Measuring for a Glass Balustrade
To order glass for landing balustrades and new stair balustrades, you’ll simply need to take some basic measurements from the newels and between balustrade. No matter whether the glass balustrade for your staircase is clamped or embedded, the measuring process is the same.
Already purchased a staircase from us?
If you are ordering a new staircase with glass, there’s no need to provide us with the measurements for the glass unless order your includes landing balustrade. In this instance, you will need to measure for the glass once all timber components have been fitted, as this varies for every job. We will then supply the glass panels accordingly.
Have you received your handrail and baserail?
If you have purchased a glass balustrade, we advise not to permanently fix your handrail until you've received your glass. While you may be able to get around this should you permanently fix it, everything is so much easier if you dry fit your handrail in the first place.
Dry fitting means that while everything is in place, it is not done so permanently. This means no glue etc. This does mean that you will have a period during which your landing balustrade is not fixed while waiting for your glass, this is unfortunately necessary. It’s so much easier now that we have our QuickFix Kit, which just requires you to not add the additional fixing plate.
Measuring for a staircase balustrade
Add a new glass balustrade to your existing staircase by simply entering your measurements into the online GlassBuilder. To find out how to measure correctly, take a look at the below information.
Find the angle of your staircase
First of all, you need to measure the angle of your stairs. This can be done in one of two ways:
Using an angle finder – If you don’t have one, you can purchase one here.
Using an angle finder App on a smart phone – There are many free apps available to download, which will allow you to find the angle of your staircase. Simply search for an ‘angle finder’ on the app store.
The angle that you’ll be measuring is the pitch of the staircase (measured positively from the horizontal axis). The above diagram shows this. Try measuring in a couple of places to be sure, but as long as you are within a degree or so, there shouldn’t be an issue.
Measure the total width
The total width is the horizontal length of the balustrade, measured from newel face to newel face. This needs to be measured as a horizontal measurement parallel to the floor.
Please note that whilst the GlassBuilder calculates the correct panel spacing for you in most cases, it does not calculate spacing where 2 panels of glass meet on a mitre return and assumes that only 1 panel of glass is being used. Please bear this in mind when measuring and checking your order.
Measure your handrail height
Next, you will need to measure the height of the balustrade. This is the height from the top of the baserail to the underside of the handrail (not the total height from the floor).
Once you’ve provided us with these measurements and chosen clamped or embedded glass, our team will design the glass to fit (taking into account the size of the clamps or the depth of the grooves, so you don’t have to).
Measuring for a landing balustrade
To measure the glass required for your landing balustrade, whether it’s for a brand-new order or to complete an existing staircase order, simply follow the steps below.
Measuring newel to newel
No matter whether you are measuring for embedded glass or clamped glass, this process is exactly the same. Our designers will then amend any measurements that you provide to take into account any gaps, clamps or grooves.
First, simply take a quick measurement from the face of one newel post to the face of the next one horizontally. Please, do not leave a gap either end or anything similar as we will take everything into account at our end.
Next, measure from the underside of the handrail, to the top of the baserail. This is the same no matter whether you have clamped glass or embedded glass as we will take into account the gap of the clamp or the groove of the embedded respectively where necessary.
Measuring newel to mitre
As with the Newel to Newel, this process is the same no matter whether you are measuring for embedded glass or clamped glass. This is because, when you provide these basic measurements, our designers will then amend the measurements to take into account any gaps, clamps or grooves.
Firstly, measure between the face of the newel post to the centre of the mitre. It is important that this is to the centre as it is from this point that we will be basing the gap. Bear in mind that this would be exactly the same no matter the circumstance of the mitre.
Next, as with the above, again measure from the very top of the baserail to the underside of the handrail. As before, we will take into account any clamps or grooves, so you don’t have to.
