Cedar Posts Glass Panels

I have 4' Cedar Posts using Titan Post Anchor which will be 51" apart.

Glass is tempered 12mm 39"x52". I intend to have a topless rail (edge of glass) and ideally no bottom rail.

I was planing to slot the Posts and silicone the glass.

How deep/wide for the slots (room for silicone?) Do I add a bottom bracket (size?)

If necessary should I slot a bottom rail for support (2x4 Cedar on edge with Titan bracket cut at top for glass to slot into post)

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Aug 29, 2012
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Well it's done
by: Anonymous

Thanks for the information.

I used a Titan Post Anchorsystem on the 4x4 posts which has a steel tube up the center flanked by 4 long lag bolts and is then attached to the blocked deck with 8 #14 3.5" screws. The two end posts also have a wood railing attached at 90°
The slots are 0.5" deep and have a 1" block of hardwood as a bottom bracket. The glass was seated in silicone.

The bottom has little chance of failure and although there is some possible movement at the top it seems little more than what would be needed for expansion and contraction. I could possibly add some corner round if it seems to be needed.

Aug 29, 2012
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Here are some building considerations to think of
by: Editor-Rich Bergman

If you are planning this kind of railing I would groove the post no more than 3/4" so you leave enough wood around the outside of the inner tube. That means if you are using a 52" panel the post faces will be 50.5" apart.

The only thing I would add to this design concept is in relation to our building code engineering. We have done extensive engineering for North American residential applications but based on the more common design using 2x4 top and bottom rails and a flat 2x4 cap rail.

This does have implications to the final load resistance of the entire guard rail which is what we test for. The top rails provide tension resistance between one post to the next and this in turn reduces or eliminates that amount that any one post may deflect outside the vertical plane of the rail section.

If one post deflects to far, it is conceivable that a glass panel could pop out and lead to complete failure of the rail. This is why one usually sees a "rail less" glass railing using aluminum posts. The top end performance of a metal post can be made higher.

If however 6x6 posts were used there would be very little or no risk of this occurring. However you may not want a 5.5" wide post and prefer the narrower 3.5" post look.

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