Choosing the right balustrade for your home can be rather tricky. This is because people tend to fall for common mistakes. These mistakes are due to a lack of knowledge on balustrades and balustrade installation. To help you avoid these mistakes, we thought it would be useful to have a brief discussion on this subject. If this is something that you’re interested in knowing more about, read on for four common balustrade mistakes and how to prevent them.
Opting for the Cheapest Option
One of the most common mistakes that people make when it comes to balustrades is going for the cheapest option possible. While price isn’t automatically indicative of quality, you should be looking at other factors as well. It’s in your best interest to consider quality, safety, research and development costs, durability, warranty, installation, and delivery. It’s also important to remember that cheaper balustrade options often don’t come with strong warranties and may end up costing you more money if they prematurely break or need repairs.
Hyper-focusing on Aesthetics Over Functionality
We can all appreciate beautiful design, but a balustrade’s primary purpose is to make your space safer. Balustrades should be high enough to prevent both children and tall adults from stumbling and falling over the edge. It is also important to choose a handrail that will not encourage objects to be placed on it. If you have young children or pets, you should avoid balustrades with large gaps.
Attempting to Self-Install
While it might be tempting, we advise you to refrain from attempting to install the balustrades yourself. Despite how simple the process may seem, this couldn’t be further from the truth. All railings should be built to code, have a structural engineer inspect the plans, and adhere to Australian Standards. The easy way to avoid all these headaches is to hire an experienced professional to build the railing for you. While it may be costly to pay for installations, it surely beats out having to pay for expensive repairs due to a failed DIY installation.
Ignoring the Maintenance Costs
When choosing balustrades, people often forget to take the maintenance costs into consideration. Glass and aluminium balustrades are popular because they don’t require much maintenance. Timber balustrades are pretty, but they are expensive to maintain. This is because woodworms can eat at the framing, and it’s a challenge to keep them from being marked by passersby and the elements. Not only that, but it is hard to find people who have the skills needed to repair them. To avoid making this mistake, it’s crucial that you take the maintenance costs into consideration along with the other factors such as aesthetics and functionality. With that being said, there is no balustrade system that is entirely free of maintenance costs so just pick the one that best suits your needs and situation.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article proves to be useful when it comes to helping you avoid common balustrade mistakes. Be sure to keep all of this information in mind so that you can make the most informed decisions for your balustrade installations. While it may seem like a lot of work to avoid these mistakes, it will be well worth your effort as some of the most common balustrade installation mistakes will cost you a lot of money to fix.
If you are looking for a trusted source of balustrade suppliers in Perth, look no further than our selections here at Aussie Balustrading and Stairs. We offer steel and stainless steel stairs, wireless balustrading, residential handrails, and commercial handrails. Contact us today and let us provide you with all your high-quality balustrading needs.
