Wrought Iron Fence: Real Iron, Steel or Aluminum, and What It Costs
A new wrought iron fence is nearly always welded mild steel, or aluminum made to look like it: a 1993 metal-trade article dates the closing of the last US plant making true wrought iron to 1969. The calculator prices fencing sold as wrought iron at $112 a foot installed at 4 ft, national mid-range, and 72 ft across a front yard with one 4-ft walk gate comes to about $8,980 with the gate and a typical permit fee.
Updated
Wrought Iron Fence, 4 ft, 72 ft — mid estimate emphasized
| Item | Low | High | % of Mid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Materials | $3,170 | $6,340 | 54% |
| Labor | $2,300 | $3,740 | 35% |
| Gates | $400 | $1,200 | 9% |
| Removal | $0 | $0 | 0% |
| Permit | $40 | $200 | 1% |
2026 figures from published cost guides and retail prices; varies by region and contractor.
The calculator above opens on that front yard: 72 ft of 4-ft wrought iron with one walk gate, at national prices. It prices the fence by the foot, then adds the gate, a permit allowance and, if you switch it on, removal of an old fence. Enter the length without the gate opening, since the gate is priced on top. Posts, panels, finials, brick pillars and any wall under the iron are not counted. The wood and wire builds that are counted piece by piece are on the fence styles hub.
Wrought iron, cast iron, steel or aluminum
Four metals get called wrought iron. The real one is almost pure iron, under 1% carbon, with 1% to 4% slag running through it in fibers. The National Park Service's Preservation Brief 27 (1991) calls it soft, tough and fatigue-resistant, easy to forge, bend and draw. Cast iron carries at least 1.7% carbon and is poured into molds. It is too hard and brittle to hammer into shape.
| Metal | What it is | How the parts are made | What it is sold as now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wrought iron | almost pure iron, under 1% carbon, 1–4% slag | hammered and bent hot, riveted or forge-welded | reproduction and restoration work |
| Cast iron | iron with at least 1.7% carbon, usually 3.0–3.7% | poured into molds, bolted or screwed together | historic fences, and cast trim on steel ones |
| Mild steel | low-carbon steel, strong and easy to work | formed by machine, then welded | "wrought iron" or "ornamental iron" fence |
| Aluminum | alloy such as 6061-T5 | extruded, assembled into panels | ornamental aluminum in wrought iron patterns |
The metal itself went out of production decades ago. Todd Daniel's 1993 article in the fabricators' magazine of NOMMA, the National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association, dates the last US plant's closing to 1969 and counts nearly everything sold as wrought iron since then as mild steel. Many buyers, he adds, spell it "rod iron." Aluminum makers use the name for a look rather than a metal, and Jerith's residential brochure sells its plain spear-top aluminum panel as a traditional wrought iron design.
How to tell hand-worked iron from cast iron and steel
Hand-worked iron is plainer and less even than cast work and keeps the marks of rolling or the hammer, according to Brief 27. Cast pieces repeat exactly down a run, show mold lines, flashing and small air holes, and are bolted or screwed together where wrought pieces are riveted or forge-welded. Machine-made steel shows itself at the joints: Tampa Steel & Supply, a Florida steel supplier, points to the welded seam down the center of pickets, rails or posts.
A hammered finish on spears and scrolls does not settle which metal you are looking at. Daniel notes that the look of wrought iron can be had by putting a hammered texture on a mild steel bar. Two bids for a "wrought iron fence" can therefore describe different materials, and the bid should name the metal of the pickets and posts and how the joints are made.
What does a wrought iron fence cost?
With the gate and permit added, the 72-ft front yard costs 2.9 times as much in wrought iron as in aluminum, and 2.7 times as much as in ornamental steel. Per foot the gap is wider, 3.4 times aluminum, because the permit allowance is flat and the iron walk gate is priced only 27% above an aluminum one.
| 72 ft at 4 ft, one walk gate | Total compared with wrought iron | Per-foot rate compared with aluminum | Walk gate's share of the total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wrought iron | baseline | 3.4 times | 9% |
| Steel ornamental (estimate) | 63% less | 1.1 times | 19% |
| Aluminum | 65% less | baseline | 20% |
The steel row is an estimate. The cost guides behind the data put steel in one range with aluminum and iron, and its rate is placed between the two. The aluminum fence cost calculator runs all three metals over a 150-ft backyard, and fence cost per foot sets iron beside wood, vinyl and chain link. Raised to 5 ft, the front-yard fence costs 12% more in total, and at 6 ft 22% more. The same front yard in black coated chain link totals under a fifth of the iron figure, and the black chain link fence page counts its parts.
Ornamental iron fence: the choices on a quote
Ornamental iron is the trade name for the welded steel kind. Tampa Steel & Supply defines it as steel, "not forged or cast like Wrought Iron." Fortress Building Products, a steel and aluminum fence maker, hot-dip galvanizes its steel panels after welding and then powder-coats them, per a 2018 company article.
