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Frequently asked questions
Twenty-four short answers, sorted by theme, with the figures we actually work with in the workshop. If yours is not here, it belongs at the bottom of this page.
10 min · Updated 5 November 2026
Here are the questions we hear most often, sorted by theme. The answers are the ones we give on the phone, with the figures we actually work with — not ranges so wide they say nothing. If your question is about a specific case, it deserves a message: one dimension and two photos beat a long conversation.
Prices and budget
The workshop’s real ranges, tax included, with fitting when fitting is our job.
What does a bespoke guardrail cost?
Budget €240 to €300 per linear metre fitted indoors, €320 to €380 outdoors galvanised, and €380 to €420 in stainless or forged iron. A one-metre window guardrail starts around €190, while a careful twelve-metre run sits near €4,200. Fixings, finish and curved work are what move the price most.
Why are some quotes not instant?
Families available in the configurator (gates, standard guardrails, central-stringer stairs, tables, ceilings, braseros, pivot bars) price themselves live. Verrières and sculptures need a drawing and a take-off instead: we answer within seven working days with a dimensioned plan and a line-by-line quote.
Does the displayed price include fitting and tax?
Yes for everything we install: guardrails, gates, stairs, stretch ceilings and braseros. All amounts include tax at 20%. For furniture, the price covers the delivered piece; assembly or fitting on site appears as a separate line on the quote. Nothing is added after signing.
Lead times
What we promise, what we keep, and what genuinely takes time.
What is the lead time for a bespoke piece?
From plan approval: two to three weeks for a stretch ceiling or pivot bar, three to four for a guardrail, four to six for a gate, three to five for a table, six to eight for a staircase. Repairs are prioritised, usually five to ten working days in the workshop.
Why does a piece take several weeks?
The cycle is real: survey and drawing (3 to 5 days), approval then material supply (2 to 4 days), cutting and welding (2 to 5 days), outsourced galvanising (5 to 8 days), two-coat painting with 24 hours between coats, then a trial assembly and inspection. Few of these steps can be compressed without losing quality.
Can an order be rushed?
It depends on the workshop’s load. When the schedule allows, we move a batch to handle an urgent job, with a 15 to 25% surcharge. We never shorten a finish’s drying time, the galvanising or the inspection: that is exactly where long-term durability is decided.
Standards and safety
Heights, gaps, marking: the rules that apply to a guardrail or a staircase.
What height should a guardrail be?
The French NF P01-012 standard sets a minimum of 1.00 m above finished floor, measured to the top of the handrail. Outdoors and on wind-exposed structures we build at 1.05 m. On stairs, height is measured vertically from the tread nosing, not along the pitch line.
How far apart should bars be?
Eleven centimetres maximum between two elements: that is the diameter of the sphere that must not pass through. No easy-to-climb horizontal element may sit between 45 and 90 cm from the floor. In the workshop we aim for 10 to 10.5 cm centres to keep a margin, and we favour vertical bars.
Does a guardrail need certification?
In a private house the law requires no certification, but compliance with NF P01-012 is asked for by insurers, notaries and surveyors. In public buildings the French order of 1 August 2006 applies. On the manufacturing side, our welded structures follow EN 1090-1 rules with material traceability.
Installation and fixings
Old walls, new slabs, waterproofed terraces: each substrate needs its own technique.
Can you fix into tuffeau stone or masonry?
Yes, and it is a local speciality. In tuffeau we avoid expansion plugs: we prefer side brackets into reveals, through-rods and low-expansion chemical anchoring. Holes are then filled with lime mortar, never quick-setting cement.
How do you fit onto a waterproofed terrace?
Each base plate sits on a load-spreading pad with an isolating gasket, and the waterproofing penetration is sealed with a compatible polyurethane mastic. We respect the drainage fall and never cut a waterproofing upstand. On pedestal-mounted slabs the guardrail fixes into the structure, not into the finish.
Do I need to be present during installation?
For a guardrail or a ceiling, no: we arrive self-contained and leave the site clean. For stairs or a motorised gate, yes at least for handover: leaf adjustment, safety-stop tests, remote controls and a short maintenance briefing.
