Panels are welded together, then screwed into posts. Sheets of steel are bent into hollow pickets, rails, and posts. Most metal fences today are made of one of these. The better the hollow-metal parts hide their fasteners, the more solid they look. ![]() Your choice of metal depends on the level of detail you want and how much maintenance you can handle. ![]() Material Matters: Tubular Steel Photo by iStock A solid-steel, cast-iron, or tubular-aluminum fence can last a lifetime. Protect the finish and you can get 20 years or more from hollow steel. Rust-proof aluminum requires virtually none. Scratches on steel or iron need to be recoated with paint to prevent rust. Not much, compared with, say, a wood fence. Let a pro handle heavier solid steel or cast iron. If you’re an experienced DIYer, assembling and/or installing a hollow aluminum or steel fence is feasible, if you don’t mind digging post holes and pouring the concrete. The same panel in hollow steel starts at $15 in solid steel, at $84 and in cast iron, at $125. Metal Fence Vitals Photo by Randy Duchaine/Alamyĭepending on style, a 4-foot-tall prefab fence panel in tubular aluminum runs $10 to $14 per linear foot, uninstalled. Cast ball finials top each hollow post, while staggered cast details add a pleasing rhythm to pickets welded to rails along the top and bottom. Shown: The simple lines of this solid-steel fence echo the understated style of a brick rowhouse. Some high-end manufacturers use molds to cast iron fence panels that feature shapes found in Victorian-era ornamental ironwork catalogs, but the product comes at a price-$125 and up per linear foot.įind out which type and style of fence will best flatter your house, while preserving your bank balance-and enhance the view from the curb. A custom fabricator can mix materials and manufacturing methods, depending on the budget, pairing cast-iron details with hollow-steel pickets that save on material costs. What is marketed as wrought iron today is often solid steel (though solid aluminum can also be found), dressed up with -machine-made scrolls and cast details, such as rosettes. When restoration projects call for true wrought iron, a craftsman has to rely on salvaged material that can be melted down to be reworked by hand, making genuine wrought-iron fencing prohibitively expensive. ![]() Even wrought iron’s classic glossy-black paint is upgraded with a longer-lasting, multistep powder-coating process that greatly reduces maintenance. The lighter-weight panels come together with fasteners, making installation easier. These days, metal fences aim to suggest traditional iron using more-available steel or weatherproof aluminum, usually with hollow pickets made to resemble solid 5⁄8-inch square bars. Such metalwork really peaked in popularity during the Victorian era, when foundries started casting and mass-producing elaborate pickets, posts, and scroll details. By the early 1800s, however, as blacksmithing grew domestically, ornamental iron began to embellish the more varied house styles of the day. In Colonial times, only the wealthiest could afford to import wrought-meaning hand-shaped-ironwork for their fine brick and stone townhouses. History of Metal Fences Photo by Shutterstock
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