Richards House Railing - Completed!

On Sunday I completed the installation on the Richards House project. As a bit of review, the work was to design and build a set of front porch railings for this Arts and Crafts style home in the Danforth and DVP area of Toronto. From the start, the design component of the work was extremely important. The desire was to match the clean lines and attention to hand crafted detail exhibited by the Arts and Crafts movement.


The second set of elements were the two panels that would run from the driveway up to the raised level of the front yard, then up the left side of the steps to the entry porch that spans most of the front of the house. Earlier, I had completed and installed the single panel up the right side of the steps, also attached near the door.

As with the right side, the diagonal up the stairs and the short tail section along the top of the porch were built as a single unit. (View from the centre of the porch)


The lower railing, which would run at 90 degrees along the brick work, was built separately. On installation, the two sections were welded together to a single unit. The blending of the two hand rails, set to differing levels and angles, would prove the most time consuming part of the installation. A small portable MIG welder was used to fix the two panels, the welded areas ground and sanded smooth before final painting.

This low to the ground view also shows the matching right side railing, installed in December.

An overall view of the front walkway up from the driveway.

The customer is extremely pleased with the completed railings. The house has had some renovation work done to it over the years, and presents clean and classic lines to the street. It was however, a bit plain looking - not really showing the care the owners had used in preserving and matching antique furnishings to the interior architecture.
The competed railings are simple in line, and obviously unique. The casual passer by might not notice the hand forged detailing, but certainly would know 'something was different'. On closer examination, the extensive forging of each element becomes clear. The design sets off the house, without overpowering it.

Needless to say, I'm extremely pleased with the overall result.