There’s no denying the charm and elegance of glass balustrade balcony railings. They’re integral to contemporary Australian architecture; and the frameless spigots used to support them have evolved to be regarded as architectural masterpieces in their own right.

Like the glass panels they’re designed to hold in place, spigots help convey a feeling of airy spaciousness. Crucially though, they’re also responsible for the balustrade’s stability. A mounting or securing problem, or even a hairline fracture in a single spigot can result in a balcony’s entire railing system failing catastrophically. That’s why the best way to safely optimise the wide-open perspective a glass balustrade has to offer is by insisting on only top-tier spigots as part of their installation.

Making the Grade With Cutting Edge Glass Spigots

From their sleek minimalist design, to their ability to resist severe lateral and point loading pressures, premium quality glass spigots are as essential for safely mounting glass balustrades as they are for enhancing their exceptional appearance. 

Although it goes without saying that the glass panels used in a balustrade are expected to withstand a wide range of potentially dangerous influences, it’s the spigots that are tasked with ensuring everything remains solidly anchored. Their strength, rigidity and corrosion-resistance are counted on to counter a wide array of balustrade stresses, including:

• Impact stresses. Glass balustrades are routinely bombarded by impacts from pedestrians and other types of airborne debris. High quality spigots are designed to absorb these sudden spikes in lateral and point load stresses without transferring them to the nearest point where they’re attached to the glass.
• Wind loading stresses. The lateral stresses created by gradient or gusting winds pushing against balustrade panels are transferred directly to where the glass is attached to the spigot. That’s why they’re engineered to absorb severe bending motions without pulling loose from the balcony or breaking the glass.
• Thermal stresses. While glass panels and spigots naturally expand and contract with temperature changes, they invariably don’t do it at the same rate. This can result in significant shearing stresses that the friction fittings used inside glass spigots are designed to mitigate.
• Mechanical stresses. Excessive balcony loading, structural changes and even overtightening are all unanticipated mechanical stresses that spigots are prone to. While there’s nothing that can be done to control balcony movements and vibrations, a well-designed glass spigot is capable of providing just enough deflection to prevent a stressed panel from breaking.
• Environmental stresses. The longterm effects of moisture, and UV and chemical exposure will all have a weakening effect on a poorly crafted spigot. High performance stainless steel spigots, however, excel at resisting the damages that can occur due to UV and chemical exposure, including pitting and other types of galvanic reactions.

Make no mistake: while glass balustrade spigots are central to the sophistication of floating glass railings, it’s their ability to reduce damaging glass panel stresses that makes them so desirable. And there’s a broad selection of smooth, cutting-edge glass spigots available for any type of installation, decor or glass type an architect can imagine.

Which Mounting Type To Look For In High Performance Spigots

While there’s no shortage of glass balustrade spigot styles and designs for everything from luxurious indoor balcony railings to all-weather outdoor pool fences, there are really only three main spigot types. Safety and structural stability are the focal points of each type though, which is why the most defining feature of glass spigots are their mounting methods.

• Face/side mounted spigots. Face mounted balustrade spigots, also called side mounted balustrades, are U-shaped fixtures designed to support glass panels in thicknesses to 12mm, that are attached to the outer faces of balconies instead of their top surfaces. Their slotted attaching arrangement offers clean mounting lines that don’t require mounting plates or core drilling, giving every installation an ultra-conservative appearance.
• Top mounted spigots. Top mounted spigots are designed to support glass panels with thicknesses from 12mm – 18mm, and are attached to the top surface of a balcony with the aide of a mounting plate. Top spigots often feature levelling screws that allow installers to ensure every panel is ideally aligned and free from unwanted mechanical stresses, regardless of whether the mounting surface is level or not.
• Core-style mounting spigots. With the ability to accomodate glass panels from 15mm – 18mm, core-style glass spigots are the most robust panel fixtures available. These spigots are designed to fit solidly into holes cored into the top of the balcony and held in place with concrete fixing hardware, making them the perfect combination of low visibility and maximum holding strength.

And because a spigot’s strength, and ultimately its reliability, relies heavily on the material it’s made from, modern glass spigots for sale make extensive use of one of the strongest, yet most cost effective materials available: stainless steel.

Stainless Steel Makes the Difference in Spigot Stability

Architects, designers and even facility engineers don’t have to think too long about why the glass spigots Australia favours the most are manufactured from stainless steel. From its unmatched durability to its amazingly low maintenance costs, no other material ticks off as many boxes as stainless steel. More specifically, as concerns over the tensioning, bending and shearing forces exuded on glass balustrade panels affect spigot manufacturer design approaches, only stainless steel addresses those concerns with resounding efficiency.

Instead of ordinary 316 stainless, today’s top quality balustrade spigot fixing assemblies are constructed from duplex marine-grade 2205 stainless. This high performance stainless steel is highly recognised for its exceptional strength and durability, and offers an array of long-lasting attributes that include:

• As much as 22% chromium and 3% molybdenum content, delivering exceptional resistance to oxidation, corrosion and chemical exposure;
• Exceptionally high mechanical strength, with a minimum yield strength of 65,000 psi; and,
• A higher strength to weight ratio than earlier generations of spigots for glass balustrade railings, allowing for a fixture that’s both lighter and stronger than ever.

And because aesthetics are nearly as important as stability, each of these high quality glass spigot balustrade fixtures are available in a choice of either satin or polished, or matte black or white finishes. It’s the luxurious touch that allows every spigot to take on the appearance of a truly custom fixture.

The Final Word

At the end of the day, the effortless appeal of glass railings and balustrades is inescapable. It’s important, however, not to overlook the fixtures that are responsible for supporting these floating works of art.

Premium quality glass spigots make it possible for architects to design balconies, pool enclosures, and elevated platforms that are as safe as they are visually satisfying. They’re the perfect way to keep style and safety moving forward in unison.