SYDNEY’S BEAUTIFUL VICTORIAN TERRACES
The inner, older suburbs of Sydney, such as Paddington, Kirribilli and Redfern have many Victorian terraces with traditional fences and gates, known as palisade fences. Typically, these fences have spearheads or finials on top of the round pickets. The gates and fences are made from puddled wrought iron and are made using traditional blacksmithing techniques such as hot riveting, mortise & tenon joints and lead fixing. The finials are cast iron. They usually also have cast iron lace balustrades and frieze work.
Unlike modern steel, the original fences and gates had no welded joints or galvanising. They need careful restoration and repair to retain their value-adding appeal. After more than 130 years of exposure to the weather, the metalwork eventually needs repair and restoration. The gates often sag on the ground as they open and don’t latch closed.
The cast iron balustrades and friezes eventually require maintenance and repairs too. The cast iron can form hairline cracks, often concealed by many layers of thick paint. The original balustrades also fall well short of modern building codes and can be a real safety hazard, being too low and not structurally sound. Very often replacement with replica work is the best option long-term.
We are one of the very few, if not the only contractors in Sydney capable of doing high-quality restoration or repair, sometimes involving our blacksmith. Our services are always in high demand, due to the dire shortage of blacksmiths in Sydney.
HOW TO OBTAIN A QUOTE
We are frequently asked by owners of Victorian terraces to provide a quote to repair and restore the palisade fences and gates or cast iron work in poor repair. Homeowners usually don’t appreciate the amount of work involved in quoting these jobs and often have expectations of a craftsman coming by, inspecting and providing a free quote. We constantly have to explain to clients seeking quotes, why we can’t quote without specifications and need to charge for the time involved in the quoting process. The work involved in these jobs is essentially heritage metalwork conservation, and to quote, a specification and scope of work must be agreed on and defined in writing. That entails a 3 step process, which can involve hours of work. Because this work takes so much time and demand exceeds our ability to supply, we need to charge for the time involved or decline the work.
THE 3 STEPS IN QUOTING
Step 1 is to inspect the work and go over it closely with the client. If the work is severely degraded, replacement may be the best option. We can advise on that at the outset and supply replica work that is very hard to distinguish from the original work.
If the decision is to repair, we need to identify the repairs needed and specify exactly what will be done, in enough detail, so our workshop knows what basis to quote on and the owner knows what to expect. A conversation is needed to make sure both parties agree on what will be done.
Step 2 involves recording the information. That usually means marking up photos with annotations and putting them into a schedule of works, that contains the specifications and scope of work. Restoring old work does not necessarily mean making the work ‘as new’. It’s usually best to retain an aged look, so it is in keeping with the house. Quite often sandstone plinths or gate pillars need repairs by a stonemason. We can usually refer owners to experienced stonemasons who would contract directly with the owner but work in collaboration with us. Sometimes the cost of re-aligning leaning gates and fences is prohibitive and we agree to leave these imperfections as they are and just make sure the work is conserved and functional. With balcony balustrades, often we find supporting columns, timber decking and joists need repairs as well. Until those are rectified, we can’t install or repair the cast iron lacework in the balustrades.
Step 3 is to have the contractor then submit a quote based on the agreed schedule of works. If you are obtaining other quotes, make sure all contractors are quoting on the same basis, using that same schedule of works. We always allow clients to use the schedule of work we created to obtain other quotes. Paying for our services in the quote process has the advantage of having this schedule of work available, to ensure any other contractors are quoting on the same basis.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SPECIFICATIONS
Without the specifications and details contained in the schedule of work, the contractor does not know what standard of work to quote on and the client has no idea of what will be provided. This document provides certainty and minimises the risk of engaging contractors who would not do high quality work.
DON’T RELY ON THE WARRANTY
If a quote is accepted without sufficient specifications in the contract, then the successful tenderer has a conflict of interest. The contractor wants to maximise profit by doing the job at the lowest possible cost. Because there are no specifications to say how the job should be done, the client has little recourse if the job is not done to a specification that was wanted, but not mentioned in the contract. The statutory warranty for most building work is only 2 years, so there is little recourse once a job gets past that warranty period. If it starts rusting, or the new paint peels off after 2 years, it’s a lot of money wasted.
CONTACT US if you need your Victorian terrace metalwork repaired or restored.