Welder in Figtree: Split-Level Rails and Retaining Steel
Welding in Figtree is slope work. The suburb climbs the foothills under Mount Keira, and the housing that went up here through the 1960s to 80s is overwhelmingly split-level, two or three floor levels, a driveway falling hard to the street, and retaining walls holding the yard in terraces. That produces stepped balustrades, internal and external stair rails, and steel in and on top of retaining walls.
Metalwork We Do in Figtree
Stepped balustrades for Figtree split-levels
Rails for half-flights, split landings and terrace edges, templated on site so every step follows the rise that is there. Where the fall is a metre or more the barrier goes in at the required height, openings a 125mm sphere cannot pass.
Steel stair stringers and treads in Figtree
New stringers for external stairs between terraced levels, and replacement of rusted treads on flights that are otherwise sound. Built in mild steel with MIG, galvanised or primed and painted, with landings set level into the slope.
Sloping-driveway gates
Swing and sliding gates on driveways that fall hard to the street, with the hinge side, ground clearance and stops worked out properly so the gate stays where you put it rather than swinging downhill on its own.
Rust and weld repairs to existing Figtree rails
Older rails on escarpment blocks usually fail at the base plate or the post socket long before the rail itself goes. We cut the corroded section out, weld new in, re-anchor into sound material and recoat the lot.
Metalwork From Around the Illawarra
Stepped balustrade over a falling terrace, built after the original posts worked loose in a cracked masonry top course.
Why metalwork in Figtree is different
A split-level house generates rails a flat house never needs. Internally there are half-flights between levels that want a handrail on an open side; externally there are landings, terraces and retaining tops where the ground drops away behind you. On a Figtree block the same deck can be 600mm above ground at one end and well over two metres at the other, which changes what the barrier has to do. Where the drop is a metre or more the NCC requires a barrier at the set height with gaps that a 125mm sphere cannot pass, and on a raked or stepped run those gaps have to be checked on the rake, not on the level. It is the single most common thing we find wrong on existing Figtree rails.
The retaining walls are the other half of the job. A lot of the terracing here is 40-plus years old masonry or sleeper walls, and putting a rail on top means fixing into something that may not be sound. We will core and chemically anchor into solid masonry; where the wall is tired we set independent posts in their own footings behind the wall instead of loading it, which costs a little more and is the difference between a rail that lasts and a rail that pulls the top course out.
Steep driveways are the third: a swing gate on a falling drive needs the hinge side worked out properly or it will not stay where you put it.
More on welding and metal fabrication, gates, handrails and balustrades and custom metal fabrication.
Our deck rail moves when you lean on it, is that worth repairing, or does the whole thing need replacing?
Movement almost always comes from the fixings, not the rail. On a Figtree block the posts are often bolted into an old bearer, a tired masonry wall or a thin slab edge, and a barrier has to carry a real load, AS/NZS 1170.1 sets what that load is, and a rail that shifts under one hand is not carrying it. We take a post off and look at what it is fixed to. Often the rail is fine and the anchoring gets rebuilt. Also worth checking: where the drop exceeds 4m, no horizontal elements are allowed between 150mm and 760mm above the floor, because a child can climb them.
Not sure what your Figtree job needs?
Send a photo and you will get a straight answer on what it needs, what it costs and when it can be done.
Rails, Gates and What the Rules Ask For
Where a rail or balustrade is doing a safety job rather than a decorative one, we set it out to the rules that apply to it. A barrier is required where the fall is a metre or more. Minimum height is 865mm above the nosing line on stairs and ramps and a metre above landings and balconies, and the openings have to be tight enough that a 125mm sphere will not pass through. Above a four-metre drop there is also a no-climb zone. If your job is a replacement on an older place, we will tell you where the existing one sits against that.
Pricing and Getting to Figtree
Every job is quoted on what it actually needs. We look at the access, the condition of what is already there, the material you want and how much of the old work can be saved, then give you a figure before anything starts. Materials move with the steel market and a repair that looks the same in two photos can be two different jobs once we are standing in front of it, so we do not publish a rate card. You get a price for your job, not a bracket, and it does not change once we have agreed it.
Figtree is ten minutes from us, so weekday visits are easy to book. Access is the real limit, narrow driveways and stepped side paths mean gear goes down by hand, and we allow time for that when scheduling.
Plumbing and electrical work is carried out by licensed partners, not in-house.
Figtree Metalwork Questions
Can you put a handrail on the stairs inside a Figtree split-level?+
Yes, and internal half-flights are a regular job here. We template the flight on site, fabricate the rail to the actual rise and going, and finish it to suit the house, brushed stainless, powder coat in a chosen colour, or steel for a timber top rail to be fitted over. Fixings go into studs or into masonry with chemical anchors, never into plasterboard alone. We work clean: drop sheets down, grinding kept outside, and the hot work done off-site where it can be. If the flight is open on both sides tell us up front, because that changes the fabrication and the price.
Can you fit a rail on top of an old Figtree retaining wall?+
Sometimes on it, often behind it. If the wall is solid masonry in good condition we can core and chemically anchor base plates straight into the top course. If it is an older sleeper wall, a dry-stacked block wall or masonry with cracking or movement, fixing a rail to it is a bad idea. A rail takes a real load when someone leans on it, and that load goes straight into the top of the wall. In that case we set independent posts in their own footings in the ground behind the wall, so the rail carries its own load and the wall keeps doing its own job. We will tell you which one your wall is after we have had a proper look at it.
How does quoting work for a rail or balustrade in Figtree?+
Text a photo to 0413 147 335 showing the full run and the drop underneath it, and tell us the length. Split-level work nearly always needs a site measure before we quote, because the fall changes end to end and that changes the build.
Can you do more than the steelwork on a Figtree renovation?+
Yes. Carpentry, decking and renovation work we handle in-house alongside the fabrication, which suits split-level jobs where the deck and its rail want to go in together. Plumbing and electrical work is carried out by licensed partners, not in-house.
Figtree jobs we also cover include landscaping, carpentry, decking and fencing. In the next suburbs over: welding in Unanderra, welding in Wollongong and welding in North Wollongong.
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