Hinged Glass Floor Hatch - Basement & Cellar Door - Ring Pull Handle

Hinged Glass Wine Cellar Door (Ring Pull Handle)

A walk-on glass floor hatch that opens on gas struts to reach the cellar, basement or storage below. This is our original design, with flush-fitting ring pull handles that sit level with the glass and fold up when you need to lift. It is part of our wine cellar glass door range, made to order in our Sheffield workshop. Prefer no visible handle? See the streamline handle version.

Why the ring pull handle

The ring pull is the original and still a favourite. The rings sit flush in the glass, so nothing stands proud of the floor to catch a toe or a mop, then fold up to give a solid, positive grip when you lift, which is welcome on a larger or heavier hatch. If you would rather see no handle at all, the streamline version uses a concealed lift instead. Same frame, same glass, same certification, just a different way to open it.

Built to your opening

We make each hatch to your exact opening. The walk-on glass sits sealed inside a powdercoated steel frame, and gas struts carry the weight so it lifts easily and settles back slowly and safely. The frame is designed to sit over the opening on every side, which makes it self-supporting and leaves a little tolerance for a tidy fit. Send us the true size of the floor recess and we will draw the hatch up from your figures for you to approve before we cut any steel. Ask for a typical detail up front if it helps you plan the opening.

Lead time is usually 6 to 12 weeks from drawing approval depending on the options chosen, with economy and DioMet Express options. Need one sooner? Look at our stock hinged glass floors, or move up to a fully electric, motorised hinged floor for hands-free opening.

Maximum size

We make these up to 2000mm on the hinged (longer) side and 1000mm on the shorter side. If you need to span further than that, the electric version goes to 2300mm long.

Supplied as one finished hatch, ready to fit

This is not a flat-pack. It leaves our workshop as one finished hatch, with the glass bonded into the frame and the hinges, gas struts, ring pull handles and lock all fitted. It arrives ready to set straight into your prepared opening. Each hatch includes:

• 25.5mm toughened and laminated structural safety glass panel, sealed into the frame
• Powdercoated black steel framework with hinged, gas-strut opening mechanism
• Black steel framing with back-painted black glass borders (other colours on request)
• Flush-fitting ring pull handles, factory-fitted
• Discreet lock with star key for security
• Optional non-slip treatment, invisible to the eye and lasting around five years

Grip you can count on

The optional non-slip finish is a clear chemical treatment, so you cannot see it on the glass, yet it measures a Pendulum Test Value (PTV) of 68 against the 36 usually needed to rate as low slip risk in the dry. Our walk-on glass care guide explains how it works and how to look after it.

Where they suit

These hatches are made for reaching a cellar, basement, wine store or under-floor storage, not as the main way in and out of a lived-in room, so weigh up the use and manage any risk on that basis. The frames are not watertight, not airtight and not fire-rated either, so as supplied they belong in internal, dry spots. An upgraded specification for external use can be made by custom request, and it is still not watertight.

Certifications and standards

Every steel framework is UKCA marked to BS EN 1090-2, a legal requirement and one not every supplier actually meets. The glass is engineered for the domestic (Category A) floor loadings set in the UK National Annex to BS EN 1991-1-1:2002, a 1.5kN/sqm distributed load and a 2.0kN point load, and the hatches are structurally approved for domestic use. Glass thickness can change with the size, position, building use and how it is supported, so check with a structural glass engineer if you are unsure; meeting your own building control sign-off stays with you. There is more in our glass floor building regulations guide.

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

International delivery

We ship these worldwide. Because every unit is made to measure and supplied fully assembled, delivery abroad is quoted per order: send us your sizes and delivery address and we will price the crating and freight to suit. Our finished units crate and travel well, as our 5-metre glass floor wine cellar hatch shipped to Norway and wine cellar doors supplied to the USA show.

Other options and help

Prefer a handle-free look? See the streamline handle version. We also make circular spiral wine cellar doors and the electric motorised version. On lead times and priority orders, see DioMet Express, read the hinged glass floor FAQ, or contact us for a bespoke variation.

New to these? Our guide to glass wine cellar doors walks through how they are built, gas strut versus electric, glass thickness, anti-slip and what building control asks.

Operated from above. A manual door cannot be opened from the cellar below, so it should never be closed behind anyone unless there is another way out. It is not a means of escape. Guarding around the open opening is not supplied, so managing the open void while the door is up is the owner's responsibility. Our wine cellar door FAQ covers both points in full.

Not watertight and not airtight. No version of this unit is sealed against water or air. As supplied they are for dry internal use. An upgraded specification for external use can be made by custom request, and it is still not watertight.