or 1/4" I don't know for sure) that has
extra heat protection?

I've had this happen. I did some searching and there is a ceramic
product available. DAGS but be careful, there is some material that
is designed to limit infrared transmission (like for viewing windows
in furnaces, etc) but you want it to pass IR.

I can't use the stuff in my fireplace because it's too thick for my
doors but it sounds like yours might.

3) Assuming a correct installation (the home builder installed
it so you never know, but assume for the moment). Using
standard wood for fuel, could I cause the fire to get so
hot that it catches something on fire inside the wall, like
some studs or drywall or insulation? Is it really that easy
for a residential fireplace to get so hot with traditional
fuel that it is a hazard to surrounding material used that
is "to code" in all respects?

Thanks for any insight!

cj