Balcony railings in Amsterdam

Signs your balcony railing needs replacing

Rust around the base, bars that rattle, a top rail that gives when you lean on it: these are the usual reasons people get in touch. Sometimes the railing is sound but simply too low or out of keeping with a renovated façade.

We can repair existing railings, including ones we did not make. In practice, though, repairing a balcony railing often costs more than a new one, especially once corrosion has reached the fixings. Send us a few photos and we will tell you honestly which route makes more sense.

New railings are always at least 100 cm high, or 120 cm where the drop is 13 metres or more. If your current railing is lower, the replacement will be taller. We do not make them lower on request.

Material

Steel (own production) or aluminium

Height

Minimum 100 cm

Lead time

6 to 8 weeks (summer 8 to 10)

Installation

Our own fitters, in Amsterdam daily

Amsterdam balconies, building by building

The type of building tells us a lot before we have even measured.

1920s and 1930s apartments

In Zuid, the Rivierenbuurt and parts of West you find Amsterdam School and pre-war blocks with small balconies, often with brick parapets or old wrought-iron rails. A simple vertical bar design usually respects the rhythm of these façades.

Post-war flats

In Nieuw-West, Noord and Zuidoost many blocks have long continuous balconies with concrete edges. Replacements here are often organised for the whole building through the VvE (the homeowners’ association that manages shared parts of a building). One drawing and one specification for every balcony keeps things consistent.

New developments

Around the Zuidas, the Houthavens and Sloterdijk, owners tend to want clean lines in anthracite or black, often flat strips or a glass balcony balustrade.

Steel or aluminium

Our own steel railings come in the bar designs A01 to A07, the F models, flat strip S01 and louvred S02. Steel is strong, easy to build to any size and can be powder coated in any RAL colour, including grachtengroen, the canal green our coater mixes in-house.

We also supply aluminium balcony railings. These are bought in rather than made in our workshops. Aluminium does not rust and is light, which helps when a railing has to go up a narrow Amsterdam staircase to the third floor.

Fixing to an existing balcony

With a replacement, the existing slab decides how the new railing is fixed:

• Face fixed to the front edge of the slab, which keeps the whole floor free on a small balcony;
• Base plates on top of the floor or concrete upstand where the edge is unsuitable;
• Between walls for recessed balconies, common in the Pijp and Oud-West;
• Wall brackets back to the façade for extra rigidity where the slab edge is thin.

Old anchor holes are taken into account in the design. When we install, we measure on site so we can see the condition of the edge for ourselves.

On the day

Tell us in your enquiry whether the old railing is still in place and what floor the balcony is on, so we can plan the visit properly. A railing that is too long for the stairwell is made in sections and joined on the balcony. On a narrow pavement in the centre we keep the disruption for neighbours as short as we can.

If you would rather fit the railing yourself, our own drivers deliver it free of charge and without damage. That works the same just outside the city, for instance in Diemen.

What affects the price, and lead times

Price depends on length and height, design, steel or aluminium, finish (galvanised, powder coated or both), fixing method, whether an old railing is still there and how easy the balcony is to reach. A third floor walk-up is a different job from a ground floor flat with a garden in front.

Lead time is 6 to 8 weeks from approval to installation, 8 to 10 weeks from July to September. Quotations are free: send the balcony width, height and a photo of the current railing for an indicative quote, usually within one or two working days. If we install, we measure up and send a final quotation with production drawing.

See the designs in the balcony railing range at Hekwerkwebshop.nl, or ask for a quote for your balcony railing. For general guidance on larger runs, see our page on balustrades in Amsterdam.

Frequently asked questions