Ironwork, metalwork and steel furniture: we work for homeowners, architects and small local authorities in Saumur and around it, from the first measurement to the final install.
8 min · Updated 5 November 2026
We are a metal workshop based in Saumur, on the banks of the Loire, an hour from Angers and Tours. We draw, cut, weld and finish steel and solid wood pieces on site: guardrails, staircases, gates, furniture, stretch ceilings, pivot bars. Nothing is made abroad and nothing is resold as it arrives.
Our clients are homeowners renovating a tuffeau stone house, architects looking for a workshop that can read a construction detail, and small local authorities needing a structure welded and installed to code. The common ground: dimensions that are not standard, and the wish for a piece that still looks right in twenty years.
What we make
Our work falls into six families, most of them configurable online when the geometry stays simple: guardrails for windows, balconies, terraces and stairs; central-stringer and quarter-turn staircases with solid oak treads; swing, sliding and folding gates; steel and solid-wood furniture; stretch ceilings with integrated LED; and hardware such as pivot bars, plus welded repairs.
Workshop skills
Every piece goes through six stations. Drawing comes first: your survey becomes a dimensioned plan with fixing axes, clearances and cutting lists. Then cutting, at the band saw and the disc, with angles measured to half a degree so the joints close properly. Welding follows: stick for heavy sections, MIG for everyday steel, TIG for stainless steel and visible corners. Grinding is a station in its own right — it decides whether a weld is seen or disappears into the mass. Then finishing: degreasing, primer, hot-dip galvanising when the piece is going outdoors, two-coat powder coating. Finally a full trial assembly before anything leaves the workshop.
Steel, stainless steel, solid wood
We work S235 structural steel for most pieces, S355 when slimmer sections are needed. Outdoors the rule is simple: hot-dip galvanising then powder coating, because zinc keeps protecting even where paint is scratched. 304 stainless suits interiors; 316L, with its molybdenum, is mandatory near pools and the sea. Solid wood is our second material: oak for tops and treads, walnut for darker pieces, beech for tighter budgets, robinia outdoors. Timber is stored and machined at 8–12% moisture so it stops moving once installed. Steel carries the structure, wood brings the warmth, and every joint respects the movement of both.
The workshop and its radius
The workshop is at Atelier — 12 rue des Ponts, 49400 Saumur, open by appointment Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm, and Saturday, 9am to 4pm — the best moment to see materials, touch a finish and understand what your budget allows. We work within 200 km of Saumur, which covers the Saumurois, part of Anjou and Touraine, and reaches Poitiers, Tours, Le Mans and Nantes. Measuring is free up to 30 km; beyond that a €19.99 call-out fee plus €0.90 per kilometre applies and is deducted from the quote when the order is signed.
Prices and lead times
Below are the ranges we actually work with, including tax and installation unless stated otherwise. They are not bait prices: they are starting points for a simple piece in a standard finish, installed in Saumur.
Starting prices by family — tax included
Family
Lead time
From
Steel guardrail, installed
3 to 4 weeks
€240 / lm
Bespoke pedestrian gate
4 to 6 weeks
€1,100
3 m swing gate, motorised
4 to 6 weeks
€4,600
Central-stringer stair, oak treads
6 to 8 weeks
€6,900
Steel and oak table 180 × 90 cm
3 to 5 weeks
€1,510
Stretch fabric ceiling
2 to 3 weeks
€90 / m²
Pivot bar, fitted
2 weeks
€120 / lm
Workshop repair
5 to 10 days
€65 / h
Indicative prices including 20% tax and fitting for installed work. Every quote breaks down material, finish, installation and fixings.
Lead times start when the drawing is approved, not when the order is placed. A guardrail takes three to four weeks, a staircase six to eight, a repair five to ten working days. We never promise a date the workshop cannot hold: better to say six weeks and deliver in five than the other way round.
Projects
Three recent examples from the documented projects: a swing gate with scrollwork for a townhouse, a terrace guardrail on a slab above the vineyards, and a central-stringer staircase that replaced a loft ladder.
Swing gate with scrollwork
Saumur · 49400 · 2026
Two leaves drawn to echo the curve of the slate roofs, with hand-forged scrolls and tight barwork at the bottom. The gate swings inwards on old tuffeau stone pillars without weakening them.
Tuffeau stone crumbles as soon as a plug is forced into it: we chose through-brackets and a low-expansion chemical anchor instead.
Twelve metres of guardrail for a terrace above the vineyards, with regular vertical bars and a flat handrail. Base plates sit on a new slab, set so they never block water drainage.
No base plate within the first two centimetres of the slab edge: that is where concrete moves most, and where fixings rust first.
A quarter-turn staircase replaced a steep loft ladder in a townhouse. The square-tube central stringer carries sixteen solid oak treads, with a continuous handrail and cable guardrail.
A 120 mm stringer stays discreet while spanning 2.85 m with no perceptible bounce: any smaller and the stair flexes underfoot.
The full list of towns we cover, from the Saumurois to Touraine, is on the service area page — with real distances, travel times and call-out rates. If your village is not listed, write to us: 200 km is a radius, not a border.
A project in Saumur or nearby?
Describe the piece, send two photos and one dimension: we answer with a starting price, then with a dimensioned drawing once the project takes shape.
From plan approval: two to three weeks for a stretch ceiling or pivot bar, three to four for a guardrail, four to six for a gate, three to five for a table, six to eight for a staircase. Repairs are prioritised, usually five to ten working days in the workshop.
What does a bespoke guardrail cost?
Budget €240 to €300 per linear metre fitted indoors, €320 to €380 outdoors galvanised, and €380 to €420 in stainless or forged iron. A one-metre window guardrail starts around €190, while a careful twelve-metre run sits near €4,200. Fixings, finish and curved work are what move the price most.
Can you fix into tuffeau stone or masonry?
Yes, and it is a local speciality. In tuffeau we avoid expansion plugs: we prefer side brackets into reveals, through-rods and low-expansion chemical anchoring. Holes are then filled with lime mortar, never quick-setting cement.
Do you deliver furniture, and at what cost?
Yes, within 200 km of Saumur. Transport is €90 including tax up to 60 km, then €0.90 per extra kilometre. Tops travel in timber crates, bases are dismantled. On-site assembly is optional and takes one to two hours.
What are the payment terms?
Thirty per cent on order, forty per cent when manufacturing starts after plan approval, and the balance on delivery or handover. Cards, bank transfer and cheques are accepted. Every instalment appears on the signed quote, with no admin fees.
