Frequently Asked Questions

This is the question we hear most often, and it is a bit like asking what a car costs. The price per running meter depends on the height of the fence, the thickness of the material, how much pattern the design carries, and the surface protection. Interior railings are sandblasted and electrostatically powder coated, with patina on request. Exterior work additionally needs hot-dip galvanizing, two transports to the galvanizing plant, hand filing of every zinc spike and run, and chemical aging of the zinc so the paint grips properly. As a starting point: an interior fence 1 m high, posts included, starts at 290 EUR; exterior starts at 350 EUR. Prices are without installation and VAT.

The price depends on the surface protection. Exterior stair railings need better protection against the weather than interior ones: every part is sandblasted, hot-dip galvanized, every zinc spike and run is filed off by hand so the zinc is nowhere wounded down to the iron, then the zinc is chemically aged for paint adhesion and the railing electrostatically powder coated in any RAL color. An exterior stair railing starts at 400 EUR per running meter. Interior railings skip the galvanizing chain, so they start at 340 EUR. Prices are without installation and VAT.

It depends on the height of the fence, the thickness of the material and the amount of pattern. A garden fence 1 m high, without posts or fixing elements, starts at 310 EUR per running meter. Prices are without installation and VAT.

Very relative. If both are made properly and you compare by weight per running meter, the difference is 20 to 30 percent.

No, provided it is a serious project and you send us photos of the existing situation plus a photo or drawing of the fence you want. Distance and project size are also a factor.

The height of the fence, the thickness of the material and the amount of pattern. The surface protection also matters, since exterior protection costs more than interior.

Usually yes, for several reasons. Gates are made from thicker material than the fence. Fences most often stand on a wall, so the gate is taller and gets an extra row of pattern at the bottom, as you can see in many photos of our work. The closing mechanism matters too: a simple latch is the cheapest, a lock with handle and cylinder the most expensive.

Our usual terms are these. If we install and a pre-assembly on site is needed: 30 percent before work starts, 40 percent at pre-assembly, 30 percent on delivery. If we install without pre-assembly, or the piece is a one-off made to order: 50 percent before production, 50 percent on installation or delivery. For larger projects, by stages as agreed.

Bank transfer.

For larger projects we invoice by stages, as agreed.

Installation is charged separately, but it is listed as its own line in the quote we prepare for you.

Delivery is charged separately, but it is listed as its own line in the quote, so you see the full number before you decide.

It depends on the height. For mounting on top of the slab, the railing itself is 97 cm high plus a 3 cm gap to the floor, and the starting price is 350 EUR per running meter, posts included. If the railing is mounted on the face of the balcony slab, it looks best when it covers 10 to 20 cm of the slab edge, and the price rises by roughly 10 to 15 percent, with installation also costing more because a pre-assembly is needed. Prices are without installation and VAT.

A hand-forged fence carries incomparably more work and craft knowledge, and the energy and material costs are incomparably higher too.

For pieces made in the workshop, no. For delivery abroad, the transport cost decides whether a small order makes sense.

30 days.

Most of our work is one of a kind. We have often developed designs with architects and planners, and many customers have arrived with their own idea or a photo. If your idea can be executed in proper forging technique, rivets, collars, bars woven through punched holes, then yes.

No catalog, because we have no serial production. What we do have is a large archive of photos from finished projects and over 70 display fence segments at the forge in Blejska Dobrava 123, Slovenia. You are welcome to visit.

If it is a forged fence, yes.

Yes, we have restored quite a few very old fences. If the fence returns to its original place, restoration makes sense. If it must also be reworked to fit a different building, the cost is usually higher than forging a new one, and we will tell you so.

Whatever your heart desires.

Yes. There are examples on our website.

If the heights allow it, yes. Small corrections are usually needed.

Often. Stair and balcony railings frequently get a wooden handrail, and we mount garden fences, gates and window grilles onto stone walls and between stone pillars. Glass we combine with iron in canopies, chandeliers and lamps. We like a challenge: if you wanted a forged and glass fence, we would take it on.

Essentially any color on the RAL scale. 98 percent of our work is painted RAL 9005 FS, black with a fine matte structure. Copper or silver patina sits beautifully on it, and for interiors also gold or green.

We forge the sliding and swing gates, and our long-standing partner automates them.

No problem. Lately we rarely work on flat ground.

Once we agree on the rough starting points and your wishes, we draw a sketch and you approve it before anything is forged.

A matter of agreement. If the pattern was drawn on your side, it is absolutely your pattern.

A matter of agreement. We install 95 percent of what we make. It depends on the size of the project and the location.

Yes. We gladly supply instructions and the fixing material.

A forged fence usually sits on a wall or a retaining wall. At minimum you need foundations for the posts.

Yes.

Installation is always improvisation: you adapt to what is actually there. We have installed over 8 km of forged fences to date, so experience is not what we lack.

