Balcony and terrace safety nets in Bali

We install UV-stabilised HDPE knotless netting on a tensioned 316 stainless perimeter cable, anchored into concrete or hardwood at close centres rather than screwed into render and hoped over. Mesh size follows what you are containing: 30–50 mm for children, tighter for cats and small dogs, and a stainless woven mesh where the local macaques treat plastic as something to chew. The same system closes stair voids, mezzanine edges and poolside gaps.

Anchors are the part that matters and the part nobody photographs. Every eyebolt is a chemical or expansion anchor set into sound concrete at 300–400 mm centres, with the cable tensioned so the net catches a running child without a lurch. We pull-test the anchors on installation day and hand over a written statement of mesh, hardware and results — a net that looks right and tears out of render is worse than no net at all.

What the nets are actually stopping

Three different jobs, three different specifications. Child protection means a body that cannot pass through and a mesh that cannot be climbed like a ladder: 30–50 mm knotless net, tensioned hard, taken right down to the floor slab so there is no gap along the bottom. Pets need finer mesh and, for cats, height — a cat clears a metre of netting without effort, so feline installations run to the ceiling.

Monkeys are a Bali-specific problem and honesty helps here. In Ubud, Uluwatu and around Sangeh a macaque will work through polyethylene in an afternoon, so where troops are active we fit stainless woven mesh in a frame instead. It costs several times more and is the only thing that lasts. If your property has never seen a monkey, we are not going to sell you one.

Why the anchor, not the net, decides safety

Netting is strong — a modern HDPE net holds far more than a falling child. What fails is the connection to the building. We find nets screwed into 15 mm of render, into hollow blockwork, into rotting timber rails; every one of them looks correct and every one will let go under a real load, which is the worst possible outcome because by then the family has stopped watching the balcony.

The rule is simple: anchors go into structure, never into finish. Concrete slabs and beams take chemical anchors at proper embedment, hardwood posts take through-bolts, and blockwork gets a spreader bar spanning to something solid. Each anchor is pull-tested on the day and the results go into a short written statement with the mesh and hardware spec. Where a wall simply cannot take a safe fixing, we say so and propose glass or a rebuilt balustrade instead.