# Glass Balustrade Installation

How a frameless glass balustrade is installed in an aluminium base channel, step by step

By brave\-panda\-5225b289

Topic: Engineering

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/LC2Ix9PCWRZQ)

## Transcript

### 1. Glass Balustrade Installation

A balustrade is the safety barrier along the edge of a balcony or stair\. This one is frameless: there are no posts, only thick glass held at its foot by a metal channel\. Let us put it together, piece by piece\.

Drag to turn the scene\. Real installs are done by trained fitters, usually two or more\.

### 2. 1 · Set Out the Channel

The base is an aluminium channel: a long metal track shaped like a U, with flat feet\. It must sit on something strong, like this concrete slab, and lie perfectly level along the line of the edge\.

### 3. 2 · Bolt It Down

Anchor bolts go through the feet into holes drilled in the concrete, and a long hex key turns each one clockwise until it is tight\. The channel will hold up all the glass, so it must not move at all\.

### 4. 3 · Add Setting Blocks

Small rubber setting blocks drop into the bottom of the slot, about 50 mm in from each edge of a panel\. Glass must never rest on bare metal, because a hard knock on its edge can make it shatter\.

### 5. 4 · Lower In the First Panel

This glass is toughened and laminated: two heat\-strengthened layers bonded to a tough plastic film, 21\.5 mm thick in all\. A panel like this weighs about 60 kg, so fitters lift it with suction cups and lower it gently onto the blocks\.

### 6. 5 · Leave a Small Gap

The second panel goes in beside the first with a gap of about 5 mm, so the two never touch\. Toughened glass cannot be cut or drilled afterwards, so every panel is made to measure before it arrives\.

### 7. 6 · Check Level and Plumb

A spirit level shows whether the tops line up\. Then it checks that each panel is plumb, which means standing perfectly upright\. When the bubble sits in the middle of its little window, the glass is right\.

### 8. 7 · Lock It with Wedges

Rubber wedges are pressed down between the glass and the channel walls on both sides\. Gripped at its foot like a tree held by its roots, the glass now stands on its own\. A home balcony barrier is designed to take a sideways push of about 0\.74 kilonewtons on every metre, roughly the weight of an adult\.

### 9. Done · Clip On the Cladding

Cover strips called cladding clip over the channel and hide the bolts and wedges\. After a final clean, the balcony has a clear, strong barrier 1\.1 metres high\.

If laminated glass ever cracks, its plastic film holds the pieces together and the barrier stays up\.