We do not build gates without a diagonal brace, and to this day not one has sagged. We did have two problems with bad foundations, so it is wise to ask us for advice before you pour them.

For drives and automation we have a partner who knows his trade.

The metalworker's unit is the millimeter, but it depends on the execution.

We build the fence or gate at the same angle as the terrain, wall or retaining wall. Swing gates cannot open uphill, and sliding gates on a slope need a brake fitted along with the automation.

Depends on the size of the project.

Yes, and wider. Our work has been installed in Norway, Belgium, Germany and even Tanzania.

The difference is mainly travel and time on the road, and it is listed as its own line in the quote, so you see it before you decide.

Not necessary. Usually all we need is access to a power socket, sometimes a water tap.

Best is when all the other builders have finished and cleaned up after themselves. If we are installing over a wooden surface, keep it protected.

If both are made properly, both will defy time for a very long time. The difference: the years lay a noble patina onto forged iron, while stainless that doesn't shine isn't stainless.

A fence forged by the hands of a real, sworn master has a soul. It is usually a work of art, and because of the effort invested, such a master takes care in every phase, surface treatment, protection and installation included. In factory production the priority is usually the fastest and largest possible profit. Here as everywhere: you get as much music as you pay for. And be careful, the market has ever more "masters" who weld cheap industrial elements into "artistic pieces" and sell them dearly to buyers who cannot tell the difference.

A forged fence with proper surface protection, sandblasting, hot-dip galvanizing and well-prepared zinc under a quality coat, lasts more than 50 years without repainting. When erosion finally grinds the paint down to the zinc, you repaint. There is no rust risk in between, because the zinc protects the iron. How a PVC fence looks after 30 years I do not know. I suspect there is not much left to restore.

Honestly, I don't know. However I turn it over in my head, I cannot find a better alternative.

Light years.

Good imported forged fences are very comparable to good domestic ones. The difference is that wages and contributions in Slovenia are more than 10 times higher than in Vietnam or Cambodia, and about twice as high as in Bosnia or Serbia.

A tasteful, well-made forged fence is the final and very visible makeup of a house, and it certainly raises the value of the property.

Depends what the thieves came for.

Forged iron must be protected against rust by hot-dip galvanizing and paint, and it looks completely different from Corten. Corten is a steel that protects itself: the copper and phosphorus in it form a thin layer of rust that stops oxidation from going deeper. Its advantage is zero maintenance, and if the surface is damaged, a new rust layer simply forms. The catch: Corten is sold only as sheet. The bars and profiles we need for forged work I have not found on the market, despite trying.

The really good, proven wet paints have disappeared from the market for environmental reasons. We use electrostatic powder coating, which needs proper preparation and chemical aging of the zinc for the paint to grip.

The function of both is safety, so it is above all a matter of taste. Glass does not block light and does not obstruct the view. Forged iron gives a house warmth and is its ornament.

Pieces for interior use carry a lifetime warranty. Exterior pieces carry 30 years against rust and 10 years on the paint. Mechanical damage is not covered.

I am Bruno Kalčič, born 1967 in Jesenice, the town where they say iron is at home. Like most locals I decided to earn my bread with iron and trained as a smith in 1986. Already as an apprentice I secretly tried to create the odd piece of art, but the gap between machine smithing and artistic smithing was too wide. Without a good teacher there are no good pieces, so after military service I went looking for one. The local masters guarded their knowledge jealously, but by great luck I found a fantastic smith in Austrian Carinthia, heir to over 250 years of family tradition in artistic forging, who was willing to take me on. He taught me an enormous amount, and he poisoned me with his view of the craft for good.

Blejska Dobrava 123, Slovenia, near Lake Bled, with a large exhibition space. On weekdays between 8:00 and 14:00 you can also watch the work in the forge. Welcome.

There are two masters: Bruno with 42 years and Gregor with 28.

As a rule I do not hand out my customers' addresses. Garden fences are no problem, most stand along public paths and roads. For balcony and stair railings it is a matter of agreement.

Yes.

Yes, with certificates.

It gets repaired, no fuss.

Every piece is forged in our own forge, from steel we buy in 6 m bars. All forged segments are joined the smith's way, rivets, collars, bars woven through punched holes, into the final piece. The only services we entrust to outside specialists are hot-dip galvanizing and electrostatic powder coating.

Yes. Quite a few restaurants and inns carry our work, and our pavilions stand in three parks and at a hotel in Dvorska vas.

As a rule I do not bother my customers, but I can ask them for that favor myself.

The name says it: in a forge, iron is forged. We also join the forged elements the smith's way, with rivets, collars and bars woven through punched holes, into a whole. Locksmiths and welders weld pieces together from cut and bent profiles.

Yes.

Project size has absolutely no influence on quality here.

100 percent.