25.5mm Walk-On Glass Floor with Steel Frame

25.5mm walk-on glass floor supplied complete with a steel frame. Two 12mm toughened panes bonded together, seated in a frame made in our Sheffield workshop, with a 50mm painted black border included as standard.

This is our lightest framed build, for domestic use and smaller openings. Sizes here stop at 1000mm on the short side, because above roughly 1000 x 1000mm we would move you to the 31.5mm or 33mm framed unit even where 25.5mm technically works. If you already have an opening to seat glass into, buy the glass on its own.

This is also the unit for a square or rectangular well cover, or a straight sided light well. A well cover over a straight sided opening is a framed walk-on glass floor, which is why it sits here rather than as a separate product.

What you get

• 25.5mm toughened and laminated glass, polished edges, 5mm radius to each corner
• 50mm painted black border, set between the laminated layers so it cannot wear off
• Steel frame in your choice of type and finish, with seating rubbers to buffer the glass
• Silicone sealing available on frames A and B
• A drawing to check and sign off before anything is made

Which frame style do you need?

Most people choose Frame A, and it is where to start. The typical detail drawing linked above shows all three sections, and our buying guide sets the choice out in full.

• Frame A sits around and over the opening, so you can tile or floor up to it for a flush, floor level finish. It is self supporting and relies on no fixings at all. The only requirement is that you have enough build-up of flooring to accommodate it, 35 to 40mm minimum, so the glass finishes flush with floor level. Order your hole size plus 100mm.
• Frame B is what you use when you do not have that build-up, so it is more of a retrofit, with the existing flooring already in place. It drops into the opening and takes its support from the surrounding floor, and there is only a 5mm perimeter ledge to build in. Some people do not build that ledge in, which leaves the frame standing about 5mm proud as a trip ledge, so it is not recommended in a busy walkway. Order your hole size.
• Frame C bolts inside the opening and lets you raise or lower the height within the aperture as required. It requires the opening to be suitable to fix to, and it relies on fixings entirely, which is why it is the least recommended of the three. Order your hole size.

Sealed or loose?

The glass can be supplied either loose or fully sealed into the frame (frames A and B, but not Frame C, because on Frame C the seal would be made against the fixing surface of the aperture rather than against the frame itself). We suggest sealing it. Left as an open gap it is unsightly and it becomes a dust and moisture trap, and for the occasional maintenance job, cutting the seal out and resealing afterwards, that is manageable. Sealing, and getting a sealed panel back off again, is covered in our glass well cover FAQ.

Choose powdercoated for internal, dry use, and galvanised and powdercoated for external or damp internal use. Powder coating is black as standard. Other RAL colours are available at no extra cost, so please ask before you order.

Untreated raw steel is the cheapest option and is supplied bare, for internal, dry use only. It will rust if left as it is, so it must be primed and painted on site before the floor is closed up. For anything external, or in a damp or unheated space, choose a galvanised and powdercoated frame.

Options

Invisible non-slip treatment and Ritec ClearShield are chosen with the size. Wider borders and frosted borders are available on request. Holes, notches, cut-outs and non-standard shapes are priced individually, so tell us what you need before you order and we will price it. What each option does, and how thickness relates to span, is set out in our walk-on glass floor buying guide.

The invisible non-slip coating reaches a Pendulum Test Value (PTV) of 68, well above the 36 needed to rate as low slip risk in the dry. It improves grip on wet glass but does not remove the risk, so wet glass remains a slip hazard. The coating is at its most effective in dry conditions. The full wet and dry pendulum figures, and what the treatment can and cannot be applied to, are on our anti-slip glass treatment page.

Certification and loading

Our steel frameworks are structurally rated and UKCA marked to BS EN 1090-2, the legal requirement for structural steelwork. The glass is designed to the domestic (Category A) floor loadings in the UK National Annex to BS EN 1991-1-1:2002: 1.5kN/m² uniformly distributed and 2.0kN concentrated. For what building control will look for, see our glass floor building regulations guide.

Furniture is a separate question from foot traffic. We do not recommend standing chairs or tables on floor glass, and we do not advise on whether a particular piece is acceptable on a particular panel. Our buying guide explains why, and what to do if it is going on the glass anyway.

For a round well or light well, see our glass well covers. If you need an opening you can get down through, see our hinged glass floor and wine cellar doors.

Guidance here is offered in good faith to help you order the right thing. It is not a structural specification. Suitability for your opening remains with you, your engineer or your building control body. The full note is in the buying guide.