The fact that you live in a coastal town (e.g. Sydney) often presents unique challenges. For example, choosing the right building materials should be more of a priority for you than it might be for someone who stays in a non-coastal area.

This is because such building materials will be exposed to a more demanding environment, yet they'll still be expected to offer optimum performance.

If you live in a coastal town, here's what you should know when choosing between different materials for your external handrails.

Steel Over FRP

FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) is increasingly gaining popularity as a handrail material. This is partly because FRP eliminates the problem of corrosion, which is common with untreated raw steel. However, handrails will seldom be made of untreated raw steel.

Being a plastic product, FRP expands and contracts more than steel in the face of high temperatures. When it gets too hot, the FRP handrail can easily deflect due to the increased flexibility induced by its thermal expansion. Considering the relatively higher temperatures that are characteristic of coastal cities, this should be an important consideration.

Stainless Steel Over Carbon Steel

The difference between stainless steel and carbon steel is in the structural composition of the iron alloy. Steel is considered to be stainless if its structure contains at least 10.5% worth of chromium. Stainless steel may also have other alloys such as molybdenum and nickel in its structure.

On the other hand, carbon steel is primarily made up of the iron and carbon. The strength of carbon steel is directly proportional to the quantity of carbon in it. Stainless steel may also contain some carbon, but in relatively smaller quantities.

Stainless steel is a better handrail material than carbon steel because it has greater resistance to corrosion. Chromium is often responsible for the high resistance to corrosion that steel is popularly known for. The fact that carbon steels might not have chromium in their structure means that a handrail made of this material will have a lower resistance to corrosion. Salty ocean water is highly corrosive and it's bound to reach your external handrails in the form of condensation.

316 Stainless Steel Over 304 Stainless Steel

304 and 316 refer to different grades of steel commonly used to make handrails. The difference between the two is that 316 stainless steel contains molybdenum while 304 doesn't.

Molybdenum increases the corrosion resistance of stainless steel by making it more difficult for iron atoms to dissolve from the surface of your handrail.