COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- It is a piercing and frightening sound.

A family in Commerce City said it was hard to describe, but that sound was their glass top patio table spontaneously shattering.

"We just heard a huge crash," said Julie Headley.

She and her husband ran outside that last weekend in May to find their Hampton Bay table top in thousands of tiny pieces.

"The glass was shattered. There were loud crackling noises. It was shattered into just miniscule pieces. We were horrified actually," Headley said.

The were horrified, she said, because the shards of glass covered the area where their young children play.

"The sandbox is right there. The kids were inside napping. If it were a couple of hours earlier they would have been out here," she said.

At first the Headleys thought it was a freak accident, until Julie returned to work and shared the story with a coworker.

"Julie said, 'You're not going to believe what happened this weekend'," Cary Larger explained.

Larger said she just stared at Headley in disbelief, since her own glass table top had shattered without warning on the very same day.

"The table had basically shattered from inside and all the chairs were pushed in and there was glass all over," Larger said.

"I went online and found tons of stories of these table tops exploding and that's when I started to get mad," said Headley.

Both families said they bought their Hampton Bay brand tables at Home Depot.

Up until last year, JRA Furniture in California was one of the manufacturers of the Hampton Bay brand and also manufactured glass top patio tables sold at Kmart under the Martha Stewart brand.

JRA Furniture declared bankruptcy in 2007, facing a class action lawsuit from those who claim their glass top tables were unsafe.

"I didn't even stop to think it would shatter everywhere, especially without even being touched," said Larger.

Both families said Home Depot's corporate offices responded quickly to their concerns, offering them replacements or refunds.

Still, they say they want other families to be aware of the danger than may be lurking right in their own back yard.

"Buyer beware. This was a scary situation. Luckily my kids were asleep and not out in their sand box," said Headley.

Home Depot's representative, Sarah Molinari, had this response to the concerns;

"The Home Depot is fundamentally concerned about the safety of our customers and the products we sell. After meeting all federal, state and industry standards, our products must also meet our own stringent safety standards. Glass top patio tables sold under the Hampton Bay brand are no exception. Before introducing glass patio tables, The Home Depot worked with our suppliers to require a higher level of glass safety before the products ever reached our stores. Our patio sets feature glass that is thicker and made of sturdier materials than the other, lower-priced products on the market. We have received about a dozen reports of broken glass tops since we started selling glass patio sets several years ago. In each of these instances, spontaneous breakage was ruled out as a cause. Regardless of the cause, we worked with our customers to offer glass replacements."

"JRA was one of many marketers under the Hampton Bay brand, until July 2007. It is no longer affiliated with this brand. However, at The Home Depot, we honor all manufacturers warranties for the products we sell."

"The Home Depot encourages customers with questions about a product to contact us directly at 800 HOME DEPOT or CustomerCare@homedepot.com."

Consumer advocates recommend that consumers whose table tops have exploded save samples of the broken glass as proof and take pictures of the damage.

They also said consumers should immediately notify the store where the patio set was purchased and file complaints with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and their state attorney general's office.

For more information about exploding glass top patio tables, consumeraffairs.com