When it comes to choosing glass splashbacks for your kitchen, you may think that all you need to think about is the colour or design of your splashback. However, if you use a gas stove or oven, you also need to think about safety issues before you choose the right splashback.

While glass doesn't combust, it does conduct heat and may carry heat from your stove to the wall behind it. If this wall contains combustible materials, the splashback may heat these materials up enough to cause a fire. To avoid this happening, you need to be aware of a couple of things before you choose and install a glass splashback behind your stove.

Choose the Right Kind of Glass

If you're installing a glass splashback behind a gas stove, you need to make sure that the splashback is fit for purpose. To meet government standards, the splashback should be made from toughened safety glass; its manufacturer should also make it clear that the splashback is suitable for use behind a kitchen stove.

Protect Your Kitchen Wall

It's not enough to simply use toughened glass as a splashback behind your gas stove, you also need to take the distance between the stove and the splashback wall into consideration. Even toughened glass may conduct heat, even if it comes with some extra protection. If your wall contains combustible stuff and is considered to be too close to your stove, then you need to think about putting a layer of something that is fire resistant between the glass and the wall. Typically, you'll need to do this if the clearance between the stove and wall is under 200mm.

Fire Resistant Choices

If you need to put a barrier behind your glass splashback, you can fit fire-resistant boards onto the wall before you fit the splashback. Alternatively, some splashback companies will also fit fire-resistant backings to their splashbacks if you prefer a more direct approach.

Bear in mind that there are a few questions in this process that you may not be able to answer for yourself without professional help. For example, you may not know whether your wall is fire retardant or whether it has anything combustible inside it. If you aren't sure, it's best to consult your builder or kitchen installer before you have a glass splashback fitted. If you're fitting the splashback yourself, you can ask the shop you're buying from or the manufacturer for advice.

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