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October 17, 2008
Chromed Out Houses?
All of a sudden....Where have all the chrome rails come from? Is this a low cost option compared to the skinny iron rails that used to be the lower cost option? Do people think these look better? Contractors seem to be pushing them hard. Are they made of aluminum? They seem really flimsy and make a funny plasticy sound when you tap them.
Comments
"All of a sudden" dunno about that. I've noticed them for years in Queens. It's definitely an NYC thing, that's for sure.
Posted by: BrooklynButler at October 17, 2008 12:51 PM
It's definitely an ugly thing, that's for sure too.
They look crapola.
Posted by: bricktop at October 17, 2008 12:57 PM
There are some here too, in Bay Ridge. Thank God most people have held on to the iron ones though. The chrome is quite an eye sore IMO.
Posted by: italiana71 at October 17, 2008 1:00 PM
low maintenance. they don't rust and you don't need to repaint it.
Posted by: armchairwarrior at October 17, 2008 2:11 PM
Friend living in Sunset Park said you would be pretty good guess that addition of chrome on house meant that Chinese people bought the place.
Posted by: Petebklyn at October 17, 2008 2:12 PM
Petebklyn might be right about this. In Hong Kong, it seems every single doorway, most handrails and architectural metalwork around a door are brightly chromed stainless steel (rather than the tradition around here of black painted steel for metal details). Can't speak for the rest of Asia, but at least walking around HK you get the sense that it's the local taste is and what's considered usual. It wouldn't take a big leap to imagine that someone used to that would want to see it on their home here too.
Posted by: Smokychimp at October 17, 2008 3:42 PM
IMHO, I think that the aluminum or chrome fencing, is just awful... just ruins the look of a home...
Posted by: bren at October 17, 2008 5:17 PM
Well they are not chrome. They are stainless steel. In certain instances they have some aesthetic appeal - generally in commercial applications, but they really don't belong on a residential brownstone streetscape. I guess people don't want the maintenance of having to keep painting them. Now they can, with proper treatment, be painted to look like steel or wrought iron railings.
Posted by: bilk at October 18, 2008 10:18 AM
They have been around for a few years. Can't stand them. The gauge seems to be very thin and not very structurally sound. The tin sound you mention. The SS doors are just awful. Ornamentation up the wazzoo without any restraint. Some even etch the surface of the panels with pictorial reliefs!!!!
Posted by: IMBY at October 18, 2008 10:31 AM
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