Why do so many balustrades fall into disrepair?
A common sight around Brisbane is timber balustrading in varing states of disrepair. All too often the standard timber balusters, bottom rails and handrails are assembled by a carpenter with a pinning gun often without galvanised nails.The painter only comes to paint the balustrades once they have been assembled. This means that all the cut ends never get sealed/primed and the contact points on the bottom rail are only ever protected by the factory preprime blue coating. This is not as durable as a dedicated primer/sealer paint. As a result water gets in all the end grains and sits in the contact points rotting the timber and rusting the metal pinning nails. The bottom rail and the baluster connection point is the first to give way causing the bottom rail to collapse and the balusters to fall out.
Our approach is different
How to renovate the Second Nature Builder way.... dismantle the components. Clean and sand. Remove rotted timber and repair with epoxy filler. Prime all timber, especially the cross cuts and bottom rail prior to assembly. Assemble with 8 gauge galvanised screws through the bottom rail and into each baluster and pin the balusters into the handrail rebate with galvanised brad nails.
Experienced Team
Second Nature Builders is an experienced and multiskilled team that build timber balustrades by prepainting at critical stages of assembly which means that all end grains and contact points are protected at the outset. We also use superior galvanised fasteners and more durable fastening techniques for long lasting balustrades that can withstand the sun and rain of a Brisbane climate.
