Glass Balustrading 101
Before you can begin to design/order your dream balustrade it is important to start at the beginning. What is a balustrade? A simple definition is that a balustrade is a railing or barrier installed on a staircase or balcony to prevent a person from falling. In Australia, a balustrade (or barrier) is required once the fall from a balcony, deck, staircase, retaining wall or any other building structure you can fall from, is higher than 1m from the ground below.
In summary, a glass balustrade must be at least 1000mm high, have a handrail/top rail and have no gaps of which a 125mm sphere can pass through. If the fall from the deck to the ground below is over 4mtrs high, then there must also be no climbable objects between 150 x 760mm from the ground.
What does this mean to you?
If the fall from where you stand to the ground below is over 1000mm then your glass balustrade will need to meet the following criteria:
If the fall to the ground below is over 4000mm, you cannot have anything climbable between 150 and 760mm from the ground, therefore if you are using posts, then the glass clamps must not be within this range.
Please use this information only as a guide and contact your local council for further information before you begin.
Like most things it is not until you start to research your glass balustrade that you discover there are so many options and decisions to make. Many options can be eliminated by making a few basic decisions early on in the research process.
Fixing position
Fixing Method
Handrail Position
It is our aim to offer Australia wide delivery at an affordable rate.
Delivery starts from only $7.95 for orders under 500 grams. We offer both Australia Post and courier rates Australia wide. Our website is very smart and will access live rates based on the weight of your order and your post code as you proceed through the checkout steps.
As you can image glass is very heavy and a full order for a balustrade or pool fence can weigh in excess of 3 tons. We work with several couriers to offer affordable rates.
We have warehousing facilities in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne North and South and in Adelaide. If you live within these post code zones we offer pickup or fixed $99 delivery. When ordering through the website, you will be offered these options if you live within these zones. More information on pickup can be found on our pickup information page.
If you do not live in one of our local delivery zones, your order is carefully packed and sent with one of our couriers. If your order contains glass, it will be crated on a pallet so when the courier arrives they can offload the glass with a pallet jack. It is important to advise us if you live in a location where a pallet jack will not work.
To reduce delivery costs your order will be dispatched from the closest warehouse.
What is toughened Glass?
Toughened glass also refereed to as tempered glass is glass that has been heated and rapidly cooled. This process makes it 5 times tougher then standard glass and if broken it will shatter into small relatively harmless pieces.
How is glass toughened?
The glass is heated in a furnace to a temperature of around 620 Degree.
Why is glass toughened?
Why is are the edges polished?
What is heat soaking?
Can toughened glass be cut or drilled?
Definitely not.
What is Stainless Steel
Stainless Steel is a metal alloy made up by mixing steel with other elements to make it corrosion resistant. Iron mixed with Carbon is used to produce the steel then chromium, nickel, molybdenum, silicon, aluminium are all added in various percentages. Chromium is the main element used to help make it corrosion resistant.
After running www.allthingsstainless.com.au for over 10 years we have discovered that there are a lot of miss conceptions of Stainless Steel. Some of the most common questions we are asked are:
Will Stainless Steel Rust? Stainless steel will not rust like a car where the metal flakes out and leaves a hole. The chemicals added to the steel will eliminate this from happening. Stainless Steel can however Tea Stain if the correct grade and finish are not used for a particular application. The higher the grade and the shinier the finish the longer it will last and stay looking new. We recommend using a mirror finish in a marine environment or around swimming pools.
Is Stainless Steel Chrome Plated? No. it is a chemical mix of metals. It is then polished to a mirror or chrome like finish.
Is Stainless Steel just a coating over mild steel? No. Stainless steel is a solid material. If you drill through it you will find the same metal all the way through.
Is Stainless Steel Magnetic? Yes and no. A very obscure answer. As a general rule higher grades of stainless are not magnetic however if they are worked for example folded (bent) or heated to a high enough temperature the molecules are changed and it can become magnetic.
I thought all Stainless Was shiny? This is often asked when we sell bar products as they are only produced in a mill finish. Stainless Steel starts out as a dull grey metal and is polished to the shiny or brushed finish everyone is familiar with.
If you are in close proximity to a marine environment or a swimming pool we recommend either using 316 or 2205 stainless in a mirror finish.
Stainless Steel Grades
Although there are many grades of stainless steel available. There are only 3 common grades used when installing glass products.
Grade '304' is a general purpose stainless and is the most common grade of stainless produced. It is made up of at least 18% chromium and 8% nickel offering good corrosion resistance. 304 stainless steel is best suited for indoor use and is inadequate for many marine applications.
Grade '316' offers the best corrosion resistance among standard stainless steel and is often referred to as "marine grade". 316 stainless is made up of at least 16% chromium and 10% nickel. 2% molybdenum is also added to 316 stainless to increase its corrosion resistance. Grade 316 is most suited to outdoor and marine applications.
Grade 2205 Duplex is the newest grade we have seen come on the market. It has a very high resistance to corrosion. 2205 Duplex stainless is made up of at least 22% chromium and 5% nickel, 3% molybdenum is also added. 2205 Stainless has a higher strength than 316 and 304 grades so is often used in a marine environment where strength is important.
Stainless Steel Finishes
Although there are many different finishes available we only supply two finishes.
Below is a good example of the polising steps required to achieve a mirror finish.
