The urethane balustrade system is a staple in each major urethane millwork company’s product offering. Fypon has one. Spectis has one. Chemcrest had one when they were still in business.

There are many advantages of using urethane for a balustrade system. The system is light-weight, weighing between 15lbs to 30lbs per lineal foot. This makes it perfect for balcony, deck, rooftop, or porch installation. With urethane balustrade, you get the classic designs of traditional wooden balusters, but in a product that doesn’t rot or deteriorate. One of the other great features of urethane balustrade is that most urethane manufacturers prime the product, so it arrives to the jobsite ready to paint. This can save a contractor many hours of work.

While there are many advantages to urethane balustrade, there are some fundamental problems with the system. Urethane feels like high-density foam. You can scratch or dent it incredibly easy; even when you just lean against it with your hand, your fingernail can easily penetrate the surface. This makes the urethane top rail susceptible to damage in simple day-to-day usage. The same thing happens to the bottom rail; it is very commonly dented when someone steps on it, kicks it, or bumps something against it. Because the spindles are inset from the top and bottom rail, they often don’t get damaged, but the problem with the top and bottom rails still remain.

Even with knowing this, the major urethane companies have never made any adjustments, and continue to make their balustrade top and bottom rails out of urethane.

There is one other main option in the industry (besides concrete or cast stone): fiberglass reinforced polymer (FRP) balustrade. This is a similar material that architectural columns are made out of (HB&G and Turncraft), and is incredibly strong. The top and bottom rails cannot be easily dented, unlike urethane.

But FRP balustrade comes with problems of its own. Because it is such high-density, it actually weighs between 69lbs to 150lbs per lineal foot. This makes it impractical to use on balcony, rooftop, deck, or porch applications. It can only go on projects that are specifically designed to carry that much weight per foot. While FRP is a great material, it is not even a useable product for most balustrade applications.

The common and unquestioned use of these two materials has dumfounded me ever since I got into the balustrade business. I cannot believe someone has not come out with a better material than urethane or FRP. One of them has perfect weight and great detail, but gets damaged easily. The other material is incredibly strong, but weighs too much for most projects. That is why I am so excited to see what happens with Ekena Millwork and their rumored balustrade system.

About a month ago I heard a rumor that Ekena Millwork (another major Urethane Millwork manufacturer www.ekenamillwork.com) is coming out with a balustrade system that will be different from every other system in the market. My source said that Ekena fixed the common problems with both the urethane balustrade, and the FRP balustrade, and that their system is going to be a type of hybrid of light weight and strength.

I tried calling Ekena Millwork about this rumor but they wouldn’t give me any further information and said that all new products would be included in their next catalog, which is scheduled to come out in August.

I plan on writing more about this Ekena balustrade system as I find out, but I can’t wait to see what Ekena Millwork has up their proverbial sleeve.