Timber balustrade and handrail
How to use it at its best
Timber handrail and balustrade is an elegant natural alternative to the increasingly popular stainless steel wire that is popping up everywhere. The use of timber entirely depends upon the application and is at its best when matching your deck to your house.
Your safety is our priority
It is our top priority to ensure your beautiful new deck in Brisbane is as safe as it possibly can be that’s why we make sure everything we build is built to code. That means if your deck is above 600mm of natural ground height we’ll build your handrail at an absolute minimum of 1 meter – we can’t have your little ones climbing overboard! And you won’t find any gaps bigger than 125mm in our balustrade, this stops anything that might fall against it from going over the hedge and possibly harming someone below.
The handrail – a place to lean, a place to rest your beer.
When deciding on a handrail you really need to consider what the deck is going to be used for and what overall look and feel you are trying to achieve. Do you have a period house and need to match the deck in? Or you simply just have kids and don’t trust them to rest things on the handrail? In that case there are plenty of options such as ladies waist or bread loaf, but if you’re a big entertainer and you need a nice big flat handrail to rest that beer or glass of wine on while enjoying the company of friends then you should consider a flat handrail with a width of at least 150mm. Regardless of what you choose it is incredibly important that it’s secured properly, handrail needs to be able to withstand a person falling on it and not have them go through! For handrail types such as ladies waist and bread loaf they can only be attached with special purpose dowels to secure them to the post along with some rust proof galvanized nails on either side! We can’t stress just how important it is to secure that all important handrail.
The overall finish
Where ever possible we recommend that you use a good sturdy Australian hardwood, while pine is perfectly acceptable as long as it’s primed on all surfaces, we are a true believer in hardwood. Not only does it give a nicer finish but it’s big, solid and sturdy and is designed for the outdoors. Primed pine, if treated correctly and well maintained, has a life span of 25 years where as a deck in Brisbane’s weather built in hardwood will outlive you as long as its painted or oiled. For some great examples of how you can best use timber head along to our Brisbane Patios, Decks, Carports and sunrooms section and check out the gallery.
– Gordon
