we called various "iron works" companies around El Cerrito & Richmond - needing our outdoor iron Railing repaired due to the old rusted footings. This company is a small 3-person operation with Lupe being the owner. Fully licensed & bonded - I checked the state license board & the few local references he provided and they all checked out - so hired him. (PS, he was the only company out of 4 that returned my phone or email messages to get the original bid.) Given that we had no other company to compare bids with we went with him - price seemed "reasonable", but hey, what do I know? Anyway, we set up the appt. for the job - which was to occur within a few days after meeting him. Lupe called on that morning to change the time to a couple hours later "due to the noise he would be making so as to not disturb late sleepers" ... nice for my other half who sleeps until noon! Total job was finished in 1 day. Yes, a bit messy of an operation but he & his partner did a nice job doing basic cleanup when done. (I will likely need to do some scrubbing of some of the stuff - and did a little Goof-Off of some dribbles of touch-up paint that they did.) The re-drilling of the old holes was messy and did scratch up a few tiles - but honestly, kind of hard to NOT do that since they had to drill out the old holes - and our tiles were old anyway. Lupe also was very willing to explain all the materials he was using and the "why" things were done in such a way. (like the paint, the cement used, etc.) the new rail footings are very solid and I would recommend him for any such work you need to fix or replace iron railings. read more

Lupe is a nice person, but he set expectations that were not met. Due to this, we now have $4k in additional work that needs to be done. Lupe came to our home in June (2024) and told us the railings would be completed in 3 weeks. We decided to do this project in the summer so there would not be an issue with rain damaging our front steps/landing before we could get them sealed and painted (once the railings were completed). Unfortunately, every time we spoke to Lupe, the project was 'on it's way to the powder coater' or other excuses. The railing was not completed until October, over 4 months from when he told us it would be done. Shortly after the final installation of the railings and just before we could get the painters in (which we had to push back many, many times), we experienced heavy rain which severely damaged our stairs, which now have to be replaced. Lupe is a really nice person, but not $4k in additional work nice. If you want a nice person but have zero levels of urgency with your project, then go for it. Otherwise, we don't recommend Castaneda Iron Works. read more

Castaneda Iron Works - Water damage - Metal Fabricators Near Me - Richmond, California

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I found Castenada iron works in the Home Concepts magazine and ordered a railing for my steps last July. I got a quote and Lupe came out to measure for it. He never delivered on his agreement to make the railing. Every time I would call, he assured me it was "being manufactured." Now, three months later I still don't have the railing, so I cancelled the order. I don't think this is a real company. read more

2nd time they came through with a beautiful piece of metal that is practical and didn't cost an arm and a leg. They are the best! Call them if you need any sort of metal work around the house. You will not be disappointed. read more

Castaneda Iron Works made a custom railing for the inside of my home that I chose from 2 different styles in their gallery. The owner, Lupe', was very easy to work with and met all of my needs. He came to my house a few times to recheck measurements, and to "dry fit" the railing before it went out to the powder coating co. They always came to my house wearing masks. The end result was that I ended up with exactly what my wife and I wanted...a great looking railing. Thank you, Castaneda read more

So far not delivering. Paid deposit for fence on May 2nd. Lupe, the owner, says will be done in 3 weeks. Now it is almost July and still not sight of fence. For the past two weeks, every time I call to check on the status he tell me its going to powder coat and will be back in the next two days. I will come back and rate the quality of the fence once I actually see it..... :( read more

Lupe and his team did an awesome job making and installing a baby gate for my spiral staircase. He responded quickly and came out to take measurements. And about a week and a half later they came through and installed it quickly. Lupe is very kind and professional and instructed his guys to wear mask when they entered my house which was a plus!!! read more

It's been almost a yr I'm still waiting for the workers to comeback & fix my door I was told they would return to fix the door but I'm still waiting I called about 4 times probably more but still door is still loose read more

Vendor finally got back to me and completed the job satisfactorily.

