Railings are what we do most. Thousands of metres over the years – Victorian stuff on terraced houses, modern security railings for businesses, everything really.
Most common job is replacing old railings that have rusted through. They look alright from the street but when you grab them they wobble, or the bottom’s completely rusted away. At that point you need new ones. No point patching it up.
We make them in the workshop to match your house. Victorian properties usually need the decorative pointed tops and scrollwork. 1930s houses are simpler Art Deco bars. Modern stuff tends to be plain verticals or horizontals – cleaner lines.
Heights vary. Front garden railings are usually a metre high – marks the boundary without blocking the view of your house. Balcony railings have to be 1100mm minimum. That’s building regs, not negotiable. If you’re on a slope the rules can be different.
Galvanising’s worth it. We hot-dip galvanise everything that’s going outside. The steel gets dunked in molten zinc – sounds dramatic but it’s the best rust protection going. Galvanised railings last 20-30 years easy. We’ve got jobs from 15 years ago still looking sound.
Powder coating goes on after if you want colour. Black’s most popular but we can do any RAL colour. It’s baked on at high temperature so it doesn’t chip like paint. Adds another layer of protection too.
Fixing depends what we’re working with. Existing stone posts, we drill and chemical anchor the railings in. Brick walls we core drill or use base plates. On soil the posts go down at least 400mm in concrete.
Planning permission’s needed in conservation areas sometimes. Generally they want railings that match the period of the building. We’ve dealt with planning applications before – can advise what they’re likely to approve.
Most jobs take a day or two to install once the metalwork’s made. Fabrication’s about a week depending how busy we are. We template everything on site first because walls and posts are never quite where you’d expect.
Security railings for commercial properties are heavier – 1.8 to 2.4 metres tall, thicker gauge steel. Takes longer to install and needs proper foundations.
We repair railings too but honestly if the whole run’s corroded, replacement usually works out better value than trying to patch it. If it’s just one section damaged we can cut out and weld new pieces in.
Ring us if you need railings sorting. We’ll measure up and talk through options.