If your business in York is running out of space, a mezzanine floor is almost always cheaper than moving. You already pay for the volume above your heads. A mezzanine simply turns it into usable floor area. Ultra Fabrication design, fabricate and install steel mezzanine floors across York and Yorkshire from our workshop at Mount Farm, just south of the city.
We build mezzanines for warehouses, workshops, retail units, offices and even large domestic garages. Every one is designed for the load it will actually carry, fabricated in our own workshop and installed by our own team. There is no subcontracting the steel out and hoping it fits.
Commercial rent and industrial floor space around York and the A64 corridor has not got any cheaper. Doubling the usable area of a unit you already occupy, without a rent review or a relocation, is usually the single best return on capital available to a growing business.
Where Mezzanine Floors Work
Warehouses and distribution
The classic application. A mezzanine over part of a warehouse gives you pallet storage, picking areas or bulk storage without extending the building footprint. Pallet gates and goods lifts can be built in where you need to get stock up and down.
Workshops and light industrial
Common across the industrial estates around York. Machinery stays at ground level where the headroom and the floor loading are, and stores, spares, offices or staff facilities go upstairs.
Retail and trade counters
A mezzanine can add sales floor, stockroom or a trade counter office. Retail mezzanines usually need a higher specification of balustrade and finish because customers use them, and often need more careful thought about escape routes.
Offices
Where a unit has high ceilings, a mezzanine office deck gives you meeting rooms and desk space overlooking the operation without carving up the ground floor.
Garages and domestic outbuildings
Not every mezzanine is commercial. We regularly build storage decks into large private garages, workshops and barns across the Vale of York.
What Goes Into a Mezzanine Floor
A steel mezzanine is a straightforward structure done properly. The elements are:
- Steel columns transferring load down to the existing slab, on spread base plates
- Main beams spanning between columns, sized for the design load
- Secondary joists at close centres carrying the deck
- Decking, usually structural chipboard on a steel deck or a mesh or plate deck for industrial use
- Access staircase and balustrade to the required specification
- Edge protection, pallet gates and handrail where loading takes place
- Fire protection to the columns and underside where the use requires it
All the steel is cut, drilled and welded in our workshop. Connection plates and base plates are profiled on our CNC plasma table, which keeps hole positions accurate and makes the site assembly quick and clean.
Load Ratings and Design
The single most important question on any mezzanine is what it will actually carry. A storage deck holding light boxes and a floor taking loaded pallets or machinery are very different structures, and it is a lot cheaper to design for the heavier use at the start than to strengthen later.
| Typical use | What it usually means for the design |
|---|---|
| Light storage and archive | Lighter sections, wider column spacing possible |
| General storage and stock | Standard commercial specification |
| Pallet racking or loaded pallets | Heavier sections, closer columns, pallet gate access |
| Office or staff areas | Deflection and comfort matter as much as strength |
| Plant, machinery or equipment | Point loads designed individually, often localised strengthening |
We work with structural engineers on the design and the calculations. If your project already has an engineer we fabricate directly to their drawings. If it does not, we can arrange that side for you.
One thing worth checking early: the existing ground slab has to take the column loads. On older units around York this is not automatic. It is much better to establish it at survey stage than after the steel is ordered.
Building Regulations, Fire and Planning
Mezzanine floors in commercial buildings normally fall under Building Regulations. The areas that come up most often are fire protection to the structure, means of escape, travel distances, and the staircase and balustrade specification.
Whether planning permission is needed depends on the building and the use, and it is not something to take a general answer on. We will tell you what we see routinely on similar jobs, but the definitive answer comes from your local authority Building Control and, where relevant, the planning department at City of York Council. We are happy to work alongside them and to supply whatever information they need on the steelwork.
Our EN 1090 EXC2 UKCA certification covers the structural steel side, which is one part of that approval process handled. Details are on the accreditations page.
How the Process Works
- Call Ryan on 07972 089 013 and we arrange a site visit. Free, no obligation
- We measure up, check headroom, look at the slab and talk through how you want to use the space
- We produce a design and a fixed quote, working with a structural engineer on the calculations
- You approve, and we fabricate the steel in our York workshop
- We install on site, usually with minimal disruption to your operation
- Handover with the paperwork you need for Building Control
Most mezzanines can be installed without you shutting down. We will phase the work around your operation where we can.
