Custom Outdoor Aluminium Staircase
Designed and fabricated in-house: 20 mm aluminium stringers with RHS aluminium steps, rust-resistant and built to last, with integrated lighting. Stone tiles and glass balustrades follow from other trades.
Custom Balustrades, Handrails and Gates in Wollongong and the Illawarra
We build and install custom balustrades, handrails and gates in Wollongong and across the Illawarra, measured on site and made to the opening you actually have. Glass and stainless on a balcony, wire on a deck, flat bar on a staircase, a driveway gate that swings true, a pool fence that passes inspection.
Made to the opening you actually have
The parts of this job that go wrong are heights, gaps and the wrong metal near salt air, and all three get decided before anything is cut. It is the same workshop and the same crew behind our wider welding and metal fabrication work.
Book a site measure on 0413 147 335, or use the instant estimate on this page if you want a range first.
Balustrades
Four ways to build one, and the right answer depends on the view, the position and how close you are to the surf.
Glass and stainless
Toughened glass panels in stainless posts or spigots. The option that keeps a view, and what most people want on a coastal balcony. The glass has to be the right type and thickness for the application and the framing has to carry the load, so the panel specification and the post spacing are worked out together rather than separately.
Wire and cable
Tensioned stainless wire in a steel or aluminium frame, common on decks. The detail that matters is wire spacing and tension, because a slack wire balustrade will not hold the gap rule, and the posts have to resist that tension without pulling in.
Flat bar and vertical rod
The traditional look, and the strongest for the money. Powder coated to a colour or left galvanised. A rail of this type with a rusted-through bottom rail is often rust and weld repairs rather than a full replacement, and we will tell you which one you are looking at.
Aluminium
Light, and the sensible choice on upper levels and long runs where weight matters. Aluminium does not rust, but it does pit in salt air and it suffers galvanic attack where it contacts stainless or steel fixings, so those contacts get isolated with nylon washers or sleeves. Anyone telling you aluminium will not corrode near the beach has not been back to look at one.
Handrails
Stair rails, wall-mounted rails and continuous rails on ramps or external steps. If a rail is there so someone can hold it safely, the diameter, the clearance from the wall and the way it returns at the end all matter, and they are worth getting right on a house as much as anywhere else.
One thing to be straight about: AS 1428.1 does not govern an ordinary domestic stair handrail. It gets quoted at homeowners regularly. It applies to accessible paths of travel in public and commercial buildings, so if someone cites it at you for a house, they are padding.
For grab rails, and rails for someone who is getting less steady on stairs, we fix into solid structure rather than into plasterboard, and we will tell you if a wall will not take it.
Gates
Built to the opening, braced to stay square, and hung so they still latch in a year.
Driveway gates
Swing or sliding, steel or aluminium, built to the opening and braced so they stay square. A wide gate needs either a diagonal brace or a frame designed to carry itself, otherwise it drops and stops latching. Say at the site measure if automation is planned, because a gate that will be motorised needs different bracing, post and hinge detail to one that is pushed by hand.
Side and pedestrian gates
Built self-closing and self-latching where they form part of a pool barrier. A gate that has dropped, lost a hinge or rusted off at the post is usually a mobile welding job done where it stands, without taking it away.
Pool gates and fencing
This is the most regulated metalwork on a domestic property, and getting one item wrong means a failed inspection. The figures, from AS 1926.1-2012:
- The barrier is at least 1200mm high, or 1800mm where it is also a boundary fence. See pool fencing in Wollongong for how we set a barrier out.
- The gap at the bottom to finished ground is no more than 100mm.
- A 900mm non-climbable zone is kept clear of anything usable as a foothold.
- The gate opens outwards, self-closes from any position and self-latches, with the latch release at least 1500mm above ground, or 1200mm if it sits on the inside with the release 150mm below the top of the gate.
Heights, gaps and the rules that actually get checked
A barrier is required wherever there is a fall of 1 metre or more. The minimum height is 865mm measured above the nosing line on stairs and above ramps, and 1 metre above landings, balconies and other floors. Those two figures get conflated constantly, including by builders.
Then the gaps. Nothing in the barrier may let a 125mm sphere pass through, dropping to 40mm where the opening is at the edge of the floor. Where the fall exceeds 4 metres a no-climb rule is added as well: no horizontal or near-horizontal elements between 150mm and 760mm above the floor that a child could use as a foothold. Figures checked against the NCC Housing Provisions.
The gap rule is where repairs and cheap jobs fail, because it is easy to re-weld a rail and leave the spacing exactly as non-compliant as it was. If a quote you have been given does not mention gap spacing or barrier height at all, ask about it before you accept it.
