Glass Balustrades in Browns Bay

Apartments and beach houses side by side

Browns Bay is interesting because you've got the new apartment buildings right on the beachfront and the original beach houses just behind them. The apartments come to us for balcony balustrades — usually frameless glass to meet the fall-height requirement without blocking the sea view for the units above or below. The older houses come to us for deck retrofits where the original timber balustrade has reached the end of its life.

The two jobs need a different approach. On an apartment balcony we're often working to a body corporate spec and fitting into an existing channel or fixing point. On a house deck we have more freedom to choose the system. I'll always come and look at the site before recommending one over the other.

Beachfront exposure

The beachfront at Browns Bay is flat and open, so the salt air moves straight through. Anything we fit here — balcony, deck, pool fence — gets marine-grade fixings as standard. The apartment balconies in particular take a lot of weather, so we pay close attention to how the glass is seated in the channel and how the fixings are sealed. Done properly, a glass balustrade here will outlast most other materials.

• Frameless balcony balustrades for beachfront apartments
• Deck retrofits for older Browns Bay beach houses
• Marine-grade fixings standard on all beachfront installs
• Body-corp compliant specifications where required

Pool fencing and shower screens

The family homes behind the beachfront often have pools, and we fit frameless glass barriers that meet F9 and keep the pool visible from the house. For the apartments, the bathrooms are usually compact, so a frameless shower screen — hinged or sliding depending on the layout — is what finishes them properly.