Tinted Grey Glass Balustrade & Matching Glass Gate — Barnsley, South Yorkshire

A residential client near Barnsley had a raised deck wrapping two sides of a stone-built house, standing well above the drive below. The guarding needed to be safe, obviously, but it also had to look like part of the building rather than an afterthought bolted to the edge. The answer was around 13.7 metres of stainless steel and glass balustrade, glazed in grey tinted toughened glass, with a matching lockable glass gate at the head of the steps.

Project Overview

• Client type: Residential
• Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• System: Stainless Steel Glass Balustrade System 1
• Material and finish: 316 grade stainless steel, satin brushed polish
• Glass: 10mm toughened, grey tinted. 6mm toughened in the gate leaf
• Posts: 48mm diameter tube on 120mm base plates with 125mm cover roses
• Handrail: 42mm diameter tube, pre-drilled, tapped and jointed
• Height: 1110mm overall
• Extent: Approximately 13.7m across three sides, plus an 845mm lockable glass gate
• Scope: Survey, supply and install, by our own team
• Standard: UKCA marked, fabricated to BS EN 1090-2, execution class EXC2, method 3b

Why grey tinted glass

Most glass balustrades leave our Sheffield factory in clear glass, and a good number in frosted. Grey tint is the option people forget we do, even though we sell it as a panel in its own right: grey smoked tinted toughened glass, cut to your sizes like anything else we make. On this house it was the right call.

Tinted glass takes the glare off a deck that catches the sun, sits far more comfortably against dark composite decking and coursed stone than clear glass does, and gives a degree of privacy from the drive and the neighbouring plots without closing the view down. It is also more forgiving day to day: rain spotting, dust and fingerprints show up much less on a tinted pane than on a clear one, which matters on a balustrade nobody wants to be cleaning every fortnight.

The colour is in the glass itself rather than a film applied to the surface, so there is nothing to peel, bubble or fade. It is toughened in the same way as our clear glass and behaves the same way structurally. The only real trade-off is that a tint is a decision you live with: it cannot be changed later without changing the panels.

You can also buy the glass on its own if you are building something yourself. Grey smoked tinted toughened panels are cut to your sizes, and sit alongside clear, frosted, low iron and bronze tinted in our toughened glass range. If you want something the shop does not show, ask anyway. We are a fabricator with our own factory rather than a box shifter, so curves, rakes, non-standard heights and any RAL colour on a powder coated system are all normal work here.

The matching glass gate

The deck is reached by a flight of steps, so the run needed an opening. A gap in a balustrade is easy. A gate that looks like it belongs to the balustrade either side of it is the harder part, and it is the detail people notice.

The leaf is 845mm wide and 1100mm high, framed in the same 316 satin stainless as the posts and handrail, glazed with the same grey tint, and closed with a magnetic lockable latch. It is glazed in 6mm rather than 10mm, deliberately. A gate carries its whole weight on one hinge post every time it swings, and every kilogram of glass in the leaf is a kilogram working on that post for the life of the gate. Dropping the glass thickness in the leaf takes weight out where it does the most harm, which is why the gate opens smoothly now and should still be doing so in fifteen years.

Worth saying plainly: a gate is not structural guarding. It fills an opening and it stops a child or a dog wandering to the top of the steps, but the balustrade either side of it is what does the structural work. We build them accordingly.

We do not advertise glass gates as a stand-alone product, and we probably should, because we are asked for them constantly. If you have a balustrade run with a gap in it, we can make a matching gate for it. You will find our standard railings and gates range on the site, but a gate to match a glass balustrade is made to the opening every time.

How the balustrade is built

The main run is 7 metres, with returns of roughly 3.3 metres on each side, so the deck is guarded on three sides. Posts sit at 1134mm centres on 120mm base plates, top fixed through the deck and finished with a 125mm cover rose so no fixings are on show. The 42mm handrail is pre-drilled, tapped and cut to length in Sheffield with a jointed connection part way along the long run, which is how a 7 metre handrail gets to site in one piece of thinking and goes together in one piece on the deck.

Overall height is 1110mm. External guarding on a raised deck is normally taken as 1100mm, and we build to 1110mm as a matter of course so there is a margin rather than a coin toss when somebody puts a tape on it. The glass sits with a 75mm gap at the bottom and 75mm between the top edge and the handrail, both comfortably inside the 100mm sphere rule.