Excellent customer service. Went above and beyond to ensure satisfaction. Prompt professional service. And, the end result of my railings for the stairs was very nice. I would use this company again. Lupe was great. read more

Castaneda Iron Works does great work and very reliable. I had a beautiful fence made. You can contact CIW at 510-435-9133.

Will not use this company again. Lupe and his worker did not finish the railing work they came out to do and have not refunded me for work not done. Have attempted to contact him numerous times on his cell phone but he will not answer. For anyone looking for railing work, do not use this company unless you want to be ripped off. read more

Now that we are getting older we needed safety railings for our back steps. I prepared some accurate drawings and after shopping around for ironworks fabricators (there aren't many in near El Cerrito) I found Lupe Castaneda. He looked at my drawings and said he could make what I was asking. He came out to our home and made suggestions on improving/simplifying my design. I revised my drawings to reflect our agreements, signed his contract and off he went. Something you might need to understand - if your job is urgent work very hard to pin him down on time. I had no restrictions. My job proceeded as follows: March 10 - signed contract, April 10 called him, April 11 came out with railing to check fit-up, May 2 called him, said he was sending my railings to power coat, May 17 - came out to install railings but didn't fit, June 13 - final install, perfect. My experience is consistent with other reviewers. He takes his time. The bottom line for me is Lupe is the type of contractor I like working with. He involved himself with my project, made improvements, and executed them. Hats off to Manuel, his fabricator-installer - a master craftsman. read more

Castaneda Iron Works - Safety Railings - Metal Fabricators Near Me - Richmond, California

If you are reading this review, I suggest you stop reading and start calling. For whatever reason, people in this trade are really "lay back" and SLOW in getting back to your calls and work requests. I had guys return my calls and emails in days and scheduled appointments for site visits (not installation) in weeks. So whatever you are doing, schedule the iron work as soon as you can. One guy I was able to work with asked for 80% money up front in cash. That's when I called Castaneda Iron Works. I was surprised that Lupe actually picked up the phone when I called. He was very professional, explaining to me the options I can have and pointing me to his website. I needed to have balcony railing done. By then I already knew the size, style, and other specs that I want, so I was able to provide the information on the phone. When Lupe quoted me a rough price, I felt it was reasonable and we scheduled a time for him to come by to take the exact measurement. When he came, I was up front with Lupe that I read online reviews about their work etc. - happy with what I read, but I was concerned with installation time. Lupe was equally transparent with time that he needed 4 week to have the rails prepared and installed. As mentioned above, by then, I was used to the timeframe by talking with other contractors. In this case, Lupe was giving me a very firm time estimate, so I decided to give the job to him without further delay. From there, it took about 3 weeks before I heard from Lupe that the railing was done and he could actually install it earlier. The next thing, the 3-people crew came and installed this beautiful iron rails! read more

Finding it virtually impossible to get a really small welding job done commercially in Marin County, I found Castaneda Iron Works in Richmond. The guy couldn't have been nicer or more helpful...I pulled in to his driveway and he came out to greet me, said he remembered our conversation on the phone and took my job into the shop on the spot and I was out of there in less than 10 minutes and he charged me a very fair price too. You don't need this service every day but when you do, it's nice to know that there's a good guy ready to help out at the right price. See Lupe at castanedairon.com read more

Lupe has a nice personality, reasonably priced and end product is satisfactory. HOWEVER, I had the same experience as William S. -- it took 3 or 4 months and multiple excuses to get the work done. He'd just disappear and then say "its being powder coated" or "they no longer have the color you selected" or "you didn't tell me when you wanted it" or "your town didn't get back to me on the permit" and on and on and on. I don't know why he does this - he has a nice business. He needs to get organized. I'm giving less of a pass on this than Ed, but more credit than William. FRUSTRATION! read more

Needed a structure to put up heavy kicking bags for my gym. Came in contact with Lupe at Castaneda Iron Works and the got the work done for really quick. Quallity of the job was A+. High quality work done in so little time. Highly recommend this company. read more