Most of what we make for the back of a house gets specified on looks. This one was specified on maintenance, and that changed every decision in it.
The client wanted something that drained, that did not need looking after, and that had no paintwork on it to chip, scratch or flake. What came out of that is a walkout balcony and a short galvanised steel access staircase to the rear doors, both in galvanised steel with open mesh flooring, with a System 1 stainless steel and glass balustrade to the open sides and a stainless steel access handrail to the steps. Surveyed, made and installed by us, in the Manchester area.
Project overview
- Location: Manchester area
- Scope: Surveyed, supplied and installed by us
- Balcony: Walkout balcony to the rear doors, carried off the wall on brackets with nothing standing on the ground
- Staircase: Short galvanised steel access staircase down to the yard
- Decking and treads: Open mesh flooring throughout
- Balustrade: System 1 stainless steel and glass to the open sides
- Handrail: Stainless steel access handrail to the steps
- Finish: Hot dip galvanised base metalwork, no paint or powdercoat
- Client brief: Drainage, low maintenance, and no paintwork to damage
- Fabrication: BS EN 1090-2, UKCA marked
Get a price for something similar
This is our walkout balcony, made to your opening and your projection, with the deck and finish specified to suit the job.
Why open mesh rather than a solid deck
Most domestic balconies get a solid deck: composite board, timber, or steel plate. It looks more finished, and for a lot of people that is the right answer.
A solid deck has to deal with water, though. It needs a fall on it, and the water has to go somewhere, which on a balcony over a doorway usually means a drip tray or guttering underneath so it does not run down the back of the house or onto whoever is walking below.
Open mesh flooring sidesteps the problem rather than solving it. Rain goes straight through. There is no fall to get right, no standing water, no tray to keep clear and nothing underneath to block. Leaves and grit drop through instead of collecting in a corner. It is the reason open mesh is the default on industrial access stairs and walkways, and this client wanted it for the same reason on a house.
The trade off is honest and worth stating. You can see through it, which some people dislike on a raised balcony, and it is a harder, more industrial look than a board deck. If either of those bothers you, a solid deck with proper drainage is the better choice and we make both. Our decorative metal deck panels are the middle ground, a patterned panel that still drains but reads as a feature rather than as grating.
Galvanised, because there is no paint on it to go wrong
The second half of the brief was no paintwork. That is a more considered request than it sounds.
A powdercoated or painted finish is a film sitting on top of the steel. It looks better than galvanising and we powdercoat most of what we make, but a film can be chipped by a dropped plant pot, scratched by a ladder or caught by a wheelbarrow, and once it is broken the damage is visible and it wants touching in. On a surface that gets walked on and worked over, that is a maintenance job that comes round again.
Hot dip galvanising is not a film on the steel, it is bonded into the surface. There is no coating to chip off and no touching in to do. It will weather and dull from bright to a flat grey over the first year or two, which is normal and is not deterioration, and a mark on it does not read as damage the way a scratch through paint does.
It is a trade for appearance. Galvanising is a working finish rather than a decorative one, and it is grey, with the spangled texture the process leaves. Our material finishes page sets out galvanised against powdercoated, and we can galvanise and then powdercoat over it where you want the protection and the colour.
A balcony with nothing standing on the ground
The balcony is carried off the wall on brackets rather than on posts coming down to the yard.
On a small rear yard that matters more than it would on open ground. Posts take up the space underneath, they have to land on something that will take them, and they are in the way of everything else that happens down there. Carrying the platform off the wall leaves the yard clear and leaves the ground below it usable.
Whether a particular wall will take a balcony is a question for the survey and, where it is needed, for a structural engineer. It depends on what the wall is built of and what condition it is in, and it is not something anyone can answer from a photograph. We surveyed this one before anything was drawn.
Stainless on top, galvanised underneath
The balustrade and the access handrail are stainless steel, not galvanised, and that is deliberate.
Galvanising is the right finish for the structure, which is doing work and taking knocks. It is the wrong finish for the thing you put your hand on every day and for the thing standing across the view out of your doors. Stainless stays bright, feels better to hold, and with glass panels between the posts the balustrade does not block the light the way a galvanised infill would.
So the job splits by what each part has to do. Structure in galvanised steel, the parts you touch and look through in stainless and glass.
Get a price for something similar
Send photographs of the rear of the house, the door opening, and the drop down to the ground, to sales@diomet.co.uk, or call 0114 243 9009. Say if drainage or maintenance is driving the specification, because it changes what we would put forward.
- Walkout balcony with framed glass balustrade, the balcony on this job
- Galvanised steel access staircase, the stair on this job
- Stainless steel access handrail, for steps and ramps
- System 1 stainless steel glass balustrade, the balustrade here
- Decorative metal deck panels, where you want a deck that still drains but looks less industrial
- Galvanised and powdercoated steel staircase, the same stair in a colour where appearance matters more than touching in
If you are not sure what to send, our how to get a price page sets it out.
Before you order
- Balcony and Juliet building regulations
- Staircase building regulations
- Glass balustrade building regulations
- Glass balustrade fixing guide, methods and substrates
- Material finishes, galvanised against powdercoated
- Installation
- Our certification and what it covers
Frequently asked questions
What is open mesh flooring?
A steel grid made from bars on edge, used as decking and as stair treads. Water, grit and leaves fall through it instead of sitting on it, and the top edges of the bars give grip underfoot. It is standard on industrial walkways and access stairs, and it works just as well on a domestic balcony where drainage matters more than appearance.
Do I still need drainage with an open mesh deck?
Not in the way a solid deck does. Rain passes through rather than running to one end, so there is no fall to set and no tray or gutter to keep clear. What is underneath still gets wet, so it is worth thinking about where the balcony sits before you choose it.
Can you see through an open mesh balcony from below?
Yes, and through it from above. That is the main reason people choose a solid deck instead. If the balcony overlooks somewhere you would rather not see into, or is directly over a seating area, say so and we will price a solid deck with drainage.
Does galvanised steel need maintaining?
Far less than a painted finish. The zinc is bonded into the steel surface rather than sitting on it as a film, so there is nothing to chip or peel and nothing to touch in. It dulls from bright to a flat grey over the first year or two, which is the finish settling rather than failing. An occasional wash is all it asks for.
Can a balcony be fitted without posts to the ground?
Often, but it depends entirely on the wall. The loads all go into the structure of the house, so what the wall is built of and what condition it is in decides it. That is established on a survey, and where calculations are needed a structural engineer provides them. It is not something that can be answered from a photograph.
Why is the balustrade stainless when everything else is galvanised?
Because they are doing different jobs. Galvanising suits the structure, which takes knocks. The balustrade is in the view out of the doors and the handrail is held every day, and stainless and glass is the better answer for both.
Can I have galvanised and a colour?
Yes. Steel can be galvanised and then powdercoated over it, which gives you the zinc protection underneath and a colour on top. It costs more than either on its own, and the powdercoat is still a film that can be damaged, which is exactly what this client wanted to avoid.