Author: admin
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Why it May Not be Viable to Restore Victorian Cast Iron Lacework; An Explanation for Owners, Architects, and Heritage Clients
Executive summary Restoration of Victorian cast iron lacework is often assumed to be the most appropriate heritage outcome, but in many cases it involves significant technical and financial risk. The condition of original cast iron cannot usually be confirmed until after paint removal, by which point irreversible work has already commenced. Hidden cracking is common…
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Why Original Victorian Cast Iron Balustrades Are No Longer Safe to Reuse
Executive Summary Original Victorian cast iron balustrades are a defining feature of many terrace houses, but they present significant safety and compliance risks by modern standards. In most cases they are too low, structurally brittle due to age and material properties, and highly vulnerable to sudden failure under accidental loads such as leaning, kicking, or…
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Victorian Terrace Home Lace Balustrades. Meeting Australian Standard 1170.1
Victorian terraces are common in many inner suburbs of Sydney such as Paddington, North Sydney and Balmain. Originally they had cast iron lace balustrades around 800 to 900mm height. These days the building code (BCA) requires 1.0M minimum height for balustrades, so using replicas of the original casting to replace damaged or badly corroded original…
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Balustrades Series. Meeting Australian Standard 1170.1
A structural engineer we often engage to certify that our balustrades will comply with Australian Standard 1170.1 amazed us recently when he gave his opinion about industry knowledge of the need for balustrades to meet the Australian Standard. He thought most builders and metal fabricators doing domestic work were years out of date on what…
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Why Specifications are Essential for Quoting
HOW TO OBTAIN A QUOTE We are frequently asked by builders, homeowners and even architects to provide a quote based on drawings that are preliminary or concept quality only. Sometimes we are provided with internet images or random photos on which to base a quote. They are next to useless when sourcing quotes because they…