Wall Top Dwarf Railings

Dwarf railings that sit on top of a wall you already have. Short railing panels on base plates, bolted down onto the coping of an existing low garden or boundary wall. Typically 400 to 900mm high above the brickwork, they add height, privacy and security to a wall that is already doing its job, without knocking it down and rebuilding it. Made to your sizes, in any of the designs we run, and supplied ready to bolt down.

Choose your finish

The same railing is offered three ways, priced in the dropdown above. The steelwork does not change; what changes is what is on it when it arrives.

• Unpainted raw steel. Bare steel, straight off the fabrication shop, and the least expensive of the three. Bare steel starts to rust within days of being outside, so it has to be primed and painted on site and kept painted from then on. Worth choosing only if you are painting it yourself or matching a paint system already on the property.
• Galvanised only. Hot dip galvanised and left bright silver, weathering to a matt grey over the first year or two. Nothing to paint and nothing to maintain, and it will sit on a wall outdoors for decades. You can still paint over it later if you change your mind.
• Galvanised and powdercoated. Galvanised first, then powdercoated in any RAL colour, and the dearest of the three. Because the colour sits on zinc rather than bare steel, a knock from a ladder or a wheelbarrow does not start a rust spot. This is the one to pick if you want it painted and then want to forget about it. Black is the usual choice against red brick or stone.

How to order

Choose the total length of wall you are railing, the number of corners and the finish. Prices are set to the nearest metre, so a wall measuring 5.4 metres is ordered as "Up to 6 metres". You are not buying a 6 metre railing: we make it to your exact dimensions, the ordered length simply sets the price band. The shortest band is "Up to 2 metres", which is also our minimum order.

• Measure along the top of the wall, add every leg together and round up to the next whole metre. Pricing is based on the total length of the horizontal sections
• Count every change of direction the wall makes: an L shape is 1 corner, a U shape is 2, a wall that returns twice more takes 3 or 4
• Tell us the height you want above the wall, and the width of the coping you are bolting to, so the base plates suit it
• Powdercoated? Give us the RAL reference when we come back to you about your drawing. Every colour is the same price
• We draw it on AutoCAD and send it over for you to approve before anything is cut, so you can move a post off a joint in the brickwork and be certain it fits

Brick piers part way along, a raked section following steps down a garden, a matching gate, or a wall whose coping is too narrow to bolt through are all quoted individually, so email us the sizes and a photo of the wall.

How the railings are built

• Heavy duty steel panels, made as standard panels or to your specific sizes
• Base plates on the posts, so the railing simply bolts down onto the flat top of the wall
• Panels bolt to the posts, or run between existing brick piers where you have them
• Several infill designs available, including plain bar, ball top and hoop top
• Height above the wall made to suit, so tell us what you want at drawing stage
• All the necessary fixing bolts and cleats supplied with the railings

Where they are used

• Raising the height of a low front garden wall
• Adding security to an existing boundary wall without rebuilding it
• Dwarf wall railings to Victorian and period terraces
• Car parks, yards and commercial boundary walls
• Parapet and retaining wall tops where the wall alone is too low
• Conservation areas where the wall must stay and only the railing is new

Specification

Designed to BS 6180 where used as a barrier, UKCA marked, and manufactured under our EN 1090-2 factory production control. Most wall top dwarf railings are boundary and security railings rather than fall protection, and are priced and built on that basis.

If the railing is guarding a drop, on a retaining wall, a parapet, a raised terrace or a level change of any kind, you must tell us before we draw it. What matters there is the combined height of the wall and the railing together, measured from the floor you stand on, and that decides both the finished height and the infill spacing. Bar spacing is set so a 100mm sphere cannot pass through it. Tell us as well if it is for a commercial or public building so the correct loading is specified. Structural calculations on request.

What you get, and fitting it

All the steelwork, the fixing bolts and cleats to put it together, and an AutoCAD drawing sent to you to sign off before anything is made. Fitting is within reach of reasonable DIY skills: the plates are drilled, so it is a matter of setting the panels out along the wall, marking through, drilling the coping and bolting down. The wall needs to be sound and the coping wide enough to take a fixing, which is worth checking before you order. We can quote to install it, and you will be contacted before delivery to arrange a weekday that suits you.

Looking after them

Unpainted steel needs priming and painting as soon as it is up, then repainting as that paint system requires. Galvanised needs nothing at all. Powder coating wants an occasional wash down with warm soapy water, and a look at the bolt heads where they sit in the wall. See our product maintenance guide.

Other railings

• Full height ball finial railings: ball top metal railings
• Curved hoops instead of finials: hoop top metal railings
• Long low runs for paddocks and driveways: estate rail steel fencing
• Decorative balustrade and ramp railings: ornate metal balustrade and ramp railings
• Handrail only, no infill: powdercoated steel handrail on posts