Doors, windows and glass
Frosted Glass
A specification-first guide to Frosted Glass: what to fix before design freeze, what changes the number, and what the first year on site teaches.
Photo: emdot · BY 2.0Overview
Frosted Glass, in plain specification
Written for the decision, not for the mood board.
Every frosted glass we build starts from how the room is used at its busiest hour. Circulation, reach and storage volume come first; elevations come second. It is a slower way to start and it removes most of the changes that would otherwise appear halfway through production.
A good frosted glass is invisible in use — everything within reach, nothing in the way, no door fouling another. Achieving that is a matter of dimensions and hardware rather than of style, which is why the specification table below matters more than the photographs.
Two homes can specify frosted glass identically and get different results, because site conditions differ: slab level, wall plumb, humidity, water hardness and how the household lives. The specification is a starting point that we adjust against the survey.
Six house styles
Frosted Glass in six personalities
The same brief resolved six ways. Each carries its own material, finish and detailing.
Photo: Paul Keller · BY 2.0Minimal Frosted Glass
Serene Minimal treats frosted glass as chalk · pale oak · linen: nothing decorative survives unless it also does work. Core: Solid ply with hardwood frame. Frame: Hardwood, 100x62mm. Glazing: Clear toughened 8mm.
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Photo: oskay · BY 2.0Bold Frosted Glass
Bold Contemporary treats frosted glass as charcoal · oxblood · smoked oak: high contrast, confident mass, a single saturated move per room. Core: Solid core with steel insert. Frame: Hardwood with aluminium sub-frame. Glazing: Double glazed 6-12-6.
See this stylePhoto: emdot · BY 2.0Heritage Frosted Glass
Modern Heritage treats frosted glass as teak · cane · antique brass: indian craft detailing on a contemporary frame — jaali, cane, inlay and hand-finished brass, used sparingly. Core: Solid teak. Frame: Solid teak, 125x75mm. Glazing: Fluted glass in timber bead.
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Photo: Aleksandar Ratkovic · BY 2.0Classic Frosted Glass
Classic Luxe treats frosted glass as ivory · statuario · gold: proportioned panelling, cornice and moulding, book-matched stone and warm gilt detail on ivory. Core: Solid core with moulded face. Frame: Hardwood, moulded. Glazing: Clear with astragal bars.
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Photo: wheezinggirl · BY 2.0Scandi Frosted Glass
Indo-Scandinavian treats frosted glass as birch · chalk · sage: pale timber, soft daylight and muted green — nordic restraint adapted for indian light, dust and humidity. Core: Solid ply. Frame: Hardwood 100x62mm. Glazing: Clear toughened.
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Photo: Jocey K · BY-SA 2.0Deco Frosted Glass
Art Deco Glam treats frosted glass as emerald · brass · lacquer: fluting, fans and geometry. Core: Solid core with lacquer face. Frame: Aluminium with timber facing. Glazing: Fluted with brass bead.
See this styleSpecification
Frosted Glass specification, style by style
This is the table we issue to the factory and the site. It is also what a warranty is enforced against, which is why it reads in grades and dimensions.
| Specification | Minimal | Bold | Heritage | Classic | Scandi | Deco |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leaf size | 1000x2100mm | 1200x2400mm | 1050x2250mm, carved | 1000x2400mm | 900x2100mm | 1200x2700mm pivot |
| Core | Solid ply with hardwood frame | Solid core with steel insert | Solid teak | Solid core with moulded face | Solid ply | Solid core with lacquer face |
| Frame | Hardwood, 100x62mm | Hardwood with aluminium sub-frame | Solid teak, 125x75mm | Hardwood, moulded | Hardwood 100x62mm | Aluminium with timber facing |
| Glazing | Clear toughened 8mm | Double glazed 6-12-6 | Fluted glass in timber bead | Clear with astragal bars | Clear toughened | Fluted with brass bead |
| Hardware | Mortise lock, lever handle | Digital lock with mortise | Brass handle, traditional lock | Lever on rose with escutcheon | Lever handle | Pull handle with floor spring |
| Hinges | SS concealed, three per leaf | Heavy-duty SS, four per leaf | Brass butt hinges | SS butt hinges | SS concealed | Pivot set, top and bottom |
| Seal | Rebate seal | Acoustic and draught seal | Timber rebate | Rebate with brush seal | Rebate seal | Acoustic seal |
| Finish | Matt PU | Veneer with satin lacquer | Hand-polished teak | PU paint with beading | Matt laminate | Fluted lacquer with brass |
Before you commit
How to choose frosted glass
Six checks that prevent the failures we are most often called to fix.
- Check the opening size on site before ordering anything. Indian civil openings are rarely square, and the frame absorbs the error only if it is measured first.
- Decide the swing direction with the furniture layout in hand. A door that opens against a switchboard or a bed is a permanent irritation.
- For external doors and windows, specify the glass for the orientation. West-facing glazing without a low-E coating turns a room unusable in summer.
- Ask about the frame-to-wall interface. Water ingress at the frame joint, not through the product, causes most window failures.
- For acoustic performance, the seal and the frame do the work, not the leaf thickness alone.
- Confirm hardware handing and finish at the order stage — the lock, hinge and handle are all handed items.
Bangalore
Frosted Glass in Bangalore
What the city's climate, water, housing stock and society rules mean for this specification.
The Bangalore housing stock splits cleanly, and frosted glass is specified differently for each half. New towers along the outer ring have regular layouts, compact utility areas and generous ceiling height; the older independent homes in the south and west have height, thicker walls and almost no two dimensions the same.
