S/Steel Balustrade

[Loki429]

Does anyone have any recommendations for stainless steel wire balustrading around a deck?
I see Bunnings sell a product called "Qiq Fix" that does not require swaging and can be re-adjusted at a later stage if required. I like the idea of being able to cut cable and install on-site without having to take the cable off-site for swaging or hiring a swaging tool.
Anyone have any experience with this? How does the price compare?

thanks

[celeste]

Hi Loki429

I just used some on my latest reno. Not quite as easy as it looks. Lots cheaper than getting a co. to do it. Get a good pair of wire cutters and cut the wire longer than you think - its easier to trim down than add on.

Mine went from a fixed position to a 90mm square post, where it had a male/female bolt right through the post, this is the bit that did the tightening. So the tricky bit was the wire length after it has been tightened. Otherwise its quite easy.

I had some confusion as to what bits I needed, as I had never dealt with anything like it B4. I did work it out tho and it looks really good.

It's only been up 2 months and no one living there to fiddling/lean etc on it, so I cannot comment on wear and tear.

They probably have a web site where you can check out what pieces you need and how many.

Celeste

[UteMad]

Does anyone have any recommendations for stainless steel wire balustrading around a deck?
I see Bunnings sell a product called "Qiq Fix" that does not require swaging and can be re-adjusted at a later stage if required. I like the idea of being able to cut cable and install on-site without having to take the cable off-site for swaging or hiring a swaging tool.
Anyone have any experience with this? How does the price compare?

thanks

We swage it on site as the cost gets a bit over the top the other way as customers never believe in the cost unless they buy it them selves....
Stay away from the junk at bunnies ..... You can have it all pressed up for you and mailed to your door ready for you to just drill the posts thread it through and screw it either end.... You just give them the internal distance from the 2 end posts and they do the rest....
Like i said i don't get my cable off them but we did buy some gear a month ago and it arrived 2 days later

www.miamistainless.com.au

1800 022 122

cost to us for pressing and all fittings minus the cable is $10.99+tax per run of cable..This is the pro rig fittings $8.99+ for economy fittings
Hope this helps

Utemad

[celeste]

Hi all

I just had a look on Utemans suggested site. That firm is alot cheaper than that bunnings stuff and easier, I will use them in future.

Live and learn!!

Celeste

[UteMad]

Yeah heavily aimed at trade more than retail ..but if you know what you want then its all good ... I don't know if the prices i quoted are right for you cause they always mail me prices and brochures ...

cheers utemad

[Loki429]

Utemad you've done it again!
You've an amazing wealth of knowledge and very prepared to share it - thank you very much, it's greatly appreciated.

I've had a look at the Miami Stainless web site and downloaded their catalogue. They also have pictures on various attachment methods with part numbers and sample costs - great stuff.
And yes at first glance it does appear to be significantly cheaper than the stuff at Bunnies (eg SS wire @ $1.25/m vs $3/m at Bunnies.)

I'll be measuring up and calling them on Monday for a quote.

One more question though - what do you do with getting the fittings done at the factory if you want to pass the wire through an intermediate post? Do you drill an oversize hole through the post to allow the fitting to pass through? If so how large a hole is required? 5mm? 6mm? Larger?

thanks.

[pawnhead]

I wouldn't be drilling over sized holes in the posts. Why don't you just hire the swaging tools from them? $35 (+freight) gets you everything. Or just buy one of their handyman tools for $45. I'm sure it would last for one deck, and it would probably cost that much getting them to do it.

Looks like a good resource there UteMad. I'll keep it in mind. A mate of mine might be interested.

[Loki429]

I'm pretty keen on the streamlined look, however these ones require hydraulic swaging! I'll check but I doubt their swage hire includes hydraulic.

or


I have one support post in the middle of each cable run and am thinking of drilling a 6mm hole through this post and passing the fitted end of the cable through.
Do you think a 6mm hole with a 3.2mm cable running through it will be too big?
Will I need to use the more expensive threaded insert or the cheaper lag screw?

Note: pictures taken directly from http://www.miamistainless.com/

[UteMad]

I wouldn't use the lag screw method as it leaves little room for retensioning of the cable once it has settled and stretched ...

Use either Streamline thread insert ( which i haven't fitted)
Or Streamlined jaw swage bottle screw method ...

Both required factory hydraulic pressing

For onsite use Standard hand swage with a bottle screw

You do use an over sized hole and pass it through the intermediate posts..
Strip the tension fitting down to its min to reduce the hole size.... How far apart are your post?

Trust me knowledge aint always good in business the more you know the less you get caught out but also the less quotes you win because your constantly beat by guys falling into unseen pitfalls

cheers utemad

[AndrewPatrol]

Trust me knowledge aint always good in business the more you know the less you get caught out but also the less quotes you win because your constantly beat by guys falling into unseen pitfalls

cheers utemad

How true is this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes makes you want to give up and go get a job in Bunnies, ---woops smack me.

[UteMad]

Someone who sees my reasoning ....Thats scary!!!

Bunnies would be good but don't think it would cover the bills anymore since i bought a car LoL ........

The apron is good and telling people what isle to find things in whens its written on the isle signs would be fun also.....

If the staff discounts were huge you could run an ebay hardware on the side too....

Cheers utemad

[Loki429]

Well I went ahead with the streamlined fittings from Miami Stainless.
I'm very happy with the result! Looks really good and was exactly what I was aiming for. Price was definitely a lot cheap than the stuff I saw at Bunnings too.
The customer service I received was excellent, and even though they said they were busy and it would take a couple of days to get them ready they were on my doorstep the following day.
All I had to do was provide accurate measurements from the inside of each post and they made them to the right length.

To pass the wire through the intermediate post I drilled a 7.5mm hole. This is the size drill recommended for screwing the ends into the posts so I just used the same one. Apparently a 7mm hole is all that is required however I found some were a bit tight when threading the wire with fittings through even with the 7.5mm hole.

All up cost was about $700. That was for 32 wires in total.
The longest wire is 3.8m with a supporting post in the middle.

When screwing those ends into the post it took a lot of battery power from my cordless drill/screwdriver! They're big screws and going into hardwood. I also had some problems with the merbau posts splitting around the edges of the hole when putting the fittings in. I ended up drilling the first 5mm with a slightly larger drill (can't remember the size) and using a large (12mm) drill to slightly countersink. I found the trick in doing this too was to put the drill in reverse! As there was already the 7.5mm hole when I tried to countersink the drill bit would grab and pull itself into the post . However with the drill in reverse it still cut sufficiently for the small countersink I was after and did not grab. End result much neater than the first ones I tried.

Many thanks to everyone for your help!

Here's a few pics of the finished result.

Loki

[pawnhead]

That looks really nice and streamlined. I haven't seen those fittings before but they look a lot better than eyelets, hooks and turnbuckles.

I found the trick in doing this too was to put the drill in reverse! As there was already the 7.5mm hole when I tried to countersink the drill bit would grab and pull itself into the post . However with the drill in reverse it still cut sufficiently for the small countersink I was after and did not grab. End result much neater than the first ones I tried.

That's a good trick if you want a clearance hole for a screw as well. After drilling your pilot hole through both pieces, with the screw gun in reverse, screw the screw through the first piece of timber to give a clearance hole so that the screw thread wont bite into the piece that needs fixing, but it still bites into the piece that you're fixing to.

[UteMad]

Glad it worked out well for you

cheers utemad

[pawnhead]

Yeh, 'Miami Stainless' looks like the place to shop.

I'll keep them in mind if I get back in the game.