Will it survive this close to the water?

Salt is the design brief on the coast, so material, fixings and finish are chosen for the exposure rather than for the photograph.

Does the finish need redoing eventually?

Coatings on the water have a working life. Knowing that at the start is better than discovering it, and it is part of what the material choice trades off.

Do I need a permit for this?

Often, and Miami-Dade is inside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, so the wind rating matters too. Permits are issued locally, so we confirm what your authority wants before we start.

The High-Velocity Hurricane Zone — the Florida Building Code's strictest wind-load region. It covers all of Miami-Dade, which is why the hardware spec here is not the spec further north.

Custom Gate Fabrication in Bal Harbour, FL

Sparks falling in front of a metal fence panel being worked on

Custom fabrication · Bal Harbour, FL

Drawn properly, then shown on your own entrance before a cut is made.

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(954) 245-0182

Waterfront estate seen from the water, its lawn lined with tall palms above a seawall. — The barrier islands — Ocean on one side, the bay on the other, and nothing in between to break the salt.

Bal Harbour · Miami-Dade County

Most custom gates begin as something drawn badly on a phone. That is genuinely enough. It gets turned into a real drawing, put on a photograph of your entrance, and changed there — where changes are free.

Ornamental work this close to the water is a materials conversation first. What gets drawn has to survive the exposure, which rules some sections and some finishes out before the design starts.

Everything within a few blocks of open water runs on the same clock: salt reaches fixings, hinges and enclosures whether or not the house faces the ocean.

Wind load first, paperwork second

The High-Velocity Hurricane Zone covers Miami-Dade in full, which is what decides the frame and the fixings long before anyone picks a finish. Approval is a separate, local question: in Bal Harbour it runs through whichever authority has jurisdiction, and where a homeowners' association governs the street its architectural review usually runs alongside it.

Custom & Welding — the full breakdown

Custom & Welding · Bal Harbour

06 frames

Fabricator welding an aluminum picket fence panel in place on site

Welded on site

Gilded heraldic crest mounted on an ornamental iron gate — Crest, gilded

Tall ornate iron gate with scrollwork between stone pillars and lanterns — Scrollwork and lanterns

Torch cutting through steel box section on a bench with sparks pouring off — Cutting the sections

Angle grinder throwing a fan of sparks off a steel edge — Dressing the edge

Welding arc flaring as a bead is laid on a steel frame in a dark shop — The arc

Before / after

Drag it backto how we found it.

Drag the divider to see the change. Where a frame is marked Concept it illustrates the starting point rather than photographs it.

Illustration of bare cut steel sections clamped on the bench before welding — FabricationBare steel to welded panel

Fabricator welding the finished panel in place on site — FabricationBare steel to welded panel

Worth knowing

Ornamental ironwork
Drawn in-house
Cut and welded here
On-site welding
Specified for salt exposure

Will it survive this close to the water?: Salt is the design brief on the coast, so material, fixings and finish are chosen for the exposure rather than for the photograph.
Does the finish need redoing eventually?: Coatings on the water have a working life. Knowing that at the start is better than discovering it, and it is part of what the material choice trades off.
Do I need a permit for this?: Often, and Miami-Dade is inside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, so the wind rating matters too. Permits are issued locally, so we confirm what your authority wants before we start.
What is the HVHZ?: The High-Velocity Hurricane Zone — the Florida Building Code's strictest wind-load region. It covers all of Miami-Dade, which is why the hardware spec here is not the spec further north.

Nearby

The towns marked The barrier islands share the same geography as Bal Harbour.