Beautiful wrought iron railing for stairs: from project to installation

In the catalogs presented many samples of wrought iron stairs for mansions. When choosing it is worth paying attention to the need to be guided not only by aesthetics, but also by security. It is necessary to consider in more detail the various options for railings and steps for marching and spiral staircases and to understand the nuances of creating forged railings for stairs: from design to installation.

When choosing a material to create stair railings, you should be guided by the following features:

• Glass fences are suitable for high-tech and loft interiors. However, it is a fragile material that can break. It is necessary to order a fence of tempered glass, which in the worst case will shatter into fragments with non-sharp edges;
• stainless steel railings look stylish, modern, but simple;
• wooden fences maintain the atmosphere of a classic country house;
• Beautiful wrought iron railings give the interior a sophisticated look and easily adapt to many styles of the modern interior. But they are best combined with the classics. Forged fences are durable, reliable and easy to clean.

Forged railings consist of an initial column and the main part. They are made in two ways:

• Cold forging, as the name implies, is the manufacture of gratings or other products during which the metal does not heat up. This method is less time consuming than hot. Metal blanks (rods, sheets) are bent according to prepared stencils, that is, they are subjected only to mechanical processing. Cold forged stair railings are quite beautiful. It is possible to fold a simple or fantasy pattern from prefabricated elements. In addition, this option is a budget.

• Handheld hot forging method good because the finish rods are more thorough.Each element of hot forging master gently beats, rounds the ends. It turns out the effect of light elegant metal lace. The process is partially automated, but the master still performs the final finishing manually.

The coating of the rods is done by bluing and patinating. They perform not only a decorative function, but also protect the metal from corrosion.

You can order a blacksmith railing in any style, as long as it blends in well with the interior.

• Classic. This style is characterized by light walls, solid furniture made of solid wood. The pattern on the railing should be exclusive and comply with the classical canons: drawing in the form of a vine, flowers, leaves of laurel. The imitation of columns on balusters and the initial column looks beautiful.

• Rococo. The interior design in this style looks decorative with artistic elements. All lines should be smooth, with bends. The railing repeats this idea and resembles an elegant lace pattern with a patina.The entire surface of this canvas is filled with flowers, birds and leaves.
• Baroque. This premium style is characterized by strict symmetry. The French school of forging unites round and four-sided rods into a capricious pattern. In such interiors, it is customary to combine copper forging with wood.

• Style modern originated in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It combines a simple functional form with decorative elements. Stair railings must be made by true craftsmen and professionals. The result depends on the taste and talent of the master.

• Modern style loft implies minimalism. No extra furniture, no extra decoration. A simple example: the walls are painted white, while the stairs from floor to floor are framed by railings with glass screens and wrought iron elements. In this style, the drawing of forged elements should be simple, consisting of straight elements.
• Provence. This is a romantic cozy style in the spirit of the Mediterranean. It is characterized by light colors of walls and furniture, textiles with a floral print, antique styling.Forged items harmoniously fit into the Provence style in the form of a headboard, coffee tables, chandeliers and, of course, railings.

• Russian-Byzantine style - This is a special direction in the interior, which arose against the background of imperial ambitions in the XIX century. Symmetrical patterns filled with fine details are peculiar to it. Elements of state and heraldic symbolism became fashionable on the wave of patriotic imperial sentiments. They look great on the forged fences of the estates and on the fences of the stairs inside the house.

Do not rush to the master with the first liked the sketch. At first it is worth considering or there will be a staircase inside the house convenient for all households. So, if there are kids, elderly relatives or pets in the house, then you should start off, first of all, from safety when choosing a railing for the stairs. Important is the comfort when lifting to the second floor of the cottage or descending from it.

There are tried and tested rules and regulations, such as:

• if the staircase is not very wide (no more than 125 cm), then the railing on both sides is necessary. If it is twice as wide, it is desirable to make the handrails along the center line;
• in a house with kids, the height of the wrought iron railing must be made fairly large (not less than 120 cm);
• Some samples are located directly on the wall. In this case, handrails will be useful;
• metal pattern must be durable and withstand a large load.

The staircase includes several basic elements:

• Kosoura - These are jagged beams. The ladder rests on one or two kosoura, with the ends of the steps visible from the outside.
• The bowstring is a carrier beam with special grooves inside. Steps are inserted into it. Bowstring closes the ends of the steps.
• Boltsy connect adjacent steps with each other, and there are no risers. The flight of stairs seems to be floating in space.
• Railing. They can be lattice, fantasy or consist of racks. Forged railing is the most spectacular and respectable option. They must withstand a load of at least 100 kg. The height of the railing must be at least 90 cm.

• Handrails are the top of the railing.They can be iron or wood.
• The initial pole is the support from which the railing begins. Ceremonial marches are often decorated with exquisite initial pillars of oak or metal. You can show your imagination and order exclusive products, because the style of the flight of stairs depends on them. As for the height, the initial pillars can be made slightly higher than the railing.

