Can we change our balcony balustrade?

Usually, with scheme approval. Height, infill and colour are typically set in the scheme guidelines because balconies are part of the external appearance, and the scheme reviews before the county would. We get the design cleared before fabricating.

Our balustrade is rusting after two years. Is that normal?

It is common and it is not acceptable. Builder-grade balustrades are painted mild steel, and paint alone does not survive two rainy seasons at the welds. Replacing with galvanised and powder-coated steel costs more once and then stops being a recurring problem.

Plumber in Kiambu Road, Nairobi

We cover Kiambu Road including Thindigua, Two Rivers, Edenville, Fourways Junction, Membley, Ridgeways, Garden Estate, Thome. Off Kiambu Road and Northern Bypass. Gated schemes log contractor visits and approve any external change.

What is different about plumbing in Kiambu Road

Kiambu Road gated schemes at Thindigua set boundary railing height and colour in the scheme guidelines, which are reviewed before any county submission.
Fourways Junction townhouses hand over with builder-grade balustrades in painted mild steel that rust at the welds within a couple of seasons.
Two Rivers area units have balconies overlooking communal areas, so the infill has to meet the scheme's requirement on climbability.

Railings and gates on the Kiambu Road corridor

This corridor is recent gated housing, which means two things: somebody else has already specified the metalwork, and the scheme has an opinion about changing it.

Scheme guidelines come first

Boundary railing height, balustrade infill and colour are typically written into the scheme’s design guidelines, because they form part of the external appearance everyone in the scheme is buying into.

The scheme reviews before the county would. A design cleared with neither is a design made twice, so we resolve the guideline first, the same sequence that applies to every other trade building here.

Builder-grade rusts on schedule

Handover balustrades in these schemes are painted mild steel. Paint alone does not survive two rainy seasons at the welds and cut ends, and by year three the rust is bleeding down the render.

Replacing with hot-dip galvanised and powder-coated steel costs more once and ends the cycle. Repainting the original is a recurring expense that never quite works, because the corrosion is already under the coating.

Climbability

Balconies overlooking communal areas usually carry a scheme requirement that infill must not be climbable, which rules out horizontal bars and wide-spaced wire at child height.

Vertical bar at 100mm maximum spacing satisfies both the safety rule and the scheme, and it is what we fit as standard.

What we are usually called out for in Kiambu Road

Mild steel railings Mild steel railings, galvanised and powder coated rather than painted, for balconies, stairs and boundaries. Glass balustrades Toughened and laminated glass balustrades, fixed to spec rather than clamped and hoped. Gates and perimeter Sliding, swing and pedestrian gates built for the ground they actually run on. Window grills Grills made to each opening, with spacing that resists entry and at least one escape route per floor.

Landmarks we work around here: Two Rivers Mall, Ridgeways Mall, Kiambu Road, Northern Bypass. See what railings cost.