Give Old Iron a Second Century — Historic Ironwork Restoration in Charleston
Pemberton conserves the gates, balconies, and fences that make the Lowcountry look like itself — repaired in wrought iron, finished in period coatings, and documented so preservation boards say yes.
Repair the Metal. Keep the History.
Most of Charleston's ironwork failures aren't age — they're bad repairs: mild steel welded onto 1840s wrought iron, caulk hiding rot, paint entombing detail. Pemberton works the other way. We identify the original material and joinery, repair like with like — forge welds, rivets, collars — and strip finishes back to the maker's marks before building up period-correct coatings. The result doesn't look restored. It looks like it was always cared for.
- ✓Material-matched repairs — wrought iron, not mild steel
- ✓Traditional joinery: forge welds, rivets & collars
- ✓Period coating systems that survive salt air
- ✓Condition reports & documentation for BAR submittals
Six Ways We Keep Old Iron Standing
From a single hinge to a whole streetscape of fence.
Slow Is Smooth. Smooth Is Permanent.
Assess & Document
Site visit, material identification, photography, and a written condition report — the baseline every decision refers back to.
Propose the Treatment
A conservation plan with a firm price: what gets saved, what gets reproduced, what finish system goes on, and what the board will want to see.
Conserve & Forge
Careful removal where needed, paint stripped to the maker's marks, repairs in matching material, missing pieces forged by hand.
Reinstall & Hand Back
Re-set, re-hung, and finished on site — with the documentation package that makes the next century's maintenance easy.
When a Piece Is Missing, We Forge Its Twin
Half the gates in the Historic District are missing something — a finial pocketed decades ago, a scroll lost to a delivery truck, a picket rusted through at the ground line. Our forge reproduces missing elements from the surviving originals: same section, same taper, same tool marks. Set side by side, the new work reads as family — and we stamp it discreetly so future conservators know exactly what was added, and when.
- ✓Hand-forged to match section, taper & tooling
- ✓Wrought iron stock for wrought iron originals
- ✓Discreet date stamps for honest provenance
- ✓Patterns kept on file for future repairs
What Twenty-Six Years of Old Iron Teaches
The Cheap Repair Costs Double
Mild steel welded to wrought iron rusts at the joint and fractures the original. Undoing bad repairs is half our workload — doing it right the first time is always the bargain.
Paint Is Preservation
Iron doesn't die of age; it dies of water. A maintained coating system is the difference between an 1850s fence and a 1990s replacement.
Documentation Is a Gift to the Future
Every treatment we record makes the next conservator's job easier — and protects your property's story for the archive.
Trusted South of Broad & Beyond
The gates on our Church Street property had been painted over so many times the leaves had disappeared. Pemberton stripped a century of paint, found the original chisel marks, repaired the fractures with wrought iron — not mild steel — and returned something our great-grandmother would recognize. The BAR review took eight minutes.
As a preservation architect I need iron people who document everything — existing conditions, joinery, coatings, the lot. Pemberton's assessment reports read like conservation theses and their reproduction work is indistinguishable from the 1840s originals beside it.
After the hurricane bent half the fence at our Ansonborough house, our insurer wanted to replace it with aluminum. Pemberton straightened, spliced, and re-set the original wrought iron for less than the replacement quote — and it's the fence the tour guides stop at.
Asked at the Garden Gate
Is my ironwork wrought iron or cast iron?
Wrought iron is fibrous, forgiving, and usually pre-1900 — think hand-shaped scrolls and pickets. Cast iron is poured in molds, more brittle, with repeating decorative patterns. Most Charleston properties have both. The distinction matters because each demands different repairs — it's the first thing our assessment establishes.
Do I need BAR approval for iron restoration?
In Charleston's Old and Historic District, most visible exterior work requires review. Straight conservation is usually welcomed — and our documentation is formatted so submittals go smoothly. We've kept a perfect approval record across twenty-six years.
Can storm-damaged iron really be straightened?
Almost always. Wrought iron in particular tolerates careful heat-and-straighten work beautifully. Before you accept an insurer's replace-with-aluminum quote, get an assessment — restoration is often the cheaper line item, and it preserves the value of the original.
What does restoration cost?
A single gate conservation typically runs in the low thousands; full fence streetscapes more. Every project gets a firm written price after assessment — and where grants or tax incentives apply to preservation work, our documentation supports the application.
How long does the work take?
Assessment reports arrive within two weeks of the site visit. Workshop conservation typically runs four to twelve weeks depending on scope and forge time. Ironwork stays protected and the opening secured while pieces are with us.
Do you work outside Charleston?
Yes — the workshop serves the wider Lowcountry, from Beaufort to Georgetown, and takes selected projects across South Carolina for preservation architects we work with regularly.
Let's Look at Your Ironwork Together
An assessment costs a site visit and tells you exactly what you have, what it needs, and what it will cost to keep for another century.
Request an Assessment
Two business days to a reply. Photos of the ironwork help — even phone snaps through the fence.
- Visit us78 Bogard Street, Charleston, SC 29403
- Call us(843) 555-0171
- Email usrestore@pembertoniron.com