What's covered in workshop fabrication
Anything that can be drawn on paper and built in a unit. We work mainly in mild-steel hollow section, round bar and flat bar for ornamental work, RHS and CHS for structural. Stainless and aluminium fabrication go through the TIG bay (see that service page). We don't take on huge tonnage jobs — anything above about three tonnes of steel weight is outside our shop's capacity and we'll point you at a bigger fabricator in Tallaght.
- Drawing review or initial sketch — site visit included inside our regular area
- CAD cut-list and steel-merchant cost broken out line by line on the quote
- Workshop fabrication — MIG and MMA for mild steel, TIG for stainless/aluminium
- Finish handled by us — hot-dip galvanising or powder-coating, sub'd to a Finglas galvaniser and Glasnevin powder-coater respectively
- Delivery and on-site installation by us — no third-party fitters
- EN 1090 EXC2 certificate where work is structural (load-bearing)
Gates we build
Domestic side and driveway gates account for about a third of the workshop diary. Most are 1.8m–2.4m wide, mild-steel hollow-section frame, 12mm round-bar or 25mm flat-bar infill, hung on a side post welded into a base-plate or directly to a brick pier.
- Side gates — single-leaf, 1.0–1.2m wide, plain or with decorative top scrollwork. Hot-dipped finish standard; powder-coat black or RAL 9005 on request.
- Driveway gates — double-leaf 2.0–4.8m total opening, manual or motorised. We rough-in the conduits for the motor; the electrician fits the controls.
- Sliding gates — for tight driveways where a swing won't clear the kerb. Track set into the ground, top-roller bracketed off the pier.
- Commercial-yard gates — 2.4m+ tall, mesh or palisade infill, often with anti-climb top rake. Done for waste-management yards and small industrial units around Finglas.
- Replacement gate to match a Georgian pattern — for conservation streets in D7/D8. Drawn and CAD-traced from a surviving original, hot-dipped, often signed off by the local-authority conservation officer.
Railings & balustrade
External railings for Georgian and Edwardian terraces are about a fifth of the workshop diary, with regular conservation-officer signoff. Internal balustrade for renovation projects sits alongside.
- Boundary railings on brick plinth — typical D7/D8/D6 Georgian pattern, 25mm bar, fleur-de-lys or plain ball-top, hot-dipped black
- Balcony balustrade — to current Part K residential drop spec (1.1m above finished floor, 100mm sphere rule), CE-marked CE EN 1090 EXC2 certificate issued
- Internal stair balustrade — mild steel or brushed stainless, glass infill panels with stainless clamps available
- Mezzanine railings for fit-outs — 1.1m double-rail with mid-rail, kick-board, painted RAL or zinc-plated
Stair stringers
Steel stringers for residential and small-commercial stairs — mezzanines, garden-room access, fire-escape stairs that need replacing under current Part B fire-spec.
- Single-stringer central spine with cantilevered treads
- Double-stringer with timber or steel checker-plate treads
- Helical / curved stringers — limited capacity, CAD-traced from a template
- External fire-escape stairs — galvanised, anti-slip checker-plate treads, EN 1090 EXC2 cert standard
Finishes we offer
Everything we fabricate gets a protective finish before it leaves the workshop. The two we use most:
- Hot-dip galvanising — sub'd to a galvaniser in Finglas industrial area, three working-day turnaround, lifetime corrosion protection. Standard finish for anything external. Adds ~€8–€12 per kg of steel weight.
- Powder-coating — sub'd to a coater in Glasnevin, two-day turnaround. Any RAL colour, semi-gloss or matt. Standard for internal balustrade and where colour-matching to existing trim is needed. Adds ~€18–€25 per square metre depending on prep.
- Mill finish / paint primer only — for internal-only or interim work; we apply a single coat of zinc primer.
Lead times
Workshop diary runs about three to five weeks ahead in normal seasons. Peak (April–June for outdoor work, September–November for commercial fit-out) can stretch to six weeks. We'll give you a realistic week-number on the phone — if we can't fit you in, we'll say so and you can ring someone else.
- Small side gate — three weeks workshop + galv week + installation
- Driveway gate pair — four weeks workshop + galv week + installation day
- Run of railings (8–20m) — three to four weeks + finish week
- Stair stringer with treads — four to five weeks, depending on tread spec
- Mezzanine balustrade for a fit-out — two to three weeks if cut sizes are confirmed
Pricing approach
Fabrication isn't an hourly job — it's a per-drawing job. The quote we issue breaks down to:
- Steel cost at trade-merchant receipt + 12% handling — shown on a separate line
- Fabrication labour at €72 per hour, estimated from CAD cut-list (typically a tight estimate inside ±10%)
- Finish cost at sub-coater receipt + 8% handling
- Delivery and installation labour — separate line, usually a half-day or full-day rate
- VAT at 23% shown on the totals
Indicative totals for a sense of order: side gate around €580–€820 fitted; driveway gate pair around €1,800–€2,800 fitted manual; balcony balustrade around €380–€480 per linear metre fitted. These are starting figures only — the real number comes off the drawing.
Related services
- Mobile Welding — repairs to existing fabricated work on-site
- Structural Repair — RSJ beam splice and load-bearing reinforcement
- Stainless & Aluminium — TIG fabrication for food-grade and decorative