Cavity Wall Parapet Balcony

Cavity Wall Parapet Glass Balcony Balustrade

“Installing a glass balustrade to the top of a cavity wall, capped with coping stones can prove difficult and without the correct solution, extremely dangerous- this blog features a glass balcony installed to a cavity, in a fully structurally approved design….”

The construction of most brick walls is the same; single skin brickwork outer wall, cavity void, blockwork inner wall and topped with coping stones or capping profiles. Unfortunately this poses an installation puzzle not only for retro-fitted balustrades and ‘DIY extensions’ but this type of wall is also often drawn by architects with a glass balustrade and with no real consideration of how the balustrade might attach; since installing a balustrade bolted to only the coping stones would not be safe.

Any glass balustrade system will only ever be as strong as what it is fixed to, so to achieve the loading requirements set out in BS6180 (0.74kN for an external domestic application) at 1100mm high when fixed to a cavity wall, the balustrade system should be proven by a structural engineer.

The only workable solution, where no other provision has been made for balustrade attachment, is to transfer all the load through a substantial handrail which is in turn bolted back to the main structure of the building. The example below for our client Lee in Sheffield illustrates a typical design for such a glass balustrade.

The base plates mounted on the coping stones serve merely to support the weight of the balcony structure with the heavy duty 100 x 50mm box section handrail taking the full load, transferred through fully welded corners and bolted back to the house.

DioMet provided a full service of survey, design and installation of this glass parapet balcony balustrade. We manufacture in our own workshops from locally sourced materials and only ever use our own fitters, never subcontractors.

Contact us with your parapet cavity wall balcony or glass balustrade requirements on 0114 243 9009 or email us sales@diometonline.co.uk