Go back just a few years and you would have been insane to suggest that glass could be in anything other than commercial staircases. Now, however, we are at a point in time in which glass is available to anybody and everybody and at such a price that it is happily within everyone’s grasp. Perfectly suited to glass balustrade is our American White Oak, almost flawless and with a grain that is soft, uniformed and easily distinguishable as White Oak.
American White Oak
White oak has a beautiful light colour not seen in the European varieties that will look fantastic in all degrees of illumination. The fact that the wood is so light also suits the fact that we send all staircases out with just a high-grade sand finish. This means that the staircase would need to be finished in some way on site. Often customers will simply use a clear satin varnish, however, if you are trying to match an existing wood in the house then this wood is still ideal as you are free to stain it down to the ideal colour that you are looking for.
Glass Balustrade
Glass has gone from growth to growth in the staircase industry and it is easy to see why. Being simultaneously simplistic and modern, beautiful yet restrained. If you are looking for something modern but believe that chrome is too garish then this is what we would point you towards. Here you can see that the design is making use of embedded glass, this means that the glass is sitting in a groove in both the baserail and handrail. This gives the impression from a distance that there isn’t a balustrade at all, rather just a floating handrail. An alternative to this option is that the glass instead sits within chrome or brushed glass clamps which in term sit on the baserail and handrail.
Open Plan
The staircase shown is what is known as an open plan staircase. This means that rather than having a riser that bridges the full gap between treads, there is instead a gap in the rise. Regulations state that this gap is not allowed to be 100mm or greater, as such here we have a small ‘half riser’ so as to ensure that the gap is not too big, but still allows the maximum amount of light through. The use of a flush half riser gives the impression of a solid, chunky, step. Additionally, this would also be what is known as a “clean back”, this means that the underside of the staircase is fine to be seen, without untidy wedges and no sign of glue.
Should you wish to add glass balustrade to your existing staircase, that’s really not an issue. Using our Glass Balustrade Builder you are able to design your new glass balustrade by simply entering a few simple dimensions and going through our simple step by step system. Or are you thinking about a new staircase including glass? Even easier, simply click glass on Step 2 of the StairBuilder®, enter the details of your flight in the StairBuilder® and we will deal with the rest.
