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A world renown, Philadelphia based architect was designing an exceptional upscale home in the Mainline area. A small taste of the unique landscape design of this beautiful property: the incorporation of an old barn and silo as a pool and sports area.

Our responsibility on this exceptional home was to provide railings for a back terrace that descended from a second-floor elevation down to the ground level. We also needed to provide short rails for some check walls to keep the area safe and within the code requirements.

The design of the Iron railing presented 5/8” sq solid iron pickets, 1 ½” sq posts, and a 2 ¼” caprail.

A unique element to the rails that lined the stairs was the specified connection locations of the posts. This Iron railing was designed to be side mounted into the solid bluestone treads 6 “thick x 16” deep x 48inches long treads. These Iron stair railing connections were attached via stainless steel all thread and epoxied horizontally. These threaded connections allowed for micro adjustments of the railing can be adjusted to perfectly plumb.

The side mount had its challenges, but what made it significantly more changing was the connection point from where the check wall rails and the stair railings aligned. The “jog” from one rail to the other had to be perfect in design, in fabrication, and in installation for it to flow correctly.

The entire Iron railing project was sand blasted, pretreated, primed and powder-coated for a no maintenance, ultimate UV resistance and visual longevity.

These terrace stairs provided some serious challenges, but with good dialogue between contractor, architect and Iron craftsman, the best solution was provided for this terrace and sports area on this Philadelphia property.

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As the owner of an exclusive property, we were looking for custom ironworks replicated from England in the 1860s. The photo we had was sketchy, but these passionate craftsmen knew their business, knew the details of this ancient craft and provided tips on adding authenticity. They provided excellent communication throughout the creativity and design process, then with superb, detailed craftsmanship, they created and installed an exceptional piece of ironwork that is rich in detail, authentic, yet is engineered to withstand use for decades, utilizing 100% recycled material and an eco-friendly durable finish.

Springhill Suites Marriott

We had a railing, designed, created, and installed by Compass Ironworks. Amos and Aaron were extremely professional. They kept us informed of how things were progressing. We even visited the shop when the railing was almost complete. We HIGHLY recommend Compass Ironworks! We have had several people knock on our door to ask about who made our beautiful railing. Thank you for your hard work!

Jacqui Collins & Greg McBride

We are so pleased with our custom deck railing created by Compass Ironworks. The design and finish are perfect, just what we envisioned. It was a pleasure working with Compass Ironworks, a company that takes pride in their work.

Tracy Tanner

We had a rather unusual design for our front railings, but the folks at Compass Ironworks took it in stride, figured out how to make it and delivered EXACTLY what we were hoping for — all at a reasonable price. Plus they’re just plain nice to deal with.

Courtney Lederer
Front entrance metal gate