Why Use a Local Yorkshire Fabricator
There are national mezzanine suppliers who will sell you a kit. The difference with us is that the same people who quote the job fabricate the steel and turn up to fit it. If a column needs moving 300mm to clear a machine, that is a phone call, not a change order.
We are based around six miles from York city centre. If something needs adjusting after installation we are there, not on the other end of a national helpline. We also handle the welding ourselves with a coded welder, so site modifications are straightforward.
Areas We Install Mezzanine Floors
We install mezzanines across York and the surrounding industrial estates, out to Selby, Leeds, Harrogate, Hull and Wakefield. The full coverage list is on our areas we serve page.
Racking, Pallet Gates and Getting Stock Upstairs
A mezzanine is only as useful as the access to it. On storage and warehouse decks the practical details matter more than the steel:
- Pallet gates. A pivoting or up-and-over gate lets you load pallets onto the deck by forklift while keeping the edge protected at all times. This is usually the single most useful addition to a storage mezzanine.
- Loading bays and edge protection. Where stock is lifted up rather than carried, the edge needs a designed opening with proper protection rather than a removable section of handrail.
- Goods lifts and conveyors. If you are moving high volumes we design the structure around the lift or conveyor position from the start.
- Racking above and below. Racking loads are point loads and they need designing in. Tell us at survey stage if racking is going on the deck.
- Column positions. The single biggest constraint on a working floor. We set columns around your aisles, racking runs and machinery rather than on a convenient grid.
Get these decided before fabrication and the mezzanine works properly from day one. Retro-fitting a pallet gate into a completed deck is possible but it is never as neat or as cheap as building it in.
Fire Protection and Compartmentation
Fire protection is often the part of a mezzanine project that catches people out on cost, so it is worth understanding early. Depending on the size of the deck, what goes on it and how the building is used, the requirement can range from nothing at all to full encasement of the columns and beams plus a protected ceiling to the underside.
The determining factors are things like the floor area of the mezzanine relative to the building, whether it is used for storage or occupied by people, escape distances and the existing fire strategy for the unit. That is a Building Control judgement on your specific building rather than something to assume from a similar job down the road.
What we would say is this: establish the fire requirement before you sign off the design, not after. It is the item most likely to move the total cost, and it is far easier to design a deck around a known requirement than to add protection to a finished structure.
Mezzanine or Move? A Rough Comparison
Most businesses that call us are weighing a mezzanine against relocating. Every situation is different, but the comparison usually looks something like this:
- A mezzanine is a one-off capital cost against an ongoing rent increase, and it stays in the building you already have
- There is no relocation downtime, no reprinting addresses, no staff commute changes and no new lease negotiation
- You keep your existing power, compressed air, racking layout and access arrangements
- A bolted mezzanine can often be dismantled and taken with you if you do move later
- Against that, a mezzanine cannot give you more ground floor area, more yard, more parking or more height, so if those are the actual constraint then moving is the honest answer
We will tell you if we think a mezzanine is the wrong answer for your situation. Selling someone a deck that does not solve their problem is not a good way to get recommended.
Related Services
- Structural steelwork including frames, platforms and walkways
- Steel staircases and balustrades for mezzanine access
- Steel beam supply where the building itself needs altering first
- CNC plasma cutting for base plates, cleats and connection details
Frequently Asked Questions: Mezzanine Floors in York
It depends on the area, the load rating, the access and the fire protection required. A light storage deck and a pallet-rated floor with a goods lift are very different numbers. We give fixed quotes after a site visit rather than a headline rate that changes later.
It depends on the building, the use and the size. Building Regulations almost always apply. We would always point you to City of York Council or your local authority for the definitive answer and we will supply whatever steelwork information they ask for.
Fabrication and installation timescales depend on the size and complexity. Most mezzanines are installed within days rather than weeks once the steel is fabricated. Call Ryan for a realistic programme on your job.
Usually yes. We phase the work around your operation wherever possible and we are used to working in occupied units.
Not automatically, particularly in older units. Column loads are concentrated at the base plates. We check this at survey stage because it is far cheaper to establish before the steel is ordered.
Yes. A bolted steel mezzanine can be dismantled or extended. If you think you may extend, tell us at design stage and we will allow for it.
Yes. We fabricate the access staircase, balustrade, handrail and pallet gates as part of the same job, so it is one contractor rather than three.
Yes. Ultra Fabrication holds EN 1090 EXC2 UKCA certification and all structural welding is carried out by a fully coded welder.