Safety of a ladder is probably its most important parameter. It depends on the initial pillar, the size of the steps, the fence and the slope of the march. The construction of the internal stairs in the cottage requires high accuracy at the stage of the sketch and technical design. The following data should be considered:

• the area of ​​the house that will be reserved for the stairs;
• the desired number of sites and staircases;
• materials that will be used to make a straight or spiral staircase.

In residential buildings, the width of the stairs should be at least 120 cm. But if there is a shortage of free space, it can be reduced to 90 cm. It should be borne in mind that a too narrow staircase is inconvenient and large items can be delivered through it with difficulty.The width of the opening is an indicator that means the distance between the railing or between the railing and the wall in the case of a ladder.

It is important to design a fairly high clearance - this is an indicator that a tall man will climb the stairs and not overlap. Usually the clearance is 2 meters. Next, the calculation of the parameters of the steps. Their horizontal part is called the tread, and the vertical part is the underlay. Comfortable for ascent and descent height is 15–20 cm. Classic ratio: tread width is 29 cm, and riser height is 17 cm. The steps are usually made of wood for painting. It is convenient when the number of steps is even on each march, since it is intuitively more convenient for a person to walk on steps with the same foot. The slope of the march is made at an angle to the floor from 30 to 50 degrees.

Classical examples of stairs are widely represented in catalogs. If we talk about screw options, where the steps are twisted around an axis, then the calculations for them are more complicated.They help to save space in the house, but are not very convenient in everyday life. Swivel or spiral staircase must meet the following requirements:

• turning radius - not less than 30 cm;
• the width of the wedge-shaped step is about 10 cm in the narrow part and 40 cm in the wide.

Metal railings are quite difficult to install. It is necessary to take into account many important factors, otherwise the safety rules will be violated:

• Forged items have a lot of weight, so install them with your own hands alone is impossible. Teamwork of at least two people will be both safe and fairly quick.
• During installation, vibration and shock loads can deform the wall covering. In addition, metallic dust and suspended particles appear in the air. Therefore, the master advised to install fences to the stage of finishing works.

• Usually, pins are provided in advance on the finished fence posts. In this case, you only need to make a markup, drill holes and use dowels with screws.
• If the pins are not harvested, then welders can weld them right on the spot.It is worth remembering that during welding, the metal is heated to high temperatures. There should not be materials with a low melting point.
• Fastening to the wall is carried out on decorative clamps and brackets. They are fastened with anchor bolts.

Wrought iron railing in the interior is a way to make it respectable, expensive, special. It is believed that for the first time this technique was used by the architect Inigo Jones in the first half of the 17th century. He created a ladder, into the fence of which the images of tulips were skillfully interwoven. Therefore, it was called so: a ladder-tulip. It is located in Queen's House - the royal residence of Anna Danish in Greenwich (United Kingdom). The ancient building today is of historical value and is open to the public. The aristocrats liked this sample so much that artistic forging quickly became fashionable in Europe and then spread to Russia.

In Petergof, a palace and park complex near St. Petersburg, you can see luxurious samples of the work of blacksmiths. This is not only railings and fences in the high-rise palace, but also balconies and entrance gates.Here it is, truly royal luxury! Peter the Great, Elizabeth and Nicholas the Second liked to spend time here.

Forging is an ancient craft that has always been held in high esteem. Forges have long worked in Russia. Such cities as Tula, Velikiy Ustyug, Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow were considered centers of creative artistic processing of metal. It created masterpieces for palaces and luxurious mansions. In the arsenal of modern blacksmith craftsmen there is both modern equipment and tools according to old-fashioned models. These are hammers, tongs, shperki, anvils, forges, gas torches, presses. To perfectly match the design, calipers and calipers are used. Of course, the artistic sense, the eye, the experience of the blacksmith also matters.

Design sketches assume practical use: the ratio of lines, volumes, fastenings is thought carefully over. Each bend is consistent with the technical characteristics of the stairs and takes into account the capabilities of blacksmiths. Looking at the sketch, an experienced master already sees how it will be translated into reality. When the forged elements are ready, it is time for the next stage - painting.Special paint for metal is used. Following the design plan, the masters paint all the fences in a single color or select some elements of the picture.

Sometimes the details are given the effect of antiquity with patination. In the emphasized luxurious interior gilding is appropriate. A floral pattern can be varied by painting the details in natural shades of flowers, fruits and greens. Metal wrought iron railings are not cheap. However, the owners of two- and three-storey cottages, luxury mansions, with great potential, often stop their choice on them. They are reliable, durable, beautiful and long delight the household. The fantasy drawing of forged fences looks like a model of high art even at the sketch stage, what can we say about its embodiment in metal! Few design elements are able to improve the interior in such a way, to cause direct associations with old manors and palaces.

See the video below for how to choose a wrought iron railing.