Glass railings are anchored three ways: a continuous base shoe bolted to the deck or slab, individual point fixings such as standoffs and clamps bolted to structure, or posts that hold the panels between them. Whichever is used, the anchors and the substrate underneath have to satisfy the code load and height requirements for a guard.
A base shoe is an aluminum channel running the full length of the run, through-bolted into concrete, into a steel edge, or into blocked framing under the deck. The glass drops into the channel and is locked with dry gaskets or a pour-in resin, then set so each panel stands on its own with no post beside it. It gives the cleanest sightline because the hardware hides under a cladding, but it asks the most of what is underneath, since every push on the glass transfers straight into that edge.
Point fixings carry the same load through a handful of spots instead of a continuous line. Standoffs bolt through a wall or a fascia and hold the panel off the face on machined pins. Clamps grip the glass top and bottom against a post or a wall. Both need holes and notches cut in the glass before it is tempered, never after, so the layout is settled on paper and confirmed against a real measure before fabrication starts. Getting a fixing position wrong means a new panel, not a new hole. Standoffs also want a host that can take a concentrated pull, so a poured wall, a masonry facade or a properly blocked stud bay is the usual answer, and hollow board is not.
The most forgiving method sets metal posts at intervals and lets the glass sit between them, often with a cap rail across the top tying the panels together. Posts either surface mount on a flanged base plate or get core drilled into concrete and grouted solid. Because each post is its own anchor, the structure only has to be strong where the posts land, which is why this approach shows up on wood decks and on retrofits where the edge cannot be rebuilt. New Jersey follows model building codes, and a guard has to meet the load and height requirements in them no matter which method you choose, so confirm the detail with your local building department before glass is ordered.
Safety glass is the requirement. For a guard that usually means tempered, or laminated glass that holds its shape when a layer breaks. Laminated is the common pick where a panel is keeping people back at height, because the interlayer holds the pieces together after an impact. Your local building department will tell you what it accepts for your specific application.
Yes, with the right detail. Posts on base plates through-bolted into doubled framing are the usual answer, since the load lands in known spots that can be beefed up. A continuous base shoe needs the rim joist and blocking built for it, which is far easier during construction than as a retrofit. Either way the framing gets inspected.
If you know how the deck edge is framed, or can photograph it, the anchoring method sorts itself out quickly. We measure the run at the property, work out which fixing your structure supports, and lay out the holes before the glass is tempered, because they cannot be cut later.
