Aluminium and Glass Works in Dubai
Aluminium and glass works across Dubai, from a single cracked pane to a full shopfront replacement. We install and repair aluminium sections, external glazing, entrance systems, frameless doors and balustrades for villas, apartments, offices, shops and restaurants. One in-house team runs the survey, the glass order, the aluminium work and the making good, so the trades a glazing job disturbs sit under one contract and one warranty. Written quote before anything is cut. Six-month workmanship warranty.
Aluminium and glass works we deliver
Two trades that always arrive together. Aluminium is the frame, the track, the gasket and the fixings. Glass is the pane and its treatment. Most calls are a fault in one blamed on the other.
Shopfronts and entrance systems
Glazed shopfronts in aluminium sections, entrance doors, floor springs, closers, patch fittings, handles and locks, new and repaired. Automatic sliding entrances come with the sensor and power connection run by our own electricians.
Aluminium doors and windows
Casement, sliding, tilt-and-turn and fixed lights, in thermally broken or standard sections depending on the elevation. New openings, like-for-like replacement of failed units, and re-glazing of a sound frame, in powder-coated or anodised finishes.
Curtain wall and cladding repair
Gasket and sealant renewal on stick and unitised systems, failed structural silicone joints, aluminium composite panel repair, and water ingress tracing on facades that leak in the winter rain. Full curtain wall replacement is a specialist facade contract; we take repair, panel replacement and localised sections, and say so at survey.
Frameless glass doors and screens
Toughened doors on patch fittings and floor springs, glass-to-glass corners, office screens, shower enclosures and reception panels. Cut, polished and drilled before toughening, because toughened glass cannot be worked afterwards, and site-measured once the walls are set.
Glass balustrades and handrails
Balcony and staircase balustrades in toughened laminated glass, on spigots, base channel or stainless standoffs, with or without a capping rail. Stair infill, mezzanine edges and pool surrounds. The fixing method is chosen against the substrate, which decides whether it stays rigid.
Mirrors, splashbacks and back-painted glass
Bathroom and dressing-room mirrors, gym and studio mirror walls, kitchen splashbacks in back-painted toughened glass, and coloured wall panels. Socket cut-outs are made before toughening, with our electrical team.
Sliding and folding systems
Bi-fold and sliding-folding doors, top-hung and bottom-rolling sliders, terrace screens, and the repairs they generate: worn rollers, bent tracks, dropped panels and flattened brush pile. A slider that has gone heavy is usually a roller and track problem, not a reason to replace it.
Glass replacement after breakage
Same-day make-safe where we can reach you, so the opening is secure and weathertight, then a measured template, then the pane. Toughened and laminated panes are made to order, so making the opening safe is real work rather than a delay. We photograph the damage on the first visit, which is what an insurer or building management asks for.
Glass specification and Dubai conditions
The specification calls on a Dubai job differ from what a temperate climate would push you towards. Four come up on almost every quote.
Toughened, laminated, or both
Toughened glass is heat-treated so it is several times stronger than annealed and breaks into blunt granules rather than shards. Laminated is two panes bonded to an interlayer, so a broken pane stays in place and the opening stays closed. Toughened suits doors, screens and splashbacks. Laminated suits anywhere a falling pane is the real hazard, and toughened laminated combines both for balustrades and overhead glazing.
Where safety glass is not negotiable
Glazed doors and the panels beside them, low-level glazing a person can walk into, shower screens, balustrades and any glass guarding a level change, and overhead glazing all take safety glass as standard practice, not as an upgrade. If a shower screen or balustrade is quoted in ordinary annealed glass, that is the line to question. We name the treatment for each pane on the quote.
Solar gain and west elevations
A west-facing window takes the full afternoon load, and single-glazed clear glass in a non-thermally-broken frame delivers most of that heat into the room. The frame matters as much as the glass: aluminium conducts, so an unbroken section is a heat bridge whatever glass sits in it. The options are a double-glazed unit, a solar control or low-emissivity coating on the outer pane, a thermally broken frame, or external shading. Dubai's green building rules set performance requirements on glazing for new and altered facades, so where a replacement changes the specification we confirm the required values with the building consultant before ordering. Applied film cuts heat, but it coats old glass rather than replacing the unit, and needs renewing.
