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.

What does the county require?

Broward sits inside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, so wind rating is set by code. The permit itself is local, and an HOA architectural review often runs alongside it.

Is Broward the same as Miami-Dade?

For wind load, yes — both counties are inside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone. For permitting, no: that is administered locally and it is not identical from city to city.

Custom Ironwork & Gate Matching in Fort Lauderdale, FL

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

Matching what exists · Fort Lauderdale, FL

An existing panel, a neighbouring run, or a detail off the house itself.

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(954) 245-0182

Custom & Welding · Fort Lauderdale

05 frames

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

Sparks off the panel

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

Aerial view of a coastal residential street, its rear gardens enclosed by hedging and fencing. — The coastal strip — The barrier island and the streets immediately behind it, from the county line up to the Hillsboro Inlet.

Fort Lauderdale · Broward County

Half of custom work is not inventing anything. It is reproducing a picket profile, a scroll or a cap that already exists on the property so the new piece does not announce itself as new.

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.

Wind exposure on the water is not only a number in a code table — it is what actually loads a gate leaf, every afternoon.

Also inside the HVHZ

Broward falls inside the same High-Velocity Hurricane Zone as Miami-Dade, so the wind rating carries across the county line unchanged. What does not carry across is the paperwork: permitting is administered locally, and the sensible order is to ask what Fort Lauderdale expects before the steel is ordered rather than after.

Custom & Welding — the full breakdown

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

Straight answers

Cut and welded here
On-site welding
Ornamental ironwork
Drawn in-house
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.
What does the county require?: Broward sits inside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, so wind rating is set by code. The permit itself is local, and an HOA architectural review often runs alongside it.
Is Broward the same as Miami-Dade?: For wind load, yes — both counties are inside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone. For permitting, no: that is administered locally and it is not identical from city to city.