Custom-made stainless steel railings can be attention grabbing, whether used indoors or outdoors. However, achieving such a look can be a bit of a process as it often involves working with an artisan metal fabricator, which can require more time and money than a homeowner wants to spend. The owners of AGS Stainless used to build custom railing systems themselves, until they decided to create a system where custom-made stainless steel railings could be made offsite and shipped in for installation.
“We have a team of people who do the estimating, we have a team who handles design and puts everything into CAD, draw everything out and get everything perfectly dialed in on paper before we build the railings; then we have a team of people who will do all the cutting; and team that does the welding,” Kevin Harris, director of sales and marketing, AGS Stainless, explains. “What happens is instead of having a local fabricator who could be expensive AGS is custom-made but we build them offsite and ship them out to the remodeler ready to install.
“So the remodeler is able to work with us directly; they don’t have to be an expert on railings,” he continues. “AGS does all the work for them.”
The company uses stainless steel for its strength and aesthetic appeal. Three ClearView railing systems are available: Rainier cable railing, Glacier glass railing and Olympus horizontal bar railing. While the railing systems include a stainless round-top or flat top rail, Harris says that an add-on option a remodeler can approach clients with would be to build a wood rail topper. “Wood is great because it allows you to really tie in the railing system with some of the architectural features of the home,” he says. “[Remodelers] can make the handrail as wide or thin as they want, so typing in the top rail with the decking or trim indoors when you’re talking about stair railings just looks fantastic.”
Another perk of the company using stainless steel is that the company needs less material to meet code requirements, meaning the company uses the smallest and thinnest posts, cable rails, and flat tops.
“The advantage of our railing system is that when you’re up close to it you can say, “This is beautifully made by a craftsman.” But when you step back, it really shouldn’t be about your railing system anymore; it should be about your view,” Harris says. “That is why we named our railing system ClearView, because they were all designed to minimize obstruction of your view. Everything is engineered to make sure it meets code for the customer, but we went to make sure the railing looks good upfront but when you step back you really get to just enjoy your view.”
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