Trade Show Report · IBS 2026 · Florida

Double Building Materials at IBS 2026 — and the Florida projects we visited after

Every February the building trade gathers at the NAHB International Builders’ Show. We brought our staircase and railing samples to IBS 2026, and met American builders at booth W8567. A few days later we drove to Fort Lauderdale, where our frameless glass, black cable railing and a floating walnut staircase were going into real homes.

By Double Building Materials — the staircase & railing manufacturer in Guangdong, China. We have manufactured stairs and railing for residential projects in 60+ countries, and the photographs here are from our own IBS 2026 stand and our client visits in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Published June 2026.

• We exhibited at IBS 2026, booth W8567, with a working floating-staircase model and railing samples.
• After the show we drove to Fort Lauderdale, to client homes fitting our frameless glass, black cable railing and a floating walnut staircase.
• We draw, trial-assemble and crate every order in Guangdong, and on site the client’s own installer fits it.

What we brought to IBS 2026

The NAHB International Builders’ Show is where American builders, contractors and remodelers source their materials for the year ahead. We take a stand there every winter, and in 2026 we were at booth W8567 — one factory supplying stairs, railing, cabinets and doors together. You can still find us listed in the official IBS exhibitor directory.

The piece people stopped for was a small working model of a floating staircase. It had oak treads stepping out from the wall, a frameless glass balustrade and a wood handrail, with a strip of light hidden under every tread. Behind it ran a wall of photographs from finished projects across the United States.

A floating staircase looks as though it ignores gravity, but the principle is straightforward. A single steel spine, called a mono-stringer, carries the load down the centre, and each tread cantilevers outward from it. Builders recognise the detail immediately, and they always ask the same question: how do you keep a long cantilever rigid?

How we explained the way we work

Most questions came back to a single worry: will a custom staircase shipped from China actually fit on site? We answer with the way we run every order, and we describe it the same way each time. Drawing-First Coordination means we draw the entire stair and get it approved before we cut any metal. Trial Assembly Before Packing means we stand the finished stair up in our own workshop, then take it apart again. Export-Ready Crating means every part travels in a braced timber crate, labelled to the sequence the site builds in.

Down to Florida, to see the work going in

When the show closes, the better part of the trip begins. We drove down to Fort Lauderdale, on the canals north of Miami, to three separate client projects. Each one had our work going in, and we wanted to see it in position rather than on a drawing.

A floating walnut staircase, going in

The first home had a floating staircase halfway through fitting. Solid walnut treads sit on a black steel spine, the risers stay open, and a frameless glass balustrade runs alongside the flight. The walnut is thick enough to feel planted underfoot, while the steel beneath carries the structural load, so the timber can stay slim at the nosing. On the day we arrived, the client’s installer was still setting the flight, with spare glass panels resting against the wall.

Frameless glass and black cable railing

Outside, the same home used two different railing types. Cable railing trades a solid panel for almost nothing at all: thin stainless cables run horizontally between posts, tensioned until they barely flex. From a few steps back, the eye skips straight past the cables and settles on the water. On the steps, a slim metal base channel grips the glass, so the panels stand upright with no posts in front of them.

For a guard at this height, the glass is usually laminated — two sheets bonded to a clear interlayer, so a hard knock leaves it cracked but still standing. Your engineer sets the glass make-up for the height and the loads, and we draw and fabricate the parts to that specification.

A black-framed glass partition inside

Indoors, the same house used a black-framed glass partition to close off a small office. The slim steel frame separates the room, yet the glass still carries daylight straight through it. It is the railing idea turned on its side — a clear boundary that you can see across.

What the booth and the job sites share

The model on our stand and the work in Fort Lauderdale are the same products, only a few weeks apart. The staircase we showed in miniature is the kind of floating staircase going into that first home. The clear panels are our frameless glass railing, and the thin horizontal lines above the pool are cable railing systems. Seeing them in place is how we confirm that the way we draw and pack an order still holds together once it lands on site.

A note on scope: we draw, make, trial-assemble and crate. On these Florida jobs the client’s own installer handled fitting on site. We supply assembly drawings and a step-by-step guide, and where local installation is available, we can help you find a vetted installer.

Questions we get about shows and shipping

Did Double Building Materials exhibit at IBS 2026?

Yes. We shared stand W8567 at the NAHB International Builders’ Show in 2026. We brought a working floating-staircase model, plus glass, cable and metal railing samples, and a wall of photographs from past American projects.

Do you ship custom staircases and railing to the United States?

Yes. We are a Guangdong factory and export to 60+ countries. We draw each order to your dimensions, trial-assemble the whole assembly in our own workshop, then crate it for sea freight to your US project.

Do you install on site in the United States?

No. We manufacture, trial-assemble and crate the parts. On site, the client’s own contractor or installer fits them together. We supply the assembly drawings and a step-by-step guide, so a local crew can follow the sequence.

What is a frameless glass balustrade?

It is a glass guard with no top rail and no vertical posts. A slim metal channel, or a set of point fixings, holds each panel along the base. The glass then reads as a single clear line, which is exactly why people choose it for a view.

How do I start a staircase or railing project with you?

Send us your drawings or site dimensions, together with a few photographs of the opening. We turn them into shop drawings for your sign-off, and then quote. Most projects begin from a simple sketch and one measured height.

Planning a staircase or railing for a US or overseas project?

Send your drawings and we’ll draw it up, trial-assemble it, and crate it to fit.