Sunderland Etched Glass

Leadbitter Glass was established in 1994 and for years have supplied Sunderland homes with Etched Glass and Victorian Etched Glass Panels. Etched Glass is one of the oldest forms of decorative glass yet it is increasingly used for contemporary decorative glass designs. Many homes in the area contain elegant Etched Glass panels along with upscale commercial buildings. Free delivery to homes in Sunderland is provided for almost all panels we produce.

Our studio also provides Stained Glass, Bevelled Glass and Fused Glass to clients in Sunderland.

When you place an order with us, you will receive our free design service – known as the Client Pages Service. This is a great way to see how your bespoke etched glass panels will look before they are created. This allows you to request design changes before we actually begin work on your panel(s). A few days after ordering, we’ll send you a Computer Generated Image of how your glass will look with your chosen design customised to fit your sizes. You may find that you want a decorative border adjusting slightly, a few extra leaves adding or the size of a house number increasing. We’ll make your amendments until you are 100% happy with the design and give us the thumbs up to begin production.

Your numbers up!

Etched glass is the perfect choice for house names and numbers for door glass and fanlights. Many homes throughout Sunderland have top lights (transom lights) above their door which is the perfect place to elegantly display your house name or number. We create hundreds of house names and numbers every year making it one of the most popular requests from our clients. If your home has a transom window above the door, we can create your house number or name in any font you choose and you can add a decorative border. We can also create matching glass for your door if required.

Browse Our Etched Glass Galleries

Our studio can create almost any pattern you like in etched glass, but if you’re struggling to find the right design for your home, head on over to our extensive Etched Glass Gallery for some inspiration. We have thousands of stunning decorative glass designs to choose from which are ideal for both doors and windows. The etched glass gallery has numerous sub-categories such as Traditional, The Edinburgh Range and Repeat Backgrounds, Modern, Victorian along with many others.

How is Etched Glass made?

We never use ‘stickers’ on our etched glass panels. We produce etched glass by sandblasting the glass so it is permanent and of the highest quality. Some companies say that they offer “Etched Glass” when they actually just place a vinyl sticker onto the glass, so no ‘etching’ has actually taken place. These stickers can turn yellow over time and vinyl also shrinks after being exposed to sunlight for a few years. Other companies may even screen print the ‘Etched Glass Effect’ onto the glass which causes the same discolouration issue over time. Always make sure you are paying for a quality ‘sandblasted‘ etched glass product, as the saying goes – “buy cheap, buy twice”. You can see the aftermath here of ordering fake etched glass.

Our process

A temporary mask is ‘cut to shape’ and overlaid onto one side of the glass. The areas of the pattern that require etching are then removed from the panel. The stencilled panel is then placed inside a sandblasting booth and coarse grit/sand is fired at high speed across the design. Once the etching process is complete and an even finish has been achieved, the temporary mask is removed, leaving the protected areas clear with the unprotected areas etched. For single glazed glass, we will then apply a protective sandblast coating to the etched side. If the glass is to be double glazed, the coating doesn’t need to be applied because the etched side will be protected within the unit.

Etched glass supplied to any home throughout the Sunderland area:

Newcastle – Washington – Gateshead – Houghton-le-Spring – Seaham – Hetton-le-Hole – Ryhope – Whitburn – South Shields – Jarrow – Boldon – Hebburn – Cleadon – East Boldon – West Boldon – Penshaw – Shiney Row – Fence Houses – Silksworth – Castletown – Springwell