Salt and coastal corrosion on aluminium
Towers and villas near the water carry salt in the air year-round. It settles on horizontal sections and around fixings and over time pits powder coat and dulls anodising, worst at cut edges, screw heads and drainage slots. Two things keep it in check: a coastal-duty powder coat or anodised specification rather than a standard inland one, and stainless fixings, so you are not driving a corroding screw through a coated section. Rinsing frames with fresh water on the window-cleaning schedule does more than any product choice, and on an annual maintenance contract that rinse and a fixings check go on the visit schedule.
Gaskets and seals, the usual cause of a leaking or whistling window
When a window leaks in the rain or whistles in the wind, the glass is almost never at fault. The wedge and rubber gaskets that hold the pane and seal the frame harden and shrink under years of sun, then pull back at the corners and leave a gap. Drainage slots at the base silt up with dust, so water the frame should shed sits in the channel and works inside. Perimeter sealant cracks and lifts, and brush pile on sliders wears flat. All four are repairs, not replacements: re-gasket, clear and prove the weep holes, renew the sealant, replace the pile. We water-test before leaving, because a window dry since the last rain proves nothing.
Why owners choose Samra for this work
One team either side of the glass
A glazing job breaks plaster, marks paint and sometimes moves a socket. Our in-house painting, joinery, electrical and MEP teams put the making good in the same quote and warranty, not with a second contractor you have to chase.
A contractor, not a glass shop
Samra is a maintenance, fit-out and renovation contractor, so we see glazing in context: part of a shop fit-out, a villa renovation or a snagging list, not an isolated pane.
Women-owned, working in Dubai since 2015, with in-house design
Our interior designer settles sections, sightlines, finishes and hardware before anything is ordered, which is where the difference between a decent shopfront and a cheap-looking one is decided. The same team, quote format and warranty across every trade we run.
Repair first, where repair is honest
Re-gasketing, roller sets, floor spring rebuilds and single-pane swaps are quoted as repairs when the frame is sound. When a frame is past it we show you why on site.
Landlord and authority approval
Anything that changes the look of an elevation is an approval matter in Dubai, and glass is the most visible change there is. Like-for-like replacement of a broken pane in an existing frame is usually straightforward. Altering the frame line, the glass colour or reflectivity, the shopfront or the openings needs sign-off first.
Building management comes first
In a tower, office building or mall unit the building management or owners association NOC gates everything else. It wants drawings, contractor documents, insurance evidence, a method statement and a schedule. Most buildings also restrict working hours, lift booking and facade access, and those restrictions shape the programme more than the glazing.
Developer and free zone approval
Master developer NOCs apply in Emaar, Nakheel, Meraas and Damac communities. Free zone units go through their own authority rather than the mainland pathway, each with its own forms and lead time.
Dubai Municipality
Mainland facade alterations, new openings, villa elevation changes and structural glazing go to Dubai Municipality. A villa owner enlarging a window or glazing a balcony is making a municipality-level change even though it feels like a private one.
Dubai Civil Defence and DEWA
Civil Defence is involved where the work touches fire-rated glazing, escape doors, exit routes, or an entrance that has to release on alarm, which covers automatic doors and maglocks on glass doors. Any power connection, such as a door operator or an illuminated shopfront, runs through the DEWA pathway with our electricians.
Signage is permitted separately
Shopfront signage and applied graphics are approved apart from the shopfront itself, so the two are best submitted together.
We compile and submit these on your behalf. Approval lead times routinely run longer than the physical work, which is why the submissions start in parallel with fabrication rather than after it.
How we price aluminium and glass work
Every job is quoted in writing after a site survey. We do not price glazing over the phone, because the frame system, the access and the glass specification move the number most, and none can be seen down a phone line.
The sequence
Survey and measure, then a written quote, or a full BOQ on larger scopes with each pane and section as its own line. Then your approval, fabrication, installation and making good. Once signed, the price is fixed unless the scope changes, and any change is priced and agreed in writing first.
What drives the cost
- Glass build-up: annealed, toughened, laminated, toughened laminated or a double-glazed unit, plus any coating.
- Pane size and thickness. Large panes need thicker glass, more hands, and past a point a lifter or crane.
- Aluminium system: standard section against thermally broken, and the hardware grade with it.
- Finish: standard powder coat, a coastal-duty specification, anodising, or a non-standard colour with its own minimum order.
- Access: scaffold, mast climber or a building facade access system, plus lift booking and hoisting.
- Working hours. Malls, occupied offices and restaurants often need night or weekend work, at a different rate.
- Making good: how much plaster, paint, tiling or joinery is reinstated around the new work.
- Approvals: authority and building management fees passed through at cost, listed separately.
- Quantity. Repeated units across a villa or a floor plate price differently from a single opening.
