Tempered Glass Decking Panels

Always use tempered glass for glass deck railing panels, or better yet, laminated tempered glass for added safety. Using anything less than tempered glass poses a hazard if someone bumps into the glass and it shatters, leaving sharp edges. Other common potential hazards that could shatter non-tempered glass are from thrown balls or toys, or if a bird were to fly into the glass panel.

3/8” clear panels are the most popular but some people use ½” for longer spans or ¼” for shorter spans. Check with your local building department for local requirements. You can also use our glass weight load calculator to see the relative strengths of glass panels for various spans and thicknesses of glass.

Tempered glass is stronger than standard glass and does not shatter into large shards when broken. Tempered glass is often used in applications where using standard glass could pose a potential danger. Manufactured through a process of extreme heating and rapid cooling, tempered glass is much harder and stronger than normal glass.

Tempered laminated glass is a hybrid of two strong types of glass:

• Laminated glass, which consists of two glass panes with a thin, clear vinyl layer in-between that prevents the glass from shattering on impact.
• Tempered glass, which has been heat-treated to make it harder and more durable than standard glass.

When cleaning your glass decking panels, choose a good quality glass cleaner that will not leave unsightly streaks. Use a lint-free cloth, or better yet, some crumpled newspaper or coffee filters, to wipe down the glass, taking care not to use too much of the cleaner.

If the glass is framed by wood or other non-glass material, do your best to keep the glass cleaner on the glass so you don’t ruin non-glass material. Two popular products for cleaning glass include Windex and the powdered version of Bar Keepers Friend cleaner (which also works great on other various household surfaces.) Another great and chemical-free option would be to use a polishing microfiber cloth designed specifically for cleaning glass surfaces with a water spray bottle.

The industry-wide accepted tolerance on 1/8″, 3/16″, and 1/4″ is +/- 1/16″. This includes side shift on laminated products. The industry-wide accepted tolerance on 3/8″ and 1/2″, +/- 1/8″. This includes side shift on laminated products.

Glass thicknesses are shown as a Nominal Thickness, meaning “in name only”, used solely for identification. These are commonly listed as 1/8″, 5/32″, 1/8″, 3/16″, 1/4″, 3/8″, and 1/2″. The nominal size may not match the exact thickness but will be within the acceptable industry-wide thickness range and can correspond to a large number of highly standardized dimensions and tolerances.