The Hidden Downsides Of Beautiful Glass Stair Railings

Glass stair railings are a good option to update your boring staircase and breathe new life into it. Better yet, they blend with varied architectural designs, seamlessly tying up the decor elements and improving your home's sight lines. These railings are functional, too. Being transparent, they let in natural light to illuminate the steps well, reducing the need for artificial light fixtures and minimizing instances of accidental falls or slips. While these characteristics might make them seem ideal for your staircase, they aren't without their fair share of downsides. For starters, you'll have to clean the railings often to preserve their beauty, or you'll be left with an eyesore.

Another significant con is that the glass stair railings come with a hefty price tag. In other words, they're more expensive than their aluminum and cable contemporaries. You'll also have to pay for the customization of the panels and expert installation. Despite being tough, the glass might also develop scratches if handled carelessly.

As mentioned, glass stair railings are incredibly expensive. To put this into perspective, you can expect to pay anywhere between $150 and $850 for a linear foot. Or $500 per linear foot, on average. As a staircase railing is at least nine to 12 feet long, you can simply multiply the costs, but a conservative estimate would be $7,000 to $12,000. You'll be spending this amount on the material cost alone. Opting for a glass stair banister will add another $15 to $30 per linear foot to the costs.

Since the installation isn't DIY-friendly and requires a professional touch, you'll have to contend with high installation costs. Each staircase panel must be estimated and cut to the exact length of the panel through CAD (computer-aided design). Though the process seems fairly straightforward, designing customized stair railings is more complex as the fixture must adhere to the staircase's ascending angle. Curved, floating, staircases with multiple landings, and other elaborate designs make installation more convoluted. So, expect to shell out $500 to $850 per linear foot for labor costs, or at least $3,000 to $5,000 for the installation. All in all, glass stair railings would cost in the range of $10,000 to $17,000.

Glass stair railings are prized for their look, so you'll have to take special care of the panels to get rid of the unsightly fingerprints and smudges, especially if you install a glass stair banister to complete the look. Worse, you'll have to clean the railings more often if you have children or pets in the house. While the cleaning process is fairly simple, the large surface area will take up a lot of your time and require significant elbow grease. 

You'll also need to be careful when cleaning and moving around these railings, as contact with sharp items will give way to scratches over time. Prevent mischievous kids from using the railing as their personal F1 racetrack, and discourage your four-legged family member from clambering up the glass to keep the scratches to a minimum. Glass's transparent nature is a point of concern, too. You'll appreciate the uninterrupted view if you want to keep an eye on your kids or fur babies and monitor them constantly. Otherwise, it'll infringe on your privacy. If you're particular about your privacy and don't want constant eyes on you wherever you go, you'll have to place deliberate obstructors, like tall plants (live or fake), or go for frosted glass panels to keep out intruders.