Repair against replacement
Where a frame is sound, a re-gasket, a roller set, a floor spring or a single pane costs a fraction of a new unit and is quoted that way. Where corrosion has reached the fixings or the section is deformed, replacement is cheaper over any sensible horizon, and we show you why at survey.
Workmanship and material warranties
Two layers across every glazing job. Workmanship is ours across aluminium, glass and making good; material warranties on glass units, aluminium systems and hardware pass through from each manufacturer.
Six-month workmanship warranty
If the same fault returns within six months and it is down to our work, we come back and fix it at no cost. It covers labour across the aluminium, glazing and making-good scope as one warranty from us, not separate ones per subcontractor.
Material warranties pass through
Glass, aluminium systems, powder coat finishes, floor springs, locks, rollers and door operators carry their own manufacturer warranties, passed directly to you. Durations vary by product and specification, and the exact terms for your job are confirmed in the quotation before you sign.
What is not covered
Accidental breakage, impact damage, third-party work on the same frame, and failures caused by a building defect outside our scope. Where a leak turns out to be a facade or waterproofing problem, we say so and quote the real repair through our waterproofing team instead of re-glazing a window that was never the cause.
Frequently asked questions
Can you replace a single broken pane, or does the whole window have to go?
A single pane, in most cases. If the frame is straight, the gaskets can be renewed and the hardware works, the pane is templated and replaced on its own. The frame only goes when it is deformed, corroded through at the fixings, or a sealed design that cannot be re-glazed on site.
My window whistles and leaks when it rains. Is the glass the problem?
Very rarely. In almost every case it is the gaskets, blocked drainage slots at the base of the frame, or the perimeter sealant. Those are repairs measured in hours, not a replacement window. We water-test afterwards, because a window only proves itself wet.
Toughened or laminated for a balcony balustrade?
Toughened laminated. Toughened alone gives strength and a safe break pattern, but a fully broken toughened pane leaves an open edge. The interlayer holds the glass in place so the barrier is still there until it is replaced. For a guarding application that retention is the whole point.
Can you match my existing aluminium colour?
Usually. Powder coat colours are matched from the standard range and anodised finishes by grade. An exact match to a weathered frame is not always achievable because the original has faded, so we show you a sample first, or recoat the adjacent sections so the elevation reads as one.
How long does a glass replacement take?
Making the opening safe is normally same-day. The pane depends on the glass: toughened and laminated are made to order and cannot be cut after treatment, and a coated or double-glazed unit takes longer. We give you the fabrication lead time in writing with the quote, not a guess on the phone.
Will double glazing make the room cooler?
It helps, and how much depends on the frame as well as the glass. A double-glazed unit in a non-thermally-broken frame still passes heat through the metal. On a west elevation, what works is a coated unit in a thermally broken frame, quoted as one.
Do you work at height on towers?
We work at ground and low level, from scaffold, and through building-provided facade access where the building management permits it. High-level rope access and full curtain wall replacement are specialist facade contracts, and we say so at survey rather than subcontracting.
Glass balustrades and frameless screens are our work; structural steel balustrades and metal handrails sit with steel fabrication.
Once a glazed facade is installed it needs cleaning at height for the rest of its life, which is facade cleaning.
Areas we cover
Aluminium and glass work concentrates where the glazing is exposed or the spec is high. Palm Jumeirah and Jumeirah Beach Residence are the harshest for salt corrosion on frames and hardware. Downtown Dubai, the DIFC district and Business Bay want frameless internal glazing and door sets in tower offices. Dubai Hills Estate and Jumeirah are villa glazing, balustrades and shower screens. Beyond those, ask us. Coverage is on our areas page.
Send us the space for a BOQ
Send us the space on WhatsApp: the building or villa, the floor, a photo of the frame and the opening, and a rough measurement. For a shopfront or a full glazing package, send your floor plan for a BOQ and we will measure on site. You get a written quote with each pane and section itemised, the glass and finish specification, the fabrication lead time, and the approvals we handle for you.
Broken pane, message us now: we make the opening safe and template while we are there. Contact us or send it on WhatsApp.
Areas we cover
Same-day reach across Dubai. Tap your area for landmarks, communities and the services we deliver there — or tell us your building on WhatsApp.
Send us the space for a glazing BOQ
WhatsApp the building or villa, floor, a photo of the frame and opening, and a rough measurement. Written quote with each pane and section itemised, glass and finish specification, fabrication lead time, and the approvals we handle for you.
