Repairing or replacing damaged metal railings

Travelling to work I noticed a stretch of metal railings adjacent to a busy roadway that had clearly been involved in a traffic accident. They were badly mangled and in need of repair or replacement. It prompted the writing of this article in order to highlight our bespoke manufacturing ability, and in particular, our skills and expertise related to repairing or replacing damaged metal railings.

 Unless of course the damage has been caused by obvious means, such as traffic accident damage, it is advisable to ascertain the cause of the damage before carrying out works to enable rectification of any existing faults. Most common causes of damage include corrosion resulting from age and a lack of maintenance.

All new metalwork supplied by Alpha Rail is hot dip galvanised as standard which will help to protect metalwork from corrosion. Most of our installations are polyester powder coated to a RAL number to the customers specification, which will provide a further level of protection. If cared for regularly, (which usually means a good wipe down with soapy water) should mean the railings we supply will not be susceptible to any corrosion for at least 20 years.

 An area where Alpha Rail particularly excel is when the damage to railings is extensive and requires replacement of at least five metres of metal railings. Sadly, although we can cater for one-offs, it usually doesn’t work out to be overly cost effective to replace small sections of damaged railings.

 We have been involved in a number of restoration projects at churches, visitor centres and war memorials where the quality of our products and our 3D design and bespoke fabricating expertise really helped to add the finishing touch to projects that required railings to closely match existing designs.

Another common reason for the replacing metal railings is for house boundaries and gardens located amid Victorian parks. During WW2 many of these railings were removed and purportedly used to make munitions. Many of the houses, parks and gardens are now being restored to their former glory and damaged or missing railing are being re-installed.

 A recent project at the Hednesford War Memorial involved the contractor sending us an example panel and we manufactured a sample railing with finals that had to very closely match the existing metalwork so as to not look obvious and out of place.

 At Alpha Rail we appreciate the importance of authenticity and that any new railings scheme must be as near to the original in as many respects as possible. Sometimes the differences in the availability of metric to imperial sizes make this a challenge, but we always do our utmost to match as close as possible.

 If you have a project in mind where we might be able to help please get in touch.