REPLACING IRON FENCING/RAILING
I have a brownstone in Park Slope. Alas, all of our original ironwork (stoop railings and front fencing) was ripped out years ago and replaced with garbage. Two of our neighbors still have the good stuff — gorgeous. Any ideas on how to try to replace (in the ballpark-ish) what was once there? A handyman…
I have a brownstone in Park Slope. Alas, all of our original ironwork (stoop railings and front fencing) was ripped out years ago and replaced with garbage. Two of our neighbors still have the good stuff — gorgeous. Any ideas on how to try to replace (in the ballpark-ish) what was once there? A handyman told me that you can get repro stuff made out of concrete and paint it black, but that sounds tacky. I really want iron. But I’m guessing it will be crazy expensive. Thoughts?
Find the best online casino reviews. All this and more at http://www.online-casino-wizard.com
there is a thread from a few weeks ago where i asked a similar question.
we have a brownstone with the original cast iron railings but they are in *terrible* disrepair, to the point of being embarassing
we got a an estimate from an ironworks place, here in brooklyn that was about $20K to take them out, repair & recast, and re-install, taking 2-3 months….so that project’s on hold right now
most importantly for you….i asked him if it would be better to just take these out and start over, and he said that would take longer, and be even more expensive.
we got a second estimate that was within $5K and he said the same thing about starting over would be even more expensive.
of the three we talked to, the folks at star metal seemed the most professional. they’ve also got a great website (starmetaldesign.net)
i’ve looked at architectural salvage websites but have not seen anything.
You can get just about anything you want. There are foundries still casting this stuff. For the right price you can even design your own fence. There are many Iron Shops along 3rd Ave. Go to Union Street below 3rd Avenue, there are two shops right next to each other, and ask to see catalogs or better yet call them up and tell them to come out and look at your neighbors place. Remember this stuff is difficult to weld and not so easy to install properly. If you live on a historic landmark street you might have to get an architect. Most of these iron workers have good fabrication skill but slightly nutty design sense. The bayridge rococo style comes to mind. If your the scavenger type you can go to salvage yards, especially for the newel posts, and then let the welder fill in the blanks,
salvage!
bignyc.org in astoria
and all those for-profit architectural salvage places — links listed on the home page of this site
some one recommended an iron worker a couple weeks ago on this forum…