RePurpose ReUse and Green Stuff - Iron Fencing

We've all admired gorgeous old iron fencing here and there.  And these days old iron fence panels or pieces can easily be found in salvage and antique shops.

I've seen all kinds of things made from them, but what I needed was exterior porch and stair railing with an affordable wow factor.

I can't say it was easy finding the right stuff.  I found antique iron designs that would work well, but there never seemed to be enough for my project.  Finding a fabricator able and willing to take on such a task wasn't easy either.

I met with many fence and railing companies but their ideas and mine didn't exactly match up.





Finally, a local salvage shop, Black Dog Salvage in Roanoke VA, had what I was looking for! They also gave me a name and fabricator that they thought could handle the job, Glenn Raulfs, Glenn's Custom Metals.

I did not hesitate in purchasing the old iron.  I had lost out on great pieces at this salvage store before, not this time!

Glenn picked up the old fencing and took it straight to his shop.





The next step was the design process.  We worked together holding up pieces of the heavy stuff and sorted out how to best put it all together -where to cut, how high, code issues...


Then came the measuring and measuring and measuring.  Double curved steps, custom made and not exactly the same, was a bit of a challenge.



Curving new iron top and bottom railings and top cap and getting the slope had to be done in the shop.  To do that, Glenn built two curved wood stair sections, to scale, in his shop. However, he did not fabricate the total iron stair system in the shop, that would have been too heavy and cumbersome to move.

Once he had the new curved upper and lower iron rails and cap he did more measuring and added vertical support balusters.  The antique ornamental balusters were all individually cut from the old fence panels.  They were cut at an angle on the top to go under the sloping curving top rails.  Each antique baluster of the stair railings is attached to a new vertical support that had been welded in place.

The iron posts on the porch and landing were next. The railings were attached to the vertical posts.  Railing was not attached to the brick house siding, but to another vertical post.  Bottom vertical supports, under the bottom rail were added for further stability at the longer section on the landing.

Once the posts had been set and screwed and mortar cured, the cut to size antique iron fence panels were placed inside the new top and bottom rails and soldered in place.  Sounds easy.  It was a lot of work and careful skilled craftsmanship.

  After this, the stair railings with all parts and pieces could be installed.  But not before more measuring and placement of the four posts, two each at the bottom of the two stairs.  Measuring curves and slopes for fabrication takes a serious craftsman.  Then there is the placement of the posts. The new curved top and bottom railing systems had to connect at two ends with little room for error.  At the upper and lower rails on one side of each stair, more iron pieces had to be installed for the transition from porch to landing to stair steps.


After the bottom stair posts were set, screwed and mortar cured and all transition pieces were fabricated and welded in place,  the new curved top and bottom stair railing systems were installed and welded in place.







A side note is that the existing light fixtures had to be raised due to the height of the porch  top rail and cap.  These lights were important in choosing the fencing for the railing system as the iron detail needed to compliment each other.  The stairs look amazing, if I may say so!  They are structurally sound and secure.

The very best part is that the railing system looks like it has always been there.