Hard borewell water in Whitefield, Sarjapur Road, Hebbal and Yelahanka leaves scale on glass, chrome and stone within months. Where the supply is hard we specify surfaces and fittings that tolerate it, and we tell the family the honest maintenance routine rather than leaving them to discover it.
Most societies here allow work between roughly 9am and 6pm, restrict Sundays, require a service-lift booking and hold a debris deposit. That schedule is written into the programme at the start, because a plan that assumes twelve working hours a day will slip in its first week.
Traffic decides delivery windows more than distance does. Material moving to Whitefield, Sarjapur or Electronic City is scheduled outside peak hours, and large items are checked against the lift and stair turn before the order rather than on delivery day.
For Bangalore homes we hold material with the grade and batch recorded, and we plan deliveries around society access rules rather than around our own convenience.
Sizing
Frosted Glass by home size
Sizing below is what we plan frosted glass to in each home size. These are working dimensions from completed projects, not catalogue minimums.
| Home size | Typical scope | Planning note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 BHK | Compact, single run | Compact planning, one clear gesture |
| 2 BHK | Standard, two runs | Standard scope, most common brief |
| 3 BHK | Full specification | Full scope with storage planned in litres |
| 4 BHK | Extended with island or dresser | Extended scope, bespoke elements |
| 4+ BHK / Villa | Bespoke, villa scale | Villa scale, bespoke throughout |
Cost
What moves the price of frosted glass
We quote line by line rather than per square foot, because these are the items that actually differ between two estimates.
- Leaf construction and species of the face.
- Glazing specification — double glazing and low-E coatings are the biggest single variable.
- Hardware, which on a pivot or a sliding system can exceed the leaf cost.
- Frame material and whether a sub-frame is used.
- Site measurement and any civil correction to the opening.
Process
How the work runs
Five stages, with the decisions each one locks.
We measure the space ourselves rather than working from the builder's drawing, note the services, water quality, daylight and society rules, and write down how the room is actually used. Frosted Glass is specified against that survey, not against a catalogue.
Plans, elevations and details, with the specification written as grades and dimensions. You approve an elevation, not a render — this is the stage where changes cost nothing.
Material, finish, hardware and services are locked, and the estimate becomes a line-by-line document. We tell you exactly what this date locks and what can still change afterwards.
Factory production runs to the approved drawing while site work is prepared. Material is checked against the approved sample on arrival, in daylight, and stored correctly until the programme calls for it.
Installation, testing, snagging and a documentation file with drawings, warranties, decor codes and hardware models. A first-year service visit is scheduled at handover.
Living with it
Maintaining frosted glass
The honest routine, and the mistakes that cost the most to undo.
Care and maintenance
- Lubricate hinges and locks once a year with a dry lubricant, not oil, which attracts dust.
- Clean sliding tracks quarterly; grit is what wears a roller and makes a heavy slide.
- Check external frame sealant annually before the monsoon and renew where it has separated.
- Wipe condensation off double-glazed frames in winter in northern cities to protect the seal.
What goes wrong
- Ordering before the floor level and finish are decided.
- Using an interior-grade leaf in a bathroom, where humidity delaminates it from the bottom edge.
- Skipping the sub-frame on an aluminium system, which makes future replacement destructive.
- Choosing an oversized single leaf that no hinge set can carry without dropping.
Detailing
Frosted Glass detailing notes
The small decisions that separate built work from assembled work.
A door reads best when its frame is either flush with the wall plane or expressed deliberately. The half-hearted 12mm architrave is what makes joinery look builder-grade.
Floor clearance should be set for the finished floor plus any rug. Doors planed on site after flooring never look right at the bottom edge.
Pivot doors need a structural head and a level floor. Both are civil decisions taken long before the door is ordered.
Where a door leads to a bathroom, undercut it for return air or the exhaust fan will not move anything.
Questions
Frosted Glass — answered
How is Frosted Glass measured and ordered?
The opening is measured on site after plaster, with the finished floor level marked. Ordering from a drawing dimension instead of a site dimension is the most common cause of a door that never closes properly.
What is the lead time?
Four to eight weeks for made-to-order work. Site measurement, shop drawing approval and factory production are the three stages, and the approval stage is usually the one that slips.
Does it need maintenance?
Annual hardware lubrication, quarterly track cleaning where it slides, and an annual check of external sealant. That is all a well-installed opening needs.
Can it improve sound insulation?
Yes, substantially, but through the seal and frame rather than the leaf alone. A well-sealed solid-core door outperforms a heavier door hung with gaps.
How does Frosted Glass handle Indian weather?
Correctly specified, well. The failures we see are water at the frame junction, timber used externally without protection, and glass chosen without regard to orientation.
Is a warranty provided?
Yes, on manufacturing and finish. Hardware carries the manufacturer's own warranty, which is why we specify hardware by model rather than by category.
Do you work on frosted glass projects across Bangalore?
Yes — Bangalore is where most of our projects are, from apartments along Sarjapur Road, Whitefield and Hebbal to independent homes in Jayanagar, Indiranagar and Malleshwaram. We survey the space ourselves, work within the society's access and working-hour rules, and hand over with a documentation file. There is a dedicated page for our work in the city if you want the full picture.
Does Bangalore's climate or water affect this choice?
The climate helps and the water does not. Mild year-round temperatures are kinder to timber and joinery than almost any other Indian city, so craft detailing lasts. Hard borewell water in the eastern and northern corridors is the real constraint — it scales glass, chrome and stone, and it changes what we specify and what maintenance we ask the family to commit to.
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