Sometimes it’s really hard to find exactly the right design to complement your home or garden. We’re more than happy to work with individuals, landscape designers and building contractors to achieve exactly what you want rather than just making do with something “off the shelf”. We believe in a working ‘partnership’ where both parties work together to achieve the outcome you are after.
If you’ve already got a drawing and measurements to give us, we should be able to provide you with a quote. If you don’t, then working together with you as a team, we have the experience to design unique and beautiful wrought iron gates, fences and balustrades for your home. We will try to make the whole design process as smooth and painless as possible for you.
Smaller items like garden arches and metal art usually don’t involve as detailed a design process as below. However any design work will follow similar steps and if drawings are required a design fee or deposit on the finished item, will be required.
The Design Process
STEP 1: Your Design Brief & Details:
Your Homework:
- Gather the following details of your project:
- dimensions and measurements. Include any plans we need to work to;
- images, e.g. photos, doodles or drawings of the kinds of things you like -this helps us work out your preferred ‘style’. If you’re looking for inspiration visit our Pinterest page;
- a photo of the area/site if relevant;
- your budget, e.g. “between $x and $y”, “no more than xyz”. This is important because it gives us an idea of how complex or simple the design needs to be.
- Call or Email us with a description of what you want designed, e.g. gate, table, balcony, etc and send us the above information.
Once we’ve had an opportunity to look at the information you’ve sent us we’ll contact you to discuss your custom design in more detail. (Don’t forget to give us your phone number as it’s easier to talk it through.) The next step is to meet so we can make an appointment for our first meeting.
STEP 2: Initial Meeting – Design Concept:
Rough design concept sketches
There is no charge for the initial consultation which is held at our workshop. You will be shown examples of metalwork, steel profiles, scrolls, and other metal ornaments which can be used to dress your wrought iron work. A rough concept design will be drawn up while you’re present.
STEP 3: The Commitment:
If you like our work and ideas, and would like to engage us to work on a design with you, a design fee is payable. This shows your commitment to the project. As you’d appreciate a fair bit of time goes into the design process. The design fee will vary according to the size of the project.
For example:
- Small personal access gate $395
- Pair of wrought iron driveway gates with moderate detail: $695
The design fee includes two initial concept sketches and up to two amendments after this. Any additional drawings will be charged at an hourly rate of $120/hr.
STEP 4: Site Visit:
Once the design fee is received, Andrew may contact you to make a time for a site visit. All measurements and dimensions may need to be confirmed so we can start on computer design drawings.
Site visits within a travelling time of 1 hr from Birdwood, SA is inclusive. This covers most areas of inner or northern Adelaide, Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills. Visits in excess of 1hr travelling time may be charged a site visit fee.
Other areas: see note below “What if I’m not in SA?”
STEP 5: Design Meeting:
You will be shown the concept drawings and an approximate quote given. So that we can put together a final working drawing we find out what you like and don’t like about the drawings. The finer details of your design are tidied up during this meeting.
STEP 6: Final Drawing Approval, Confirmation of Price & Deposit
When the final working drawings are done a firm quote will be given. On your final approval an order will be sent to you, along with the terms of payment. Your deposit confirms the order and the job is scheduled in for fabrication.
If you’re looking for honest, quality workmanship and value longevity over cheaply made products then contact us today.
I’d like help with a wrought iron project…
What if I’m not in South Australia, can you design something for me?
Obviously some of the above steps will not be possible if you are outside of SA. However, we can still work with you if you’re interstate. We understand why you might feel hesitant working on a design from so far away. However, we have helped customers interstate who felt the same way. Once they started working through the above steps and saw that the designs they were offered were within their budget and to the style they liked, they found that using Farmweld was the right choice for them. Read about one happy customers’ experience here.
The following are three very different examples of wrought iron gates designed together with clients in NSW, Victoria and Qld.
Designed to match an antique art deco window panel for client in Qld
Ornate, hand forged courtyard gate, designed for Melbourne client, Victoria.
Large ornamental wrought iron driveway gates, Southern Highlands, NSW. Designed for a grand wedding entrance.
Are you working to a low budget?
We have a range of standard wrought iron components which we can use if you’re on a tight budget. These include:
- wrought iron gate toppers
- decorative gate panel inserts
- pressed metal ornaments, e.g. leaves, spears, scrolls and flowers
- ornamental balusters
- spears and bushes
Wrought iron made from machine made components never look as ‘polished’ as the real thing. There are limitations in available sizes of components, and pieces may not always be a good match, e.g. the end of scrolls may vary. However we can usually come up with a balanced design. The majority of the wrought iron components in the large gates above were made from pre-fabricated components.
Click Here to download a sample of our standard garden gate and entrance gate toppers like those below.
Budget Courtyard Gate