I'm in contract to purchase a house with an interesting setup. It has a Tulikivi masonry heater on the ground floor, and a great open staircase that funnels the heat to all three floors of the house. I'm very excited to use it.
However, the staircase leading to the basement is within the required 20" clearance to combustibles from the rear of the stove. The builder's solution is to use metal and Bluestone treads, which I'm on board with. We run into an issue with the handrail, however, as it has to be non-combustible (approx 10 inches from the rear of the stove). The builder floated the idea of using an aluminum exterior type handrail. My thought was that would look a bit out of place, and also had concerns about heat transfer - could the railing heat up and cause burns.
One potential solution is to use tempered glass to satisfy the handrail code. Supposedly tempered glass is good to around 400-450 degrees F. Fire rated glass (the next step up) is out of the budget.
My concern is the repeated heating and cooling effect on the glass's structural integrity. I've read that surface temperatures of a Tulikivi are low, maxing at about 176 F. One glass company says it should be fine with tempered, another says don't do it.
Long story short - anyone have any knowledge oaf tempered glass in an application similar to this?
I appreciate any responses.
However, the staircase leading to the basement is within the required 20" clearance to combustibles from the rear of the stove. The builder's solution is to use metal and Bluestone treads, which I'm on board with. We run into an issue with the handrail, however, as it has to be non-combustible (approx 10 inches from the rear of the stove). The builder floated the idea of using an aluminum exterior type handrail. My thought was that would look a bit out of place, and also had concerns about heat transfer - could the railing heat up and cause burns.
One potential solution is to use tempered glass to satisfy the handrail code. Supposedly tempered glass is good to around 400-450 degrees F. Fire rated glass (the next step up) is out of the budget.
My concern is the repeated heating and cooling effect on the glass's structural integrity. I've read that surface temperatures of a Tulikivi are low, maxing at about 176 F. One glass company says it should be fine with tempered, another says don't do it.
Long story short - anyone have any knowledge oaf tempered glass in an application similar to this?
I appreciate any responses.