The steelwork is 316 grade stainless, which is what we use on anything external without exception, and it is UKCA marked and fabricated to BS EN 1090-2. Ask any fabricator for the Declaration of Performance that goes with structural steelwork. A legitimate one sends it without being chased.

Toughened or laminated?

This system has a continuous 42mm handrail running the full length, which is why the glass is toughened rather than laminated. Where a handrail carries the top of the balustrade, the barrier survives a broken pane. In a frameless system with no top rail, the glass is the entire barrier, so it has to be laminated to stay in place after breakage. Two different jobs, two different specifications, and the one you need depends on the design rather than on which is better in the abstract. Our glass balustrade building regulations guide goes into this properly.

If there is any doubt about what applies to your building, ask your building control officer before the glass is ordered. We can build to whatever specification is required, and regularly do, but the decision on what a particular building has to comply with is theirs to make and not ours to assert.

Expert insight

"Tinted glass is one of those specifications people talk themselves out of, usually because they have only ever seen clear on a brochure. On a deck that catches the sun and sits above a drive, the tint earns its place three times over: less glare, less cleaning, and it stops the balustrade looking like a bolt-on. The gate is the same idea. Anyone can leave a gap. Making the gap look deliberate is the job."

Frequently asked questions

Can you make a glass gate to match an existing balustrade?

Usually yes, and we do it often. We need to know the system, the post diameter, the finish and the glass specification, and a photograph of the run is worth ten emails. Gates are made to the opening rather than to a stock size, so a survey or an accurate set of dimensions is the starting point.

Does tinted glass cost more than clear?

You can price the glass itself on our grey smoked tinted toughened glass page, where panels are made to your sizes. As part of a balustrade it is priced per job rather than off a shelf. Bespoke rarely costs dramatically more with us, because the panels are made to your sizes either way. Complexity is what moves a price, not the fact that something is bespoke. Ring us on 0114 243 9009 with your sizes and we will tell you where it lands.

How high does a balustrade on a raised deck need to be?

External guarding to a dwelling is normally taken as 1100mm above finished floor level, and we build to 1110mm to leave a margin. Gaps are kept so a 100mm sphere cannot pass through. What your particular deck needs is a question for your building control officer, and it is worth asking before anything is ordered. There is more detail in our glass balustrade building regulations guide.

Why 316 stainless and not 304?

316 is the grade we use on every external job, coastal or not. It handles rain, road salt and general British weather far better than 304 and it stays looking like stainless rather than developing rust spotting a couple of winters in. On coastal sites we would also suggest the mirror polished version of System 1, because the smoother surface gives salt less to sit in.

Do you install outside Sheffield?

Yes, nationwide, and with our own installers rather than subcontracted fitters. Barnsley is on our doorstep, but we survey, manufacture and install the length of the country from the same factory. You can also buy System 1 supply only if you have a competent fitter: posts arrive fully assembled with base plates, caps and clamps on, and handrails come pre-drilled, tapped and cut to length.

Explore more

Related products

• Stainless Steel Glass Balustrade System 1, the system used here, from £280 per metre
• Stainless Steel Glass Balustrade System 1, Mirror Polish
• Powdercoated Steel Glass Balustrade with Iroko Handrail, System 5
• Grey Smoked Tinted Toughened Glass Panels, the glass used here, cut to size
• Glass clamps and balustrade fittings
• All metal and glass balustrades

Similar projects

• Side-Mounted Glass Balustrade & Privacy Screen, Oughtibridge, another System 1 installation
• Base Channel Frameless Balustrade, Thurgoland, Barnsley, the frameless alternative a few miles away
• Frameless Glass Decking Balustrade, Sheffield
• View all our bespoke projects

Helpful guides

• Glass Balustrade Building Regulations UK
• How to Choose a Glass Balustrade System
• All Dio-Met building guides

Thinking about something similar?

Call us on 0114 243 9009 or email sales@diometonline.co.uk. Send a photograph of the run and a rough length and we can usually give you a price the same day.

Set sizes and per-metre prices for System 1 and the rest of the range are on the balustrades pages, from £280 per metre. Tinted or coloured glass, matching gates, curved runs and installation are all priced per job, so those need a quick call.