Process
From a photo to installed.
Six steps, and you know the price before the second one ends. Nothing gets fabricated on an assumption, and nothing gets scheduled before you have a number.
- First step
- A photoTexted to the shop number.
- Estimate
- FreeScope and price before scheduling.
- Fabrication
- In HaywardOur own shop, not subcontracted.
- Install
- On siteOr shop pickup if portable.
Tell us what you need
Call or text a photo of the problem, or a sketch of what you want built. No form, no portal, no waiting on a callback queue.
Free estimate
A real range on the phone for most jobs, same day where we can. Scope and price before anything is scheduled.
On-site measurement
For anything structural, sloped, elevated or fixed to something we cannot see. This is where the design gets settled and the price gets firm.
Fabrication
Built in the Hayward shop to the measurements taken on your site, or welded up in place for anything attached to an existing structure.
Finish
Primed and painted, powder coated or galvanized — whichever the piece and its exposure call for, agreed at the estimate not chosen at the end.
Install or pickup
Fitted, hung, levelled and adjusted on site for gates, railings and fencing. Shop pickup for anything portable.
Why it starts with a photo
Because describing metalwork in words is genuinely hard, and because the estimate that matters is the one based on what is actually there. A photo of the sagging gate shows us the hinge that failed. A photo of the stair shows us the rake and the landing. A photo of the window shows us whether the frame is masonry or timber.
Text (510) 363-2490. Same number takes calls and texts. If you have a picture of something similar you like the look of, send that too — it is far more useful than adjectives.
What happens at the measurement visit
More than measuring. We work through the decisions that are hard to make from a distance and expensive to change later:
- Which way it opens, and what it has to clear through the whole arc.
- What is behind the wall, under the slab, or inside the post we are fixing to.
- How level the ground actually is, with a level rather than by eye.
- Whether the code that applies changes the height, the spacing or the load.
- Whether anything needs to match something you already have.
- Whether automation, access control or a future phase should be designed in now.
Where a job most often changes
Three places, and all three are found at the measurement rather than after: there is nothing structural where a bracket or post needs to land; the ground is less level than it looks; or the existing thing being matched or extended turns out to be a manufactured part that is no longer made. All three change the price, and all three get told to you before fabrication, not on the final invoice.
Fabrication, in our own shop
The work is built in Hayward. That matters for two practical reasons: a change caught during fabrication can be handled the same day rather than negotiated with a subcontractor, and a piece that needs adjusting after a trial fit can go back to the shop and come out right.
Where the job is welded onto something that already exists — a rail into a concrete stair, a repair on a structure that cannot move — the shop comes to you instead. That is what the mobile rig is for.
Finish, decided up front
Finish is agreed at the estimate, not chosen at the end when the budget is already spent. It is a large part of how long exterior metalwork lasts and a real part of the cost, so it belongs in the conversation early. See materials and finishes.
Installation, and what you sign off
Gates get hung, levelled, latched and cycled before we leave — a gate that closes on the day and binds a month later was not adjusted properly, and adjustment is the last thirty minutes of the job. Railings get loaded to make sure the anchors are doing what they should. You look at it, you operate it, and anything that is not right gets sorted then.
Afterwards
Warranty terms and payment schedule are agreed per job and written into what you sign. We have not published a standard warranty period because ATR has not set one publicly, and we would rather tell you the real terms for your job than post a number on a web page that turns out not to apply. Ask at the estimate — you will get a straight answer before you commit to anything.
Process
What people ask about how a job runs.
How long does the whole thing take?
It depends on the job and on the shop schedule, and we give you a real timeline with your estimate rather than a placeholder. As a shape: a straightforward interior handrail or a set of window bars can be measured, built and installed inside a week. A custom driveway gate is longer, mostly fabrication time. Anything needing a permit, an engineer, or a galvanizer adds their schedule to ours. We will not guarantee a completion date that depends on somebody else without saying so.
Do I need to be there for the measurement?
Someone who can make decisions should be, for anything custom. The measurement visit is also where the real design conversation happens — which way it swings, how high it sits, what it has to clear, what it needs to match. That conversation is much faster in person at the actual opening than over a series of texts afterwards.
What happens if the site is not what the photo showed?
We tell you before we start, not after. It happens: there is no framing behind the stucco, the concrete is spalled, the fence line is not where you thought, the old railing was hiding rot. When the site changes the job, you get a revised number and the reason for it before any work goes ahead. What we do not do is start, discover it, and hand you a bigger invoice at the end.
Will you work from my architect or engineer drawings?
Yes, and for anything load-bearing that is the right way to do it. Send the drawings with your enquiry. If the drawings and what is actually on site do not agree — which is common on a renovation — we will flag it back to you and your design team rather than picking one and hoping.
Who cleans up?
We do. Off-cuts, packaging and grinding debris go with us. On installs involving core-drilling or cutting we will tell you in advance what mess to expect and where, because concrete slurry and grinding dust get into more than people expect and it is easier to cover things beforehand than to clean them afterwards.
Free estimate
Step one is a photo.
Text it to the shop number and we'll tell you what the job takes, what it costs, and when we could do it.
Licensed, bonded and insured — CSLB #1037852. Free estimates, no obligation.
Based in Hayward. Serving the East Bay. Not sure if it’s something we do? See the full list of services, or book a consultation.