Company Profile

As featured in The Sydney Morning Herald Domain August 29, 2002.

When did wire balustrading become so ubiquitous? There was a defininte switch in the mid-'90s when it seemed you couldn't renovate a home in Sydney without stretching some stainless steel wire between a couple of turnbuckles. First it was cool, then it was a must-have, now it is such a part of the architectural vernacular that places such as Mr Stainless in Drummoyne have engineers on hand to show you how to install the balustrading.

Pam Stuart's husband Robin started Mr Stainless with 100 pounds worth of stock in 1965. They began as wholesalers but soon found people were coming in off the street wanting to buy a particular fitting. They started selling retail and today it is the bulk of the business.

The shop is wall-to-wall plastic baskets filled with every kind of nut, bolt and screw. There are literally millions of fasteners and Steve Jackson, a mechanical engineer, knows each by name and exactly what they do.

"Most of our customers are proficient DIYers," Jackson says. "You can do this kind of balustrading yourself if you can do Meccano - snap things together like that - and screw into timber. And if you don't want to do it, we can recommend a tradesperson."

Jackson says it is best to call the store first so they can access your needs. You can also make sure an engineer will be available when you visit. "We can usually give you a quote on the spot and let you know how long it will take to manufacture - normally it's a week."

The turnbuckle and wire system has endless uses. "People do all sorts of strange things, like hang wardrobes from the ceiling," Stuart says. "And we get people coming in who want to buy the wires and fasteners for climbing vines." It can also be used as an excellent curtain system and to hang shelves.

And there is more to Mr Stainless than balustrading. "We get a lot of people in who are fixing their boats, cars, bikes. One guy was replacing all the screws on his motorbike with stainless-steel screws," Stuart says.

Mr Stainless screws are everywhere - in the air-conditioning systems on Sydney buses, Parliament House in Canberra, and in Sydney's ferries.

The shop is on busy Victoria Road, "which has been the best advertising you could ask for," Stuart says. "We get thousands of people passing every day who see the big balustrading banner."

And now there's two-hour parking behind the shop there's no reason not to stop and have a chat to Jackson about your next balustrading job or how to wire up that garden wall so you can get the jasmine going in time for spring.