Load is the third one. A barrier has to resist someone leaning or falling against it, and that is what governs post spacing and how it is fixed. Barrier loads come from AS/NZS 1170.1, and wind from AS 1170.2 on anything exposed, such as a solid gate or an infill panel on an open balcony.
Which metal, and why 316 near the water
Grade 304 stainless is fine inland and in sheltered positions. Within a few streets of the surf, 316 is the grade to use, because it resists chloride pitting better. It is worth being honest about what that buys you: both 304 and 316 can tea-stain near the coast. What decides how a rail looks in ten years is the surface finish and whether it gets rinsed down with fresh water from time to time.
On a Thirroul, Austinmer, Shell Cove or Gerringong balcony, 316 is worth the extra. A few streets back and sheltered, 304 or coated aluminium will do. We will tell you which side of that line your place sits on rather than selling you the dearer one by default.
Mild steel is still the strongest for the money, hot-dip galvanised to AS/NZS 4680 or primed and coated, and it is covered in more detail under custom metal fabrication.
How a balustrade or gate job runs
Paperwork goes with it. In NSW a written contract is required for residential building work when the contract price is over $5,000 including GST. Work worth $5,000 to $20,000 can run under a small works contract; work worth more than $20,000 requires a full home building contract along with home building compensation cover and its insurance certificate. The maximum deposit that may be requested is 10 per cent either way, and variations are agreed in writing before the varied work happens.
Site measure.
Openings are rarely square and stair runs are rarely even, so this happens before anything can be priced properly.
Design and quote.
Material, style, finish and fixing method, with the compliance detail settled here rather than on install day, and the figure in writing before work starts.
Fabrication.
Built on the bench so it is square, then coated or finished.
Install.
Fitted, fixed into solid structure, adjusted, and checked against height and gap before we leave.
How we quote, and what drives the figure
What a balustrade or gate comes to is driven by the material, the length of the run, the number of posts, the finish, how much of the existing structure can be kept, and how hard the site is to work on. A straight deck run is a different job to a curved stair with a landing, and a rail that can reuse sound posts is a different job to one that cannot.
So we look at it first, then put a firm figure in writing before any work starts. The instant estimate on this page will get you a range in a minute if you want a sense of it beforehand, and 0413 147 335 gets a site measure booked. Work on an apartment balcony runs differently again and is covered under strata balustrades.
Book a site measure
Call 0413 147 335 or send a photo. If the deck and the rail are both on the list, the same crew builds the decking and fabricates the balustrade, so there is one quote and nobody waiting on a separate fabricator. Finished jobs are on our work, and we cover all our Illawarra and South Coast service areas.
Our Work
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Watch Our Gates, Handrails & Balustrades Work
Real jobs from our own crew, filmed on site. See all our work videos.
Want a firm price on this?
Send a photo and a short description. You get a straight answer on what it needs and what it costs before anything starts.
Questions
Gates Handrails Balustrades Questions
How high does a balustrade have to be?+
865mm measured above the nosing line on stairs and above ramps, and 1 metre above landings, balconies and other floors. A barrier is required wherever the fall is 1 metre or more.
What is the gap rule for a balustrade?+
No gap may let a 125mm sphere pass through, dropping to 40mm where the opening is at the edge of the floor. It applies between wires and rods and under the bottom rail, and it is the rule most patch-up repairs fail.
Is 316 stainless really necessary near the beach?+
Close to the surf it is the grade to use, because it resists chloride pitting better than 304. Be aware that both grades can tea-stain in salt air. Surface finish and an occasional fresh-water rinse are what actually control staining.
Can you match an existing balustrade?+
Usually. Send a photo plus the post spacing and the rail size, and you will get a straight answer on whether it can be matched or whether a full run is the better job.
Do I need council approval for a balustrade or a pool fence?+
Check with the council the property sits in, because Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama and Shoalhaven are four different councils with their own requirements. A pool barrier has to comply with AS 1926.1-2012 regardless, and it is inspected.
Can you build a gate ready for automation?+
Yes. Tell us at the site measure, because a gate that will be motorised needs different bracing, post and hinge detail to one that is opened by hand.
Do you do balcony balustrades in apartments?+
Yes. Strata work has its own approval process, because a balcony rail is almost always common property and the owners corporation decides rather than the lot owner. It is set out on our strata balustrades page.
How do you price balustrade and gate work?+
We look at the job first: the material, the run length, the number of posts, the finish, how much of the existing structure can be kept and how hard the site is to work on. You get a firm figure in writing before work starts, and there is an instant estimate tool on this page for a range beforehand.
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