How important is glass for a Juliet balcony?

[Linguaphile]

We're enlarging the windows in our master bedroom to have doors with a juliet balcony. We've been asked by the builder if we want black iron railing or glass, and have been told that the glass is about 1k more expensive. Is the glass worth it?? The view is amazing and we would be looking out from our bed out the doors, so I suppose the railing might impede our view a little, but then I'm not sure if a slightly broken up view from the bed is a reason to throw an extra 1k at the project. What would you do? If I thought we'd probably get the money back when we sell the house, then I'd go with the glass. Do you think it'll pay for itself later down the road or is it a frivolity that should be ditched?

Surely it wouldn't be a juliette balcony with glass across instead of railings - the whole point is that it open to the air to the floor?

It wouldn't be sealed at the bottom so air would still come through. Bit hard to explain! It would look like this:

That would be little difference to having a tall window that opens at the top - depending on which way the wnd blows

Yes, I realise that, but I would prefer have the doors be able to open the whole way so that it feels like a proper balcony from inside the room.

I’d go for glass to enjoy the view, I also think it looks bettter from the outside

I’d do the railing, unless you felt strongly about it impeding your view. I think it looks classier on most houses (unless you have something ultra modern).

I stayed on a friend’s guest bedroom recently and they had the glass. The view was beautiful.

Can you get the window/doors fitted first and decide on the rail/glass afterwards?

If so I’d get a roll of black tape and tape fake balcony railings to the window. Then walk back to various points in the room to see how the view would be impeded.

Might be dangerous to do this if it’s an empty hole in the wall! If so you could take pictures from various points in the room, then upload and use Paint to draw railing lines on.

I would go for glass. It will look loads nicer

I’d go for railings - glass constantly needs cleaning to look nice. Also £1k - think of something else nice that you could buy with the money saved (jewellery )

We have two Juliet balconies in our bedroom. Both glass. Love the clear view from the bed
They’ve been there 10 years and rarely cleaned but look fine.

Honestly, there are some areas where spending a bit more money is absolutely worth it. If you have an amazing view, this would be one of them. 1k isn't that much for maximising it.

If you're renovating to sell, however, that's a different matter.

Glass definitely...

Railings. The glass looks really tacky IMO.

It depends on the house.

If its modern then glass will look good. If it’s an older, characterful house then go for railings.

We have railings, and on our house, glass would look very out of place.
Also - and this is probably just me - I have often thought that in the event of a fire, I could climb over the railing and hang from the bottom of it, then drop to the ground, which wouldn’t then be very far. I’ve also shown teen dcs how to do this, but I appreciate that this is an unlikely event that I am possibly over paranoid about!

We’ve been having the same debate and decided on glass. The view isn’t particularly wonderful, but the railings would be irritating.

We put a juliet balcony in our last house and had railings. The house was old though, and glass really wouldn't have worked. The railings didn't block the view and looked beautiful from the outside.

I have railings. As your eye level is generally above them it is no issue. I was also concerned about an escape route in the event of a fire so felt that the railings would be better. The first photo is looking straight out and the second is lying down. Hth

I'm another one who can't see the point of glass. If you are going to do that then you might as well just have a window that only opens at the top.

Railings look better anyway.

I'd have railings. The glass looks like an afterthought.

Thanks for the opinions everyone! I think we've decided on glass. The house is a very modern new build and the other big terrace off the main living area will have glass, so I think it will all tie together from the outside. Our view is to die forit's completely private looking at forested hills (so nobody can see in)so I feel like the railings might spoil it. In for a penny, in for a pound, right? I think we might put a sofa or long chaise lounge at the foot of the bed so that we can throw the doors open in the mornings and have a coffee whilst feeling like we're outdoors.

"it's completely private looking at forested hills"

It's going to be amazing! Would love to see pictures when you're done!

Ah thanks whisky, we're excited! Just need to get through this building phase, which is sort of beating the life out of me.

It's horrible, isn't it? So draining! I'm in the same boat. If you want to have a good moan with others going through it, the Home Extensions thread is brilliant!

I've had glass, now have railings.

When it rains you can't see through the glass, nor when it snows, nor when it is misty, nor when it is frosty, nor when either side is dirty. In the low sun it always looks smeary.

Railings that you don't need to paint are the least effort.