Brooklyn Stair Railings forges custom ornamental ironwork, the decorative metalwork that gives a brownstone its character. Beyond railings, ornamental iron takes in gates, fences, window guards, and the forged scrolls, collars, and twists that dress a stoop. We work the metal hot and cold in the shop, forming and welding each element to match the pattern and scale of the building. The result is bespoke ironwork that fits the house rather than a stock panel bought off a rack.
Ornamental ironwork is defined by the decorative elements worked into it: scrolls that curl and terminate a bar, forged collars that wrap and bind bars together at a joint, and twists that turn a plain square picket into something that catches the light. We form these by hand in the shop and weld them into the piece, whether it is a railing panel, a gate, or a window guard. This is the traditional craft that a laser-cut or extruded product only imitates, and it is what lets a new piece sit convincingly alongside century-old ironwork on a Park Slope or Cobble Hill block. Every element is scaled to the building so the ornament reads as designed for it.
The front of a Brooklyn row house is often defined by its iron: a gate at the sidewalk, a low fence along the areaway, and the enclosure that guards the stairs down to the garden level. We fabricate these to match the stoop railing and the character of the house, hanging gates on welded hinges that swing true and setting posts anchored into masonry so nothing sags over time. A matched set of gate, fence, and railing pulls the whole entry together, and because it is all fabricated in one shop to one pattern, the detail carries consistently across every piece.
Window guards are a Brooklyn staple, required on many apartments with children and wanted for security on ground-floor and garden units. We fabricate steel window guards and security grilles to fit each opening, welded rigid and anchored into the masonry or frame, and we can work the same scrolls and pattern used elsewhere on the building so a guard looks intentional rather than institutional. Finished with galvanizing or a powder coat against the weather, a custom guard secures the opening while keeping the look of the facade.
Ornamental scrollwork and custom pickets are fabricated for homes across Brooklyn, including Park Slope, Bay Ridge, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and Bed-Stuy.