You can work with a professional who installs railing kits for you, or you may even be able to buy and install a railing kit on your own. But how do these options compare to getting a custom railing system from a professional? Before you decide one over the other, you should understand the main differences between railing kits and custom railings.
Custom Designs
As their name suggests, a railing kit comes with everything that you need to install a railing in your space. This can be very convenient; however, it doesn’t give you much room for flexibility. You won’t have many choices for materials, colors, finishes, or design. If you can find what you want in a kit, that’s great. But those looking for unique designs or those that match their home’s interior or exterior will likely not find it in a kit.
Kits also can’t account for unusual staircase or balcony designs. Kits cannot curve and may not be able to accommodate very long or very long stairs, balconies, or other surfaces that you’d like to install them on. They typically cannot be installed on sloped or irregular surfaces, such as masonry. Typically, you will also find that you can’t install a kit on a wall or a roof. In all of these situations, choosing a custom railing system is the best and safest way to get the railing that you want.
Durability and Quality
Railing kits come in various qualities. You may find very cheap options and more sturdy middle-of-the-road railing kit options. Neither the cheapest nor the most expensive kits can approach the quality of a custom-made railing system.
Choosy custom railing contractors can pick the best local materials that match your aesthetic and last longer. Quality installers can achieve high precision and provide the right strength cables, posts, and fasteners for your specific railing needs. We provide cable railings that never warp, buckle or sag, which is something a kit just can’t get you.
Custom railing systems will typically last longer than kits because they were designed and installed by a professional, using high-quality materials. In fact, custom railing systems, like ours, may be virtually maintenance-free even though they last longer than the kit options.
Speed of Installation
It’s true that you can typically get a railing kit installed by professionals faster than if you had a custom system involved. Custom systems tend to rely on materials that need to be custom fabricated and require more work to install properly. Then again, the time difference may be a matter of days, so waiting a bit longer for a custom solution may not be a hassle for you. In fact, it can be less of a hassle to wait for a custom solution than to try to make a less than ideal kit solution work, especially in the long run as the kit solution breaks.
Ultimately, it’s wise to reach out to the professionals to discuss your concerns about getting a custom versus a kit railing system.
