Installing glass in a frame only or mullion door is a surprisingly easy process! Using a rubberized gasket molding and your sized glass panels, the glass sets into your door firmly but can also be easily removed if it is damaged or needs to be replaced! While this may be a tedious process with a lot of doors, it is a great way to install your glass and is not permanent. Feel free to reach out to your Cabinet Coach with any other questions.
Video Transcript
Introduction
Hey everybody, Brian from the Cabinet Joint here. We’re going to be talking about how to install glass in a mullion or frame-only door.
Let me start by saying we don’t supply the glass for you. That would have to be tempered glass, and it would end up breaking in the truck on the way to you, so we do not supply glass. You’ll have to get the glass cut by your local glass shop, and I’ll talk about sizing your glass in a moment for the opening.
I’m also going to mention the material that we use to hold the glass in place. It’s this rubberized gasket material that comes in a big clump like this. It doesn’t come cut to length.
Glass Thickness
This only works for 1/8-inch thick glass. If you have 1/4-inch thick glass or some kind of expensive leaded glass that’s not 1/8 of an inch, this gasket won’t work.
In that case, we’re going to send you, with your cabinet doors, a painted wooden molding. It comes with the frame-only door and wraps over the edge of the glass to pinch it in place. You’re going to want to factor that molding in because the little leg that drops in behind the glass will reduce your glass width. You’ll want to take that into account and figure out what the glass width needs to be with that little wooden leg going over. That molding will actually pin to the door frame itself.
I don’t have any of that here to show you—we don’t do much of it. I would say 99% of the glass we sell uses this gasket. But if you do have an odd glass that’s 1/4 inch, you will get a different wood molding to retain your glass in the door frame.
Sizing & Ordering the Glass
Here’s how this works: you’re going to measure the width and height of your opening. In this case, I have an 8-1/8-inch width by 29-1/4-inch length. I’m going from inside measurements here.
When I go to my glass shop, Lowe’s, or wherever I’m getting my glass cut, I’m going to deduct 1/8 inch from that dimension. The reason being, I want the glass to drop in with a little bit of wiggle room. If I make it exactly that dimension, there’s a chance they might cut it a little too large, and the glass won’t fit into the opening.
It’s okay if it’s 1/8 inch smaller because this gasket molding will pinch it into place. I went ahead and had this ordered from Lowe’s, and we just drop our glass into the opening. You can see it drops in nice and tight with a little bit of wiggle room—that’s fine.
Sealing & Securing the Glass
Now, what you’re going to do is take your glass molding. You’re going to measure the dimensions I gave you earlier inside the frame. You’ll measure four pieces of this molding. For example, you’re going to make two pieces 29-1/4 inches long and two pieces 8-1/8 inches long. Then you’re going to cut the ends at a bias, a 45-degree angle, because these pieces are all going to meet in the corners. You want that gasket line at a 45-degree angle.
I went ahead and cut four pieces: two at 29-1/4 inches and two at 8-1/8 inches. Now we take this molding, and you can see it’s got this little toothed edge, a spline groove that presses into a groove running all around the cabinet frame or door frame.
All I’ve got to do is put one mitered corner into the corner and press it into place. Then, I take the long piece for the edge, start at the corner, and press it into place, working my way down.
The Finished Product & Summary
Now, I have what looks like a bead of silicone. It’s nice and clear, and I can still see my cabinet finish below it. Here’s the best part, folks—when I shut the door, the glass thuds. It doesn’t have that chatter we used to get when we used glass clips that mounted to the back of the door and pinched the glass. With those, when you shut your cabinet door, you’d hear the glass rattle in the door.
This method almost sounds like a regular panel in a door, so it’s a really great way to hold your glass in place. Again, you’ll do the cutting to fit, but it doesn’t take long. If you’ve got a lot of glass doors, you might spend 45 minutes cutting and pressing that molding in.
If your glass ever breaks—Junior runs into it with a tricycle on your island or whatever—you can pull it right out, replace the glass, and pop all these gaskets back in. It’s not permanent, which makes it a great way to install your glass.
We hope that helps! If you have any questions, be sure to call your cabinet coach and let them know. They’ll walk you through it. Thanks for watching, everybody. Have a great day!
Will 5/32” glass still accept the retainer moulding? Thank you.
Yes it will!
Hi — thanks for this super helpful video! Will 3/16″ glass work?
Sure will!
Where can this gasket seal be purchased
Judi – this retainer moulding is included in any order that has frame-only doors. It’s not available for purchase unless you’ve placed an order with us.
What gasket to use if it’s for 0.236″ thick glass? Thanks.
You would need to supply your own retention clips or use our wood molding (stained and painted to match) which needs to be pinned on. We do not offer a gasket for glass thicker than 1/8” to 3/16” max.
Hi Brian, just to double check, it sounds like you say “this rubberized gasket molding only works with 1/8″ glass…” but then I see the responses to the other comments above.
What is the maximum glass thickness that will work with the supplied clear gasket shown in this video?
(not asking about a different gasket or stops that have to be pinned in)
The other sizes people mentioned are barely thicker or thinner than 1/8”, so they will work. If you get thicker than 3/16”, the gasket will not be able to be pressed into the groove. I would not recommend glass thicker than 3/16”.