Tap the run.
Get the quote.
Handrail and balustrade quoting in your browser.
For UK architectural metalworkers, gates-and-railings shops and small fabricators currently pricing balustrade work in Excel — or by hand, with a calculator and a Part K printout taped to the desk.
Or email info@steelestim8.com directly.
Part of the SteelEstim8 family.
What RailEstim8 does
- Pick the run — straight balustrade, stair flight, or mixed. Enter the geometry once.
- Pick a design style — Georgian, Modern, Industrial, Glass — and the profile vocabulary auto-fills.
- See bar count, post count and pitch-corrected top rail length update live.
- Generate a branded quote PDF, cutting list and BoM in one click.
Pick the style. Profiles auto-fill.
Generic balustrade software is commodity. The wedge is pre-loaded UK style vocabularies that match how your customers actually order.
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Georgian
Twisted bars, scrolled brackets, decorative finials, square tube posts — galvanised or black gloss.
Heritage / conservation / Georgian restoration -
Contemporary modern
Square section posts, plain vertical round bar, clean welds — satin or matt black powder coat.
New-build flats / modern residential -
Industrial
Mesh infill (Weldmesh standard), exposed bolts, chunky channels — mill or galvanised.
Warehouses / mezzanines / exposed-services -
Glass panel
Stand-off fixings, monolithic glass panels, optional top rail — stainless throughout.
Premium residential / hotels / retail
Plus a Custom mode where you pick every profile manually. Wire-rope and helical-stair styles land in v2.
What it does not do (yet)
Every UK fabricator has been burned by software that promised more than it shipped. So here are the limits, up front.
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Not a structural design package.
Outputs are spec, BoM and price. For high-load applications, sign-off stays with your engineer-of-record. We flag Part K and BS 6180 as warnings, not auto-design.
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Not a curved-stair tool (yet).
MVP covers straight runs and straight stair flights. Helical and curved geometry is on the v2 list — flag it on signup if it would be the deciding feature for you.
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Not blind-trust PDF extraction.
Architect drawings vary wildly. When you upload an elevation, every extracted dimension shows on screen for verification before pricing. Errors are caught before the quote leaves the building.
Built to UK standards
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Building Regs Part K
Barrier heights, the 100mm sphere infill rule, stair geometry. Built in as live warnings while you spec the run.
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BS 6180 + BS 5395
Barriers in and about buildings + UK stair design rules. Cited in compliance notes on every quote PDF.
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Equality Act 2010 + CDM 2015
Handrail height defaults for public-use stairs. Software output is design aid; final responsibility documented in the quote pack.
One family. Four products. Same workflow.
Buy any product on its own, or save 10% with the Family bundle. Same fabricator-first approach across portal frames, mezzanines, member sizing and rails.
- S8
SteelEstim8
Portal-frame estimating
£160/mo Shipping - M8
MezzEstim8
Mezzanine quoting
£85/mo Private alpha - L8
LoadEstim8
Eurocode member sizing
£60/mo Shipping - R8 You are here
RailEstim8
Handrail & balustrade quoting
£39/mo Pre-launch
RailEstim8 is in pre-launch. £39/mo at launch (incl. VAT) · included in the Family bundle. Early access opens [TBA].