Gabion basket patio. Balustrade?

[johnc86]

Hi, I am extending outwards my gardens patio area using gabion baskets which will be decked over to walk around on. I am making steps to the side with rectangular baskets also.

To the rear of the new patio are there will be a drop off to the lawn of just over a meter. Obsiuly this is oging to need some sort of fence. I had read about using plastic piping of a similar inside diameter to the fence post fixed to the inside of the outer wall of the basket. Once the basket is filled with stone these plastic pipes would be held firmly in place and a fence post could then be dropped into the pipe anchoring it in place.

I was going to try this but then I thought about glass balustrade. All the glass balustrade posts Iv'e seen are designed to be fixed to the ground. I could theoretically fix them to the decking providing the decking is fixed firmly enough in place however I can't imagine it being enough support.

I have seen pictures of Gabions's with glass balustrade but I'm not sure how they fix the posts. The only other thing I can think of is using a similar idea to the plastic pipes but rather than pipes, having a fairly thick, solid piece of timber (or even a concrete post) cut flush with the decking which the balustrade posts could fix into the top of.

Anyone got any experience of this?

Thanks.

 

[noseall]

Lol, no idea were your design is meandering?

Balustrades, balconies, whatever, require structural stability and are not nailed on the end of a patio as an afterthought. I'm struggling to see how your gabion basket patio will finish at the edges in any case.

My only thoughts are that the balustrade support will need to be secure from the ground upwards, via concreted in posts or posts bolted to concrete pads etc. If your patio is already elevated by 1m then your baluster retainer will nee to be a further 1.1m, meaning a minimum 2.1m from the lower ground level.

 

[johnc86]

Lol, no idea were your design is meandering?

I've got no idea what that means.

Balustrades, balconies, whatever, require structural stability and are not nailed on the end of a patio as an afterthought.

What makes you think I was planning to 'nail' anything on as an 'afterthought'? As I stated in my original post I, I haven't started the patio extension yet. This is very much a preliminary thought. It's called planning.

I'm strugglingto see how your gabion basket patio will finish at the edges in any case.

Not really sure what you are trying to say there either. Which edges? Care to elaborate?

My only thoughts are that the balustrade support will need to be secure from the ground upwards

Not necessarily. If you'd read my post properly you'd have seen that I made reference to a method other people have used whereby they put tubes inside the cages pressed up against the outside wall of the cage, the outward force of the the stone infill pressing around the tube is enough to hold it tightly in place, this can then even possibly filled with concrete to the brim giving a fixing point at the top of the basket. That's just one idea I've read.

..... concreted in posts or posts bolted to concrete pads etc.

This is the problem, whatever the balustrade is to fix to would need to be inside the basket. That's what I'm trying to to find a solution for.

So...you haven't really offered anything constructive there have you? You've just taken the Mick and being generally condescending without really having anything of value you to add.

If your patio is already elevated by 1m then your baluster retainer will nee to be a further 1.1m, meaning a minimum 2.1m from the lower ground level.

Correct!

 

[noseall]

So...you haven't really offered anything constructive there have you?

Post a piccie of your glass balcony fixed to a post that has been rammed into a gabion basket and I might take this thread seriously.

 

[johnc86]

Still nothing constructive to add then!

 

[noseall]

constructive to add

You read too many gardening magazines.

 

[johnc86]

Never read one in my life

 

[catlad]

Scaffolding poles might give you some sort of base to start from?