Open-Riser Metal Stringer & Glass Railing Stairs in Windsor

Walk through any newer home in LaSalle, Riverside or South Windsor right now and there is a good chance the staircase has open risers, a slim metal stringer and a frameless glass railing. It is the single most requested design across our Windsor and Essex County projects — here is why it works, and what to know before you commit to it.

What Makes It an Open-Riser Metal Stringer Staircase

Instead of a solid wooden stringer with closed risers, the structure is a slim steel stringer — usually a mono-beam or a pair of flat steel plates — with treads bolted directly on and no riser board between them. Light passes straight through the stairwell instead of stopping at a wall of wood, which is why it reads as so much lighter and more open than a traditional staircase.

Why Frameless Glass Railing Pairs So Well With It

A solid wood or iron railing on an open-riser staircase defeats the point — you have opened up the stairwell with the stringer design, then closed it back down with a heavy railing. Frameless glass panels, held by a discreet base shoe or standoff hardware, keep the sightline open in every direction. It is the combination we used on a recent Windsor new-build: a floating white oak staircase with a frameless glass railing that lets light travel from the upper floor straight down to the entryway.

Where It Works Best in Windsor Homes

This design earns its keep in open-concept new builds — the kind going up across LaSalle, Tecumseh and South Windsor — where the staircase sits in view of the main living space rather than tucked behind a wall. In older Walkerville or Sandwich homes with a narrower, enclosed stairwell, it is less about floor-to-ceiling openness and more about a lighter visual feel; we have done partial conversions there too, swapping a solid balustrade for glass while keeping the original wood stringer for a restoration that still respects the house.

Maintenance and Durability

Tempered safety glass is used throughout and is rated to the same guard-height and load requirements as a solid railing under the Ontario Building Code. Day to day, it needs the same care as any glass surface — a wipe-down now and then — and the steel stringer is powder-coated or painted to resist corrosion, which matters near the Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie shoreline communities like Tecumseh, Lakeshore and Kingsville.

What It Costs

A full open-riser metal stringer staircase with frameless glass railing in Windsor typically runs toward the upper end of our range — $15,000 to $22,000+ depending on run length, number of landings and glass panel count — against $4,500–$9,000 for a standard closed-riser wooden stringer. The steel fabrication and glass installation are the main cost drivers, not the design itself.

See It In Person

If you want to see how this looks before committing, our Windsor project gallery has a completed floating oak and glass staircase from a recent new-build. Visit our Windsor page to see it, or contact us for a free on-site consultation to discuss whether it suits your home.