Spear-top pickets level across the top, on ball-capped posts, are the basic pattern, drawn here as a 4-ft black aluminum fence. The choices that change it are the top, the gap and the gate. Tops come with points level or staggered, with finials in place of points, or with a flat rail across the top, with or without points showing below it. Jerith spaces its standard pickets 3 13/16 in apart and sells narrow versions at 1 5/8 in that, in the maker's words, "will keep most pets in your yard." Gates come flat or arched, as in Fortress's Athens aluminum line.
The calculator prices an arched walk gate the same as a flat one.
Wrought iron fence with brick pillars
Iron between brick pillars is two jobs. Enter only the iron footage: if the pillars take up 12 ft of the 72-ft frontage, the priced fence comes down by 15%, and the pillars, plus any low wall under the iron like the one in this illustration, go to a mason's bid. Brief 27 lists loss of anchorage in masonry among the common failures of old cast-iron work, so both bids should say how the sections are fixed into the brick. In Sioux Falls, the fence height rules and permits guide records, some corner lots may put a 6-ft fence on the front line if it is upgraded, and masonry columns and decorative metal are among the listed upgrades.
Wrought iron vs aluminum fence
| True wrought iron | Ornamental steel | Aluminum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rust | slag fibers spread it into an even brownish film (Daniel) | less resistant than wrought or cast iron (Brief 27); galvanized after welding by Fortress | does not rust, per Jerith and Fortress |
| Strength | soft, tough, fatigue-resistant (Brief 27) | strong but easily worked (Brief 27) | 35,000 psi minimum yield for Jerith's HS-35 alloy, against 25,000–33,000 for many steel fences (Jerith's own figure) |
Near salt water the aluminum makers make their strongest claim, and Fortress sells its Athens line for saltwater pools and coastal areas. Around any pool, picket gaps and the gate latch follow barrier rules, which the pool fence cost calculator sets out with its prices. Metal against vinyl and wood, on upkeep as well as price, is the subject of fence materials compared. Daniel's advice to fabricators was that genuine wrought iron is needed only where reproduction work specifies it.
Racked panels on a slope
In a racked panel the rails tilt with the ground while the pickets stay vertical. Fortress's July 2019 Athens brochure offers its 71-in aluminum panels as rackable in six heights, 36 to 72 in. The calculator takes a flat length, and a stepped or custom-bent iron run on a hill is the fabricator's number.
Key Takeaways
- One estimate Daniel cited in 1993 put production wrought iron at nearly twice the cost of steel.
- In the same article, true wrought iron came only as imports from Europe or salvage from an old bridge, a wagon wheel axle or another antique.
- The last wrought iron works in the world, the Atlas Forge in Bolton, England, closed in 1973.
- Tearing out an old 72-ft fence first adds 4% to the front-yard total.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is wrought iron the same as cast iron?
No. Wrought iron is tough and can be forged and bent. Cast iron is weak in tension, and Brief 27 warns that it "fails under tensile loading with little prior warning."
Is a store-bought wrought iron fence real wrought iron?
Almost never. In 2018 Fortress wrote that cast or wrought iron of any sort is hard to find for structural uses like fencing, so the material on a store listing is steel or aluminum.
How much does a wrought iron driveway gate add?
On the 72-ft front yard, a drive gate on top of the walk gate adds 22% to the total.
What does "wrought iron" mean when a fence company says it?
Any of three things, by Daniel's count: the actual metal, hand-forged work, or only the look. A quote should say which one it prices.
Does a wrought iron fence rust?
Yes, but more evenly than steel. The slag fibers in true wrought iron spread the rust into a thin film instead of pitting it in spots.
Sources
- National Park Service, Preservation Brief 27: The Maintenance and Repair of Architectural Cast Iron, John G. Waite (October 1991), accessed November 1, 2026. https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1739/upload/preservation-brief-27-cast-iron.pdf
- Todd Daniel, "Is it rod iron? Is it rot iron? Or is it wrought iron?", Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metal Fabricator (NOMMA), November/December 1993, reprinted by Avion Metal Works (archived November 24, 2020), accessed November 1, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20201124090246/https://avionmetalworks.com/useful-articles/rod-or-wrought-iron/
- Wikipedia, "Wrought iron" (revision of June 7, 2026), accessed November 1, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrought_iron
- Tampa Steel & Supply, "Ornamental Iron vs Wrought Iron" (no date), accessed November 1, 2026. https://tampasteel.com/ornamental-iron-vs-wrought-iron/
- Jerith Manufacturing, Residential Aluminum Fence brochure (© 2008–2014), accessed November 1, 2026. https://cdn.branchcms.com/Q1D9bmXd0l-888/docs/Jerith_Residential_Brochure.pdf
- Fortress Building Products, "Finding Attractive Fencing That Looks Like Wrought Iron" (July 25, 2018), accessed November 1, 2026. https://fortressbp.com/blog/132/finding-attractive-fencing-that-looks-like-wrought-iron
- Fortress Building Products, Athens Ornamental Aluminum Fence brochure (July 2019), accessed November 1, 2026. https://fortressbp.com/Documents/Athens-Residential-Fencing-Brochure.pdf
