At this time of year when the grass is growing strongly - or would if we had any regular rain, we get a lot of calls from existing customers asking about replacing double glazed units. Not just for the fun of it, but rather that their mower has picked up a stone and hurled it through one of the toughened double glazed units in the conservatory
You can bet your bottom dollar that it will have hit one of the large ones as well, such as in French doors! These toughened units are by no means cheap and you can easily spend in the region of a couple of hundred quid getting them replaced. By the way, it seems that no one make of rotary mower is better than the others at doing this - they all do as much damage!
Short of hoovering the grass before you mow it to pick up any foreign objects, there are ways that this calamity can be avoided. The stone will usually strike the glass very low down but cause the entire outer pane to craze over like an old fasioned car windscreen. If this happens, do not touch the glass otherwise the whole lot will fall out, usually on whoever poked it in the first place! Leave well alone and start thinking about replacing it. Your local glass company will be able to help out here, but shop around to get the best price. If you are unsure of the glass unit specification, call us and we will tell you the sort of unit that you need.
To avoid forking out every time you mow your lawn either a, stop mowing it and let it naturalize, or b, take some very simple precautions. A large sheet of old cardboard between your mower and the intended victim works very well, as does plonking some old stair carpet against the French doors whilst the mower is humming away. In both isntances, the glass should remain intact and after sorting out the lawn, you can sit in the conservatory with a few pints thinking how great everything is, rather than ringing round nasty double glazing companies who are intent on ruining your day, and charging you for it!
As the Meerkats say "Simplez"