Specifying custom glass table tops for a Kansas City client project takes five pieces of information: finished dimensions or a physical template, glass thickness, edge profile, glass type, and how the piece will sit on its base. A template beats measurements on anything that is not a plain rectangle, including radius corners, irregular shapes, and any existing or antique piece whose edges have moved over time. Send those five items and a shop like Westport Glass & Mirror can quote and fabricate without a second visit.
The cost of getting it wrong lands on the designer, not the shop. A top ordered from dimensions alone on a piece with settled or irregular edges arrives close but not right, and the reveal date moves.
"Give us a template on anything that isn't a plain rectangle and the piece fits the first time. Measurements are fine on a square dining table. They are not fine on a client's grandmother's dresser," says Brian Dugan, Fourth-Generation Co-Owner of Westport Glass & Mirror.
For a rectangle or a circle, clean dimensions are enough. Give us length, width or diameter, and confirm whether those numbers are the finished glass size or the size of the furniture underneath, because the difference between the two is the overhang and we should not be guessing at it.
For anything else, send a template. Radius corners, ovals, kidney shapes, and any piece built before roughly 1960 all belong in this category. Kraft paper or thin cardboard cut to the actual surface, marked with the top face and the front edge, removes every assumption from the job.
Tell us how the glass will sit as well. A top resting on clear bumpers, dropping into a recessed lip, or spanning a pedestal base each imply different thickness and edge decisions, and a piece specified without that context often has to be re-quoted.
Quarter-inch glass suits protective overlays on an existing surface. Three-eighths and half-inch carry standalone tops and longer spans. Edge profile is the visual decision: a polished flat edge disappears, a bevel catches light and reads more traditional, and a pencil or ogee edge softens the line against wood, stone, or metal.
Fabrication starts after the template, not after the order. That single fact governs the schedule. A designer who books the template visit early has a predictable delivery window, and one who orders in principle and templates later has a delivery date that has not actually begun.
Protection matters at the other end. On a finished piece, particularly a client's own antique, the install is as much about moving glass safely past finished walls and floors as it is about setting it. Confirm site access and clear the room before the crew arrives. Designers coordinating a furniture piece alongside a wider remodel will recognise the same sequencing habits described in why Kansas City remodelers and builders trust Westport Glass for custom projects.
The showroom at 625 Southwest Blvd carries edge samples, thicknesses, and glass types on hand. Sending a client there to choose in person is usually faster than couriering samples across the metro, and it takes the selection conversation off the designer's plate entirely.
Three decisions account for most of the variation in a furniture glass order:
Send finished dimensions or a physical template, plus thickness, edge profile, glass type, and mounting method. For any non-rectangular or pre-1960 piece, the template is the one item that cannot be substituted. With those five details a shop can quote firmly rather than provisionally.
Quarter-inch works for protective overlays on an existing surface. Three-eighths and half-inch are standard for standalone tops, with the thicker option preferred on longer unsupported spans and pedestal bases. Span and support, not the size of the piece alone, drive the decision.
Yes. Bring in the existing piece or a clear photograph of the edge in cross section and we can match polished, beveled, pencil, and ogee profiles in our own shop. Matching the profile matters most when the new glass sits alongside the original in the same room.
Noticeably. Standard float glass has a green tint from its iron content that shows at the exposed edge and shifts pale finishes underneath it. Low-iron glass removes that cast, which is why it is worth specifying over white lacquer, pale wood, and light stone.
By Brian Dugan, Fourth-Generation Co-Owner of Westport Glass & Mirror of Kansas City. Westport has crafted custom glass since 1947, and Brian brings 20+ years overseeing the fabrication and installation of furniture glass, mirrors, and custom-cut work for designers across the metro. Meet the Westport team
Ready to start your glass project? Contact us today to discuss your needs, get clear answers, and receive a detailed quote. Serving the greater Kansas City area. Call now or fill out the form to schedule a consultation.