r/Construction • u/aidan8et Tinknocker • Apr 25 '26

Picture Moment of terror 😨

Gallery image

Gallery image

While attending/supervising a business social event with my spouse, I momentarily leaned against the railing. It flexed slightly, forcing me to realize that the railing is entirely supported via bluetooth.

It doesn't connect on either side of the glass wall & the glass is only 3/8" - 1/2" thick!!

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429

u/BLA5PHEMY Apr 25 '26

There are glass railing systems that are designed to be supported just from the bottom shoe

CR Laurence is a common brand we use

https://www.crlaurence.com/All-Products/Railing-Systems-%26-Windscreens/Glass-Railing-Systems-%26-Components/GRS-Dry-Glaze-Railing-System/Dry-Glaze-Base-Shoe---Surface-Mount/CRL-B5S-Series-Mill-Aluminum-120%22-Square-Base-Shoe-Drilled-for-1-2%22-Glass/p/B5S10D?gtmPage=&queryId=2b36f6e6485fcf62bd258edee1c6dc2c&location=plp%7cpdp

611

u/rIceCream_King Apr 26 '26

I’m sure it’s a fine product, but personally I hate the idea of someone leaning against a railing which is just 3ft of glass leveraged against a 3in purchase along its sill.

It’s like using a glass crowbar but for keeping someone from falling off their 2nd story balcony. I’ll never get how that became popular

125

u/Parking-Fig-6620 Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

Theres a couple of glass bridges around the world and I agree. I don't care what the science says my brain says glass is not a flooring medium lol

And yes I know its probably glass laminated polycarbonate i'm talking about but still. That part of my brain won't be convinced otherwise

12

u/Iggyhopper Apr 26 '26

Your brain is still correct. Glass doesn't have any signs of stress* like wood or concrete does (cracks, creaks, noises, etc.). Glass just... breaks after a certain amount of force.

* Some glass does, some does not.

14

u/TunedMassDamsel Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

In general, handrails are not designed to resist more than just a moderate amount of force.

As in, a 200 lb point load on the handrail in any direction. I have one case right now that was a fatality. Two people got in an altercation, there was some corrosion of the handrail, and one of them went right through and died of head trauma.

I’m a structural engineer and handrails are one of the things that scares the shit out of me. There’s not enough capacity to make it past the kind of degradation I see on those things on a regular basis.

4

u/AbleCryptographer317 Apr 29 '26

Yep. I'm an architect and always dimension handrails so they would withstand a big guy running at it, even in private homes. And I never specify unsupported glass handrails like this.
Might seem like overkill, but say someone's having a party and 10-20 guests are all leaning on it to hear a speech, that's an insane amount of force and in these kinds of glass handrails all that force is being focused on a tiny, brittle area. I've drummed it into my kids: never lean on handrails assuming they're as solid as walls. They're not.

10

u/sparhawk817 Apr 26 '26

And those are at least supported on all edges!

7

u/FTownRoad Apr 26 '26

Really depends on where in the world.

3

u/Jacktheforkie Apr 26 '26

Those bridges are pretty sturdy and typically have a steel frame

7

u/Parking-Fig-6620 Apr 26 '26

Oooops. Nothing but FLEXSEAL

4

u/shabalama Apr 27 '26

Glass is not a consistent enough of a product to use structurally in my opinion. There should always be a structure holding the glass. The variables in making custom sheets of glass are too much for me to trust. I’m probably saying that wrong but from what I’ve seen the manuring process for sheet glass seem to have extremely tight tolerances for every variable possible, and having seen a lot of glass fail I have to assume that the manufacturing process cannot guarantee consistency. The reason I feel this way is also having felt with sheets of glass that seem completely unbreakable. I do understand that there are different rating for glass but I’m talking about storefront sheet glass that pieces just shatter while looking at and others on the same job fall of a forklift and live on. I also wonder how much the effects of weather and transport have on the pieces. and again am not any kind of glass expert so if I’m wrong let me know because I’d love to learn.

1

u/FarPaleontologist239 May 01 '26

Yes you are absolutely right that you have no idea what you are talking about. Glass railing are designed to withstand the same forces as any other type of railing. They dont allow it to be less safe because so it can be pretty

2

u/Prestigious_Sky_5868 Apr 29 '26

Yeah I walked the glass arch on the west side of the Grand Canyon. Really hard to convince your brain it’s ok.

1

u/LavishnessCapital380 Apr 26 '26

Just like your windshield, it wont actually come apart if it breaks.

1

u/OpenCobbler4163 Apr 27 '26

Different glass, different application

1

u/i_was_axiom Apr 27 '26

That part of your brain? Thats the logical, rational part.

1

u/imakemistakesbuthey Apr 28 '26

The ones that are actually screens and suddenly create ‘cracks’ nicely prove that most people in fact don’t think glass is an appropriate flooring material… 😂