Glass housing profile guide

A glass housing profile holds frameless glass and conceals the fixing. It is simultaneously a structural component and one of the most closely inspected pieces of metal in the building, because it sits at eye level with a large sheet of glass drawing attention to it.

The channel has to accommodate the glass thickness plus setting blocks and any structural silicone or gasket. Too tight and the glass cannot be set; too loose and it needs packing that will eventually be visible. The glass make-up must be confirmed before the profile is cut — not after.

There is nothing to distract from the external corner of a housing profile. A visible bend radius reads as a compromise the moment the glass goes in, which is why this is the clearest case in the whole MCS range for V-grooving the bend line before forming.

Base channels sit in or on the floor and take the greatest load. Side mount fixes to a structural face and is the usual answer where floor build-up is limited. Top mount caps the glass. Each has different fixing, tolerance and waterproofing consequences.

Glass thickness and make-up, the mounting condition, run lengths and whether they must be continuous, corner and junction details, the fixing substrate, and the finish with the visible faces identified.