Alpha BrothersGlass
(801) 678-5770 Free Estimate
Stairs, landings, balconies and decks

Glass railings and handrails on the Wasatch Front

A glass guard is the only railing that does its job without taking the view with it. We measure the run, work out how the panels are held, and build to what your inspector will actually pass.

Serving the Wasatch Front, Park City and Tooele.

  • Interior and exterior
  • Built to pass inspection
  • One year warranty
  • Over 25 years in the trade
Request a railing estimate Call (801) 678-5770

Request a railing estimate

Tell us where the run is going and roughly how long it is.

This is how we reach you to confirm measurements.
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Four ways to hold a glass panel up

This is the decision that sets the look, the price and how much structure you need underneath. Worth understanding before anyone quotes you.

Standoff mounted

Round metal standoffs bolt through the glass into the face of the stair stringer, the slab edge or the deck rim, and the panel floats clear of what it is fixed to. It is the cleanest look of the four, with the least metal in the way of the view.

It is also the one that asks the most of the structure behind it. Every load on that guard arrives at a handful of bolts, so the stringer or the rim has to be solid and we will check it before quoting, not after. Holes are drilled before the glass is tempered and cannot be added later, so the layout is fixed early.

Base shoe

A continuous aluminum channel runs along the floor or the stair and the glass is set into it and shimmed plumb. No posts and no visible fixings, so the run reads as one uninterrupted sheet of glass. It needs a solid, level substrate and enough depth to take the shoe.

Posts and clamps

Metal posts at intervals with clamps gripping the glass between them. More metal in the sightline, and usually the most forgiving on both budget and structure, because the posts carry the load, not the glass fixings.

With or without a top rail

A capping rail along the top edge stiffens the run and gives a hand something to hold. Leaving it off is the pure look, and needs thicker glass to compensate.

Raked stair runs

Panels cut to the pitch of the flight. Every panel is a different shape, and that is the reason a staircase is templated, not measured off a drawing.

Separate handrail

Where a graspable rail is wanted or required alongside the glass, mounted to the glass itself or to the wall.

A railing is a safety component, not a decoration

This is the part of the job worth being fussy about, because a guard is the thing standing between somebody and a drop.

Glass used in a guard is safety glass, tempered or laminated depending on where it is and what it is protecting. Laminated glass has an interlayer that holds the pieces together if it does break, so it is the usual answer where a panel is guarding a drop or sitting overhead.

Guard height, the gaps between and beneath panels, and how much load the guard has to take are all set by code, and the code that applies depends on whether it is a house or a commercial building and which jurisdiction you are in. We build to what your local inspector enforces. If you are working with an architect or a general contractor, send us the detail and we will work to it.

What we will not do is fit a guard to a structure that will not hold it. If the stringer, slab edge or deck rim is not up to the loads, we will tell you at the measure, because that is a conversation to have before the glass is cut rather than after it is on site.

Safety glass, always Tempered or laminated to suit the application. Never annealed glass in a guard.
Structure checked first We look at what the panels are fixing into before quoting, not on install day.
Built to pass Heights, gaps and loads to the code your inspector actually enforces.

Where these go in

Stairs and landings

The most common request, and the one where glass earns its money. An open stairwell with glass guards keeps light moving through the middle of a house instead of stopping at a run of spindles.

Balconies and decks

Outside, where a solid guard would block the view you built the deck for. Exterior runs need hardware chosen for weather and a structure that will take wind load as well as people leaning on it.

Mezzanines and walkways

Commercial floors, mezzanine edges and walkway guards, where the run is long, the loads are higher and the inspection is stricter.

What glass railings cost

Priced per job after we have seen the run and what it fixes into. There is no useful per foot number for this, because the structure behind the glass moves the price as much as the glass does.

Every railing jobQuoted Priced after we measure the run

Free, in writing and itemised, so you can see what the glass costs and what the hardware costs rather than one figure.

What moves itFour things Length, mounting, glass, rail

How long the run is, which of the four mounting methods you choose, the glass thickness and type, and whether there is a top rail.

The one to check earlyStructure What it fixes into

Standoffs into a stringer that needs reinforcing turns a glass job into a carpentry job first. Better found at the quote than on install day.

Glass railing questions

How tall does a glass railing need to be?
For most residential guards the code minimum is 42 inches on decks and landings, and 36 inches applies in limited residential cases. Where the glass doubles as a handrail, the gripping surface has to sit between 34 and 38 inches above the walking surface. The exact figure depends on occupancy and the drop below, so it is checked against the code for your building, not assumed.
Do glass railings need a top rail?
It depends on how the glass is classified. Where the glass panel is the guard and there is no top rail, the code treats it as structural and demands laminated glass, so that if a layer breaks the interlayer holds the panel in place. A top rail changes the requirement because the rail retains the panel. This is the single most common thing people get wrong.
What is the code for tempered glass in a railing?
Glass in a handrail or guard has to be laminated, built from fully tempered or heat strengthened glass, and meet Category II impact under the CPSC standard. Tempered alone is not automatically enough for a guard, because tempered glass fails completely into fragments while laminated stays in the opening. That distinction is the whole point of the section.
What are common handrail code violations?
The recurring ones are height outside the 34 to 38 inch band, gaps that let a four inch sphere pass, a guard that will not take the required load, an ungraspable top rail profile, and a run that stops short of the top or bottom riser. On glass specifically, the usual failure is using monolithic tempered where laminated is required.
Are glass railings safe?
Yes, when they are specified and fixed correctly, which is what the code language above is for. The glass is laminated safety glass, not window glass, and the fixings have to be engineered for the load rather than chosen to look tidy. The failures you read about are almost always the wrong glass type or a base shoe that was never designed to carry the panel.
How much does a glass railing cost?
It is quoted per linear foot and it is not a cheap railing. Cost is driven by mounting method, whether the glass is laminated, panel size, and the hardware finish. A standoff or clamp system costs less than a full base shoe. We measure the run, confirm what the code requires for that location, then price it.

Get your run measured and your railing priced

Tell us where it is going and roughly how long the run is. We will come out, look at what it fixes into and put a number in writing.

Request a railing estimate Call (801) 678-5770

Also looking at interior glass? See glass partitions.