Accessibility 
Innovate Building Solutions
Glass Floors & Stairs
Glass floor landing, staircase and deck designs provide an exciting combination of style and function. They can make a dramatic impression in home, commercial or retail space. Structural glass floors and stair treads add light to lower level spaces and give a sense of ‘wow’ to any interior or exterior. Innovate structural glass floor systems not only include the glass planks or pavers you need – but also the aluminum framing or brackets to support your glass.
Sizes, Patterns & Frame Options
- Glass units can range in size from 12″ square to 48″ square. Flooring pieces are made into various shapes including rectangles, angles, circles etc.
- Custom glass shapes can be created up to 16 square feet in area per unit. Floors can be made much larger than 16 square feet with the proper supporting structure.
- Slip resistance is achieved through the use of a ceramic based “frit” which is permanently heat fused to the walking surface. There are 4 standard “frit” patterns – but custom patterns are also available. For the most sight through the floor consider using the “horizontal perforation” or Industrial looking “boiler plate” patterns. For maximum slip resistance the “dot” and “mezzo” patterns are best.
- Translucent patterns are available using a fully etched obscurity frit or a satin etch finish. Technographic interlayers can be added with your custom designs.
- Aluminum grids comes in a standard clear anodized finish or custom color are also available.
Glass Staircase and Stair Treads
The GlassWalk ST system can accommodate glass stair tread spans up to 48″ with supports on only 2 sides. This system uses a 3 ply stair tread which is 1.325″ thick. The treads are made with ceramic frit baked on the walking surface to maximize slip resistance. There are choices of stair patterns to choose from. The steps can either use see-through (clear) or acid etched (obscure high privacy) glass.
Glass Block Paver Floors
1″ thick solid glass pavers and glass block walkways are available and designed into an aluminum grid system and fabricated into concrete panels. The solid glass paver system uses an aluminum grid and a neoprene (rubber) boot which encloses the sides and bottom edges of the paver to provide a cushion between the glass and aluminum structure. Silicone sealant is applied to the small channel around each individual paver. The system comes complete with the perimeter pieces, spanning members, spacer members, paver boots, paver units, and sealant. Hollow glass block systems are available for water resistant and waterproof applications.
Sizes & Options
8″ x 8″ x 1′ solid glass paver units.
Where to use Structural Glass Floor Panels and Stair Treads?
Common places where glass floors and staircases are used include:
- Malls, shopping centers for pedestrian walkways
- Medical centers or hospitals
- Contemporary or traditional residential homes
- Town & civic centers
- Schools, universities and hospitals
- Courthouses, municipal buildings, and justice centers and mass transit systems
- Commercial buildings
- Museums
- Exterior and interior water features
The perimeter members (these are the aluminum pieces around the outside edge) are put into place into a prepared opening.
Install the spanning members for the first row and then spacer as needed.
Apply pre-cut extruded silicone cushions to the sides of each grid before setting the structural glass floor planks in place. Mask the edges of each glass panel to prevent damage and assure a neat installation.
Install glass panels
Apply silicone sealant around each structural glass panel.
Frequently Asked Questions About Glass Floors & Stairs
Yes – when you use an obscure (acid etched) glass floor or a sandblasted or obscure glass paver block there will be no ability for someone below to see through the glass floor above (yet light will still move through the flooring system).
The glass floor or paver system is designed with the glass and aluminum support structure to accommodate weight loads of up to 2,000 lbs in a 4′ x 4′ area (with no movement). Therefore, the chance of the floor breaking from weight is extremely remote (as a matter of face glass dance floors have many people on them at one time).
Since the structural glass floor planks comes in larger pieces than the 8″ x 8″ x 1″ glass pavers they provide more light since there is less framing between the glass units.
Structural glass floors are made with glass ceramic frit pattern on the top surface to minimize any chance of slipping. Glass pavers have an anti-skid pattern designed and manufactured into the top.
Absolutely- illumination under a glass floor creates the ultimate wow factor. Customers have used LED, florescent and low voltage lighting to make the glass floor a dramatic feature – during the day and during the night.
Structural glass pieces can be made in virtually any size or shape, although the heaviest panel is usually limited to 300 lbs (or about 26 square feet of area). Lengths and widths of the panels are varied depending on recommendations from the engineering team. Glass pavers come in one size – 8″ x 8″ x 1″.
Our glass is a hard surface which is scratch resistant by design, however it is possible to scratch. To minimize the effects of scratching a ceramic glass frit surface is used on the top of the floor or stair treads.
These units weight 11.7 lbs per square foot. So a 2′ x 3′ section (6 square feet x 11.7) would weight about 70 lbs.
Specially designed aluminum brackets provide the perfect place to house these durable, yet stylish glass staircase treads.
