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Has anyone installed either the aluminum fence that looks like wrought iron fence, or the real wrought iron fence?
What are the pros and cons of cost, installation, maintanence, and damage?
If you had to do it over again, which type would you choose?
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Diane,
Its my understanding that they don't make wrought iron anymore: you can get (mild?) steel, but it's a different product than the wrought iron used 100 +/- years ago. Wrought iron was less susceptible to rust than steel.
Aluminum will be much easier to maintain. Personally, I don't like the way it looks or feels, but that's a matter of opinion. I also wonder about strength, where that's a requirement.
(FWIW, I used to live in a house which had been owned by the patent holder for the wrought iron equivalent of the Bessemer process.)
Bob
*I'll let you know Dianne. Just bought a boatload of aluminum fence for deck railing. (not my idea) Manufacturer provided specs to satisfy code yet they do not recommend their fence for this use. Worked out a solution with the building department- but it involves a good bit of extra work.pro's would seem to be light, strong, never needs maintenance...
*Diane, I recently installed several hundred feet of aluminum fence. It is used almost exclusively in the high end neighborhood where the work was( houses 350k and up). It is durable, fairly easy to install, and of adequate stength. No it is not the equal of wrought iron but I believe in most applications it is a good choice. I would recommend it and use it again myself.Skip
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Our house is a high end house, too. We're on a corner, so it's mainly for looks and of course to keep people off of our property and from cutting through. We're going to check zoning laws and see how high we can go with it. We'd like it to be 6 feet.
There is always the possibility that a driver might make a wild turn and crash into our fence, but with the iron or aluminum, there will be damage (though more with the alumninum).
What's the price per section, or per linear foot, on average, for the aluminum fence? If per section, is that per 4 or 8 foot section?
Thanks,
Diane
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Diane,
The Aluminum fence from Durarail I am retailing at around $60.00 a foot without installation. It does come in a variety of colors & has a 20 year warranty.
*Did ya check the yellow pages under "Iron & Iron Work" yet? I have 18 listings for Ornamental Iron work in my book. Pick one of the one's in the worse part of town, that have a lotta "extra" pieces out in the front yard. The prices will probably be a little better than the upscale places. Try to find a guy with long hair, some sort of facial hair, and a tattoo. Burn marks on the boots are prefered too! ......I'm being serious here. Good luck, Jeff
*Diane,Pricing depends on the fence. In NW Ohio, it starts at $20/ft and $20/post for some pretty minimal looking stuff and sky rockets from there.Jeff,Burn marks on the boots? From the cycle?Bob
*from the forge Bob.
*So the iron he's selling is a forgery?
*Just had some faux iron (alum.) installed @ $21 a linear ft. (inc posts) for 4' high. Getting it to look right on sloped lots can be tricky, especially if you want to keep the bottom of the fence & gates close to the ground (for dogs) so cover this carefully with your fence contractor if it's a concern. Also, the way the "spear" tops are made on alu. fence often looks a little cheesy.
*Greetings again, Diane,A nicely forged wrought iron fence is a thing of beauty, but it can be difficult bringing it to fruition.Aluminum can look fairly nice, and it can look horribly cheesey. Matt (post #8) is dead-on in his criticism of many of the crimped Al spear tops.Here's a site that deals mostly with Al fencing. They have a separate page detailing cast and forged iron fence parts...post caps, picket spears, etc...these iron parts can be used on their steel pickets. If anything, there's quite a bit of info on this site from design, layout, installation, gates (incl. openers), to include all-important pricing. Plan on spending some time digging around. It should be somewhat useful in building your base of knowledge on this topic.Best of luck...
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Has anyone installed either the aluminum fence that looks like wrought iron fence, or the real wrought iron fence?
What are the pros and cons of cost, installation, maintanence, and damage?
If you had to do it over again, which type would you choose?
Low-maintenance.
Unlike wood, aluminum fences never require painting; unlike materials like chain-link or wrought iron, aluminum fencing will never rust.
Inexpensive.
Versatile and decorative.
Easy to install and adaptable.
Lasts a lifetime.
Environmentally friendly.
Lacking in privacy.
On the weaker side.