Delivery and transport
Radius, rates and access: how the piece reaches you without surprises.
Do you deliver furniture, and at what cost?
Yes, within 200 km of Saumur. Transport is €90 including tax up to 60 km, then €0.90 per extra kilometre. Tops travel in timber crates, bases are dismantled. On-site assembly is optional and takes one to two hours.
How is a staircase delivered?
The stringer travels in one piece up to 3.60 m, on a flatbed truck with two people. We check access beforehand: gate width, corridor, building stairs, door height. A stringer that cannot pass the front door is a situation we prefer to avoid, and it happens more often than you would think.
Can I collect my order from the workshop?
Yes, collection is free in Saumur, Monday to Friday 7am–5pm and Saturday 9am–4pm, with 24 hours’ notice. It is reserved for pieces two people can handle: tables, braseros, pivot bars, small guardrails. Bring straps and a suitable vehicle.
Materials and finishes
Steel, stainless steel, solid wood: what protects, what ages well and what costs more.
Galvanised or powder-coated: which one?
Both, outdoors. Hot-dip galvanising (EN ISO 1461) deposits 60 to 85 µm of zinc and protects the metal sacrificially, including where paint is scratched. Powder coating brings colour and a second barrier. Indoors, powder coating over degreased steel is more than enough and costs less.
Stainless 304 or 316L?
304 is fine indoors and in urban outdoor settings. 316L, with its molybdenum, resists chlorides: seaside, poolside, food contact. Expect 25 to 35% more on material. Poorly maintained stainless can stain: plain water is enough, and chlorine products should be avoided.
Which wood for a tabletop?
Oak remains the best compromise: hard, stable, available in good widths. Walnut is softer and darker, beech is pale and affordable but sensitive to humidity swings, pine is light and resinous and marks easily. Outdoors, oak or robinia, oiled, never varnished.
Upkeep
Three gestures a year are enough to keep a metal piece for thirty years.
How do I look after a painted guardrail?
Wash twice a year with soapy water and a soft cloth, no abrasive pad. Touch up with a RAL paint pen as soon as a chip appears, grease hinges once a year, and check fixing tightness every two years. That is all, and it is enough to pass twenty years.
My oiled tabletop has gone pale — what now?
A whitish haze means water sat on the surface. Let it dry, sand lightly with 240 grit along the grain, dust off and apply a thin coat of hard wax oil. To avoid a repeat: coasters under cold glasses, trivets under hot dishes, and re-oiling one year after delivery then every two years.
Corten is staining the terrace — is that normal?
Yes, for the first eighteen to twenty-four months while the patina stabilises. We always fit a separation plate under the fire bowl and we advise against corten on light-coloured unprotected paving. Never clean with a pressure washer: it restarts the corrosion cycle.
Payment and warranties
Deposit, instalments, warranties: the contractual rules, with no small print.
What are the payment terms?
Thirty per cent on order, forty per cent when manufacturing starts after plan approval, and the balance on delivery or handover. Cards, bank transfer and cheques are accepted. Every instalment appears on the signed quote, with no admin fees.
What warranties cover the work?
Two years on manufacturing, hardware and finishes. Ten years on the welded steel structure, in writing from the workshop. Where the work is built into the structure (anchored stairs, guardrails on slabs), our ten-year insurance applies. Galvanising is covered by our supplier under EN ISO 1461.
Can I pay in instalments?
Yes: above €3,000 the three-instalment plan (30 / 40 / 30) with no fees is offered by default. For a staircase or a motorised gate, financing over six to thirty-six months is possible through our partner. The schedule is written plainly on the quote before signing.
Missing question? Write to contact@alelbiben.fr or call +33 6 00 00 00 00. We answer every enquiry, including when the answer is “no, that is not our trade”. And for a project already framed, the configurator gives an instant price on the families that suit it. We deliver and install within 200 km of Saumur.
Your question is not in the list?
Write to us with two photos and one dimension: we answer within 48 working hours, without an endless form.