When a wood guard blocks the view from your deck, Round Rock Metal Gates is the Capital Area's trusted specialist for cable and glass railings, specializing in stainless cable guards, tempered glass balcony guards, and black steel railing posts. We offer post-mounted glass panels and base-shoe glass for balconies where even thin cable would interrupt the view.
Get a free gate estimate
Our team provides cable and glass railings, delivering an open guard for homes and shared terraces in both residential and commercial projects. Our count stands at over 1,187 projects in 12 years in business, including 38 linear ft of second-floor deck guard above a canyon, with a 2-year workmanship warranty on our welds.
From the first look at your deck framing to the final tension check, our team handles every detail. Serving Round Rock, Lakeway, Steiner Ranch and West Lake Hills, we fit each guard to the structure it bolts into.
Request a free estimate: send a photo of your deck or balcony and we will set up a site visit.
The short version
Yolanda, canyon-view lot off Quinlan Park Road, Steiner Ranch
A wide-baluster wood guard on a second-floor deck blocked the canyon from every chair and needed replacing anyway.
Investment and duration figures are estimates. Your written quote sets the final price and schedule.
Yolanda's second-floor deck on a canyon-view lot off Quinlan Park Road in Steiner Ranch had a wide-baluster wood guard that blocked the canyon from every chair, and it needed replacing anyway. We ran stainless cable through black steel posts, through-bolted to the deck framing, with heavier posts at each end to take the cable tension and a slim top rail to lean on. The canyon now reads from a seated chair, and she keeps the tension tool for a yearly check. The estimated cost was $4,200 to $8,400, over an estimated 1 to 3 days.
Choose cable if you want a lower price and do not mind thin lines in the view, and choose glass if you want nothing in the way and will clean it. Yolanda picked cable at Steiner Ranch since the deck faces a canyon full of oak and dust, and because glass panels on a deck that long would have pushed her budget well up.
| Question | Cable | Glass |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated price per linear foot | Est. $75 to $260 | Est. $150 to $850 |
| What you see through it | Thin horizontal lines | Clear panel, slim post or none |
| Common fit | Long deck runs | Short balcony runs and corners |
Cable runs an estimated $75 to $260 per linear foot and glass runs an estimated $150 to $850, which is why length decides the choice on most decks. Yolanda's 38 linear ft of second-floor deck guard ran an estimated $4,200 to $8,400. For comparison, Perry's 14 linear ft of Juliet and balcony rail in The Hills ran an estimated $1,100 to $1,700 in wrought iron bar.
Ask each bidder how the end posts attach and who checks the framing, because a cable guard pulls hard on those posts.
Stainless cable through steel posts on a deck or balcony, tensioned at handover and shown to the owner
Tempered glass panels cut to a site measure, then set in a low base shoe or between slim steel posts
Investment and duration figures are estimates. Your written quote sets the final price and schedule.
| Job type | Est. investment | Est. duration on site |
|---|---|---|
| Cable guard on steel posts | Est. $75 to $260 per linear foot | Est. 1 to 3 days |
| Glass guard with base shoe or posts | Est. $150 to $850 per linear foot | Est. 1 to 3 days |
| Stair or balcony iron railing | Est. $65 to $135 per linear foot | Est. 5 to 10 hours |
| Custom pedestrian entry gate | Est. $600 to $1,500 per gate | Est. 4 to 8 hours |
| Spiral staircase | Est. $1,300 to $6,000 per staircase | Est. 1 to 14 days |
Guard prices stay estimates, subject to change, until we have seen the framing and measured the run. Once we have measured, the written quote sets the final price and the schedule.
A railing is only as strong as what it bolts into, so we inspect the deck framing before we talk about cable or glass. We look for rot at the ledger and rim, for old lag holes left by the guard coming off, and for blocking where posts will land. If the framing is not sound, get a carpenter or deck builder to repair it first, since we install the guard and do not rebuild decks.
| Where the post lands | How it usually fixes | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Wood deck framing | Through-bolted to blocked framing | Rot, thin rim board, old lag holes |
| Concrete balcony slab | Anchored base plate or base shoe | Cracks, edge distance, hidden rebar |
| Stone or tile over a slab | Fixing carried down to the slab | Waterproofing under the tile |
Deck and balcony guards are covered by building code, and the rule that applies depends on your home and how the deck is built. We have not printed guard heights, opening sizes or glass specifications here, because we would rather you hear them from the people who enforce them. Before a guard goes on your deck, check with the City of Round Rock, or your own city's building department, on the guard rules and on whether a permit is needed, and ask your HOA too. A pool is a separate case, because barriers around water carry their own rules; Ximena's 70 linear ft of 5 ft fence around a new pool used powder-coated aluminum with a self-closing gate.
Stainless cable can lose some tension in its first year, so a yearly check with the tool we leave is a good habit, as it is for Yolanda. Glass does not move, but hard water and pollen show on it, and a west-facing balcony shows them most at sunset.
Stainless cable through black steel posts is the standard cable build, and tempered glass sits in a low base shoe or between slim posts. If you would rather keep solid bars, Grant's solid bar steel in a flat black powder coat is the forged alternative, and our iron railings page shows it. Odalys's steel treads and center column in bronze powder coat are a good match when a spiral staircase has to share a finish with the guard.
Over 12 years in business and more than 1,187 projects, one crew reads the framing, builds the posts and installs the run, with framing repairs and glass lead time written as their own quote lines. Our 2-year workmanship warranty covers the welds on our steel posts.
We install guards across a 35-mile radius, from Yolanda's deck at Steiner Ranch to view lots in Lakeway and West Lake Hills, plus homes in Round Rock and Georgetown. Greenbelt lots above Lake Austin and lake-view homes with a rooftop deck are where owners ask for these guards most, as a picket blocks more of a seated view.
Some owners want a traditional look on the same house, and a second-floor doorway often gets iron balconies instead, like Perry's hillside home in The Hills. If the same house needs a walk gate below the deck, Renata's pair of 30 in leaves in Forest Creek shows what our courtyard entry gates look like in a matching finish. A long rear line is usually better in ornamental fence, like Blake's 110 linear ft of 5 ft wrought iron fencing, with cable or glass kept for the deck.
Budget an estimated $75 to $260 per linear foot; Yolanda's 38 linear ft ran an estimated $4,200 to $8,400.
Budget an estimated $150 to $850 per linear foot, with corners and short panels at the higher end.
Plan on an estimated 1 to 3 days on site, and for glass that starts once the measured panels arrive.
Often yes, once we confirm that the framing is sound and has blocking where the posts land.
The City of Round Rock or your own building department decides, so we check the guard rules with them before we build.
Our 2-year workmanship warranty covers the welds on our steel posts.
Request a free estimate with a photo of your deck or balcony in Round Rock, Lakeway, Steiner Ranch or West Lake Hills, and we will set up a site visit and look at the framing.
How a job runs
We read the framing, the slab and every anchor point before a line is drawn.
You sign off on a scaled drawing, the metal and the finish before any steel is cut.
Our welders fabricate the posts and shoe runs, then they go out for coating while the glass or cable is ordered to size.
We fix the posts, tension the cable or seat the glass, and check height and spacing in front of you.
Services
Where we work
Phone the shop or use the form to set a time for a site measure and a written estimate.
Calls only, we do not receive text messages.
