Innovation in construction is not always about launching something entirely new. Often, it is about refining a proven product to make installation easier, detailing neater and specification more straightforward.

That is exactly how Wallbarn has continued to develop the Mega Balance System.

Recent additions to the range show how that system continues to evolve in response to practical installation challenges. Border Shield and the Perimeter Edge Kit have both been developed to improve perimeter detailing, giving installers stronger support, cleaner finishes and greater confidence when working at edges, upstands and step details.

Better perimeter detailing

Border Shield has been introduced to improve edge support on raised paving installations and prevent the movement of tiles and slabs around perimeters. It is a strong plastic plate that connects to the top of the Mega Balance pedestals and to adjacent plates, forming a continuous line of solid support along the wall or balustrade.

When paving up to walls and edges, tiles often need to be cut to fit the space. These smaller sections are lighter in weight, which can affect stability by interrupting the self-suspension effect. Over time, they can move, creating gaps and spoiling the finished appearance.

By providing a solid plate along the whole perimeter edge, Border Shield ensures complete contact between the cut tile or slab and the support mechanism, so the unit is fully supported. For extra assurance, installers can also use adhesive to bond cut sections onto the plastic plate beneath. Border Shield is particularly useful for diagonal layout patterns.

Another major advantage is that, because the plate is integrated with the Mega Balance pedestal, installers can still access the central height mechanism in the headpiece while it is in place. Minor height adjustments can therefore still be made without removing any section.

Once the correct height is achieved across the perimeter, the locking struts can be installed in the slots on the top surface, down to the baseplate, and twisted to lock them at the required height. Any excess emerging above the slots can then be cut back so the top surface remains flush.

Better open edge support

The Perimeter Edge Kit has been developed to improve the way open edges such as steps are constructed using the suspended paving system.

A two-part kit with identical upper and lower plates, it is designed to click onto both the top of the Mega Balance headpiece and beneath the baseplate. This improves on previous offerings, the Metal Edging Plate and the Metal Edge Side Clip, where clients wanted better long-term performance.

Because the plates click securely onto Mega Balance pedestals, movement is reduced significantly. The top plate allows two tiles or slabs to be installed and fully supported right up to the edge of the paved area, with no section left hovering unsupported.

Adhesive can be added to any of the surfaces to bond the tiles or cut sections of tile or slab and reduce movement further. If required, installers can also mechanically fix or adhere the bottom plate to the subsurface for even greater security.

An echelon, teeth-type design of vertical slats is moulded in to bond the vertical cut section of tile or slab forming the soffit or riser. This is again a major improvement in both performance and appearance over the Metal Edge Side Clip.

This design makes perimeter finishing easier and more effective.

Together, these additions strengthen the paving offer within the Mega Balance System, helping contractors resolve practical detailing issues while maintaining a professional finish.

A more flexible system for external spaces

Its heavy-duty performance is one of the reasons Mega Balance is so often used on larger commercial projects, where high load tolerance, broad height adjustability and reliable support across complex external areas are essential.

While it is particularly well suited to paving installations, the Mega Balance pedestal can also support decking and any of Wallbarn's aluminium rails from the same universal head design. This simplifies specification and ordering while giving contractors greater flexibility if project requirements change.

That simplicity is reflected in the range itself. Mega Balance comprises just three pedestals and two extenders, yet together they cover an exceptionally broad height range. For installers, this makes pedestal selection much more straightforward on site, reducing complexity while still providing the flexibility needed to deal with changing levels and build-ups.

Practical innovation for paving installations

Raised paving schemes involve more than creating a level surface. Installers often need to work around uneven substrates, drainage falls, service zones, door thresholds and exposed perimeters, while still delivering a clean, secure and high-quality finish.

Wallbarn’s approach has been to keep improving the Mega Balance System in ways that address those on-site and specification challenges directly.

The latest additions to the range, Border Shield and the Perimeter Edge Kit, continue that approach. Both have been developed to help installers achieve fine finishes and high-end technical solutions at the perimeter of suspended paving areas, where support, stability and appearance are especially important.

Established as a heavy-duty pedestal solution for external flooring, Mega Balance has evolved through added accessories, refined components and practical improvements shaped by feedback from clients, installers and specifiers. Developments such as Mini Mega Balance have helped reduce components while achieving even greater height adjustability, creating a more flexible system that responds to real site conditions.

Development driven by feedback

What makes this kind of product development meaningful is that it comes from listening to feedback and responding to the issues people face on real projects. Rather than adding complexity, Wallbarn has focused on creating solutions that make specification easier, reduce unnecessary components and improve installation outcomes.

That is why Mega Balance stands out as more than just a pedestal range. It is a system shaped around the practical needs of modern external flooring projects.

Important fire compliance note

For residential or occupied buildings over 11 metres, plastic pedestal components should not be used. For those applications, Wallbarn offers an extensive range of fire-rated paving and decking systems to suit relevant project requirements.

A system that keeps improving

Mega Balance remains a heavy-duty support solution for suspended paving, decking and aluminium rail installations, with core technical advantages that continue to support its use across demanding external projects.

Each pedestal has an independently tested weight tolerance of more than 3 tonnes, giving it the highest load capacity available on the market. Its self-levelling head can accommodate slopes of up to 5 per cent, equivalent to 2.86 degrees or a 1 in 20 fall, helping create a level finished surface even where the substrate is laid to falls. The range also offers an exceptional height span from 25mm up to 1,025mm, giving specifiers and installers one of the widest adjustment ranges available.

These core performance features help explain why Mega Balance is so often used on large commercial projects, where strength, flexibility and ease of installation all matter.

With Border Shield and the Perimeter Edge Kit, Wallbarn continues to refine the system for better detailing and installation.

This is innovation in its most useful form: not change for the sake of it, but better solutions developed from experience, feedback and the demands of the site.

To find out more about the Mega Balance System, Border Shield or the Perimeter Edge Kit, visit wallbarn.com or contact Wallbarn for technical guidance and specification support.