Case study · Two Ways, Bristol
How a frameless glass door is replaced
An APG door is a sheet of toughened safety glass, typically 10 or 12 mm thick, carried by a stainless or anodised rail along its top and bottom edges. The bottom rail sits on a floor pivot or floor spring spindle and the top rail turns on a top centre in the head; the rails also take the lock and the pull handles. Because the glass is toughened it cannot be worked after manufacture, so every cut-out and every dimension has to be right before it leaves the factory. That is what “bespoke manufactured” means on this job: two leaves ordered to our measurements for this one opening.
The Two Ways entrance sits on the corner of the building, which makes it the most exposed point of the shopfront and the one that takes every push, bag and pushchair that comes through. Over time the leaves had stopped meeting cleanly and the rails were no longer holding them square. Rather than chase adjustment on glass that had already moved as far as it would, the owner agreed a straight replacement of the pair.
Measuring and ordering
The opening was measured height and width at several points, together with the position of the floor pivots and top centres and the required gap between the two meeting edges. Those figures went to the glass works as a specification for two toughened leaves with the edges polished and the rail positions marked. Lead time on made-to-measure toughened glass is the longest part of any APG job, so the old doors stayed in service until the new pair was ready.
Fitting day
On the day the old leaves were lifted out and the opening left clear. The new glass was walked in from the van and laid on padded trestles inside the cafe, where the stainless top and bottom rails were fitted and clamped to each leaf with the gaskets seated and the fixings torqued evenly — the rails are what hold a frameless door to its pivots, and an uneven clamp will show as a twist in the glass once it is hung. Each leaf was then stood up, dropped onto its floor pivot and lifted into the top centre, and the pair aligned so the meeting edges are parallel from head to threshold. The final adjustment was made from a ladder outside, which is the short clip on this page.
Work completed at Two Ways, Bristol
- Survey — corner entrance pair of frameless APG doors no longer meeting true; replacement of both leaves agreed.
- Manufacture — two toughened glass leaves ordered to site measurements with polished edges and rail positions specified.
- Removal — old leaves lifted out; opening left clear for trading.
- Assembly — new stainless top and bottom rails fitted to the leaves on trestles inside the cafe.
- Hanging — each leaf hung on its floor pivot and top centre; pair aligned at the meeting edges and set to close flush.
- Trading — cafe open and serving throughout; doors back in use the same day.
Glass shop door replacement across Bristol
Commercial Door Maintenance and Security Ltd replaces and repairs frameless glass doors across Bristol — Broadmead and the Horsefair, Cabot Circus, the harbourside and the independent cafes and shops of Gloucester Road and Stokes Croft — alongside the APG door work we have already photographed in the city. If a glass door has cracked, dropped or stopped meeting its partner, a photograph of the leaf and its rails lets us tell you whether it is an adjustment or a new leaf, and quote either the same day. Our restaurant and cafe sector page explains how we fit around service.
