Abay Ironworks

We are in love with our new iron fence! T was very professional and even more responsive. They took of everything from start to finish and answered all our questions. I only wish working with every company was this easy. Thanks for making the front of the house look marvelous again!

Abay Iron & Metal Works of Washington, D.C. was tasked with constructing a custom handrail for our new walkway. Abay responded quickly with a good proposal and completed the job in one day. The unique nature of our walkway posed a few challenges that they quickly overcame and produced an outstanding finished product. To view the construction process followed, visit

My girlfriend and I were looking for a new security door for our home. During our extensive search we discovered that security and modern design were typically not used in the same sentence. We found a photo of a door that we loved but we’re not sure how or where to get the door. Then we came across T.
We provided T with the photo and asked him if he could make a door exactly like the one in the photo.
T came out to our home and made the appropriate measurements. During the construction of our door, T would send us pictures of the progress. In less than a week T had the door completed.
The door T constructed was exactly like the one in the picture we provided. I can not say enough good things about the workmanship and overall experience. T removed our old door, installed the new door, and then hauled old door away.
If you are looking for quality, professional workmanship, Abay Ironworks is the place to go.

I’ve had the same experience as someone else that posted in the last year. I wanted to keep my money in DC. I stopped in and left my number and what I needed with someone there and no one ever called me. Maybe they only do big jobs – I only needed an outside handrail.

The hype is definitely justified and we would recommend Tilahun to anyone. After burglars kicked in our front door while we were home, we knew we needed to install security doors and bars on our window. Tilahun provided incredibly fast service — saw us a couple hours after we called him on Wed, and had everything manufactured and installed on Saturday morning. He made all the necessary modifications to make the doors fit perfectly in our exceptionally tight entryways. And it all looks fantastic! Thanks T.

T and his team were incredible! We wanted a wrought iron fence around the little front area of our rowhouse in Shaw. T came by on Wednesday, and he and his team of 2 showed up at 9am on Saturday (just 3 days after initial consult and greenlight) and got to work. By 2pm, we had a beautiful, firmly installed fence, exactly as we had asked for and even including a little improvisation that had to be done due to property line considerations. I watched as his guys put the finishing touches on the paint: at every step of the way, great care was taken so that no paint got on the ground (sidewalk, grass, dirt… whatever). That evening as my wife and I sat out on our stoop admiring our brand-​new fence, I remarked that – aside from the fence itself – there was no sign that anything had been done to our property that day. They were THAT careful about set up, creation, and clean up.
Don’t bother looking anywhere else. As others on here have said, T is the man!

T was awesome. Provided advice in bars, security door, rails, Next day service within 3 hrs. Better than Home Depot which said they come out for a house call in a week — two.

I called to request an estimate for installing new porch railing and iron steps at my home. The person who answered the phone promised to stop by the following day. They never showed up and didn’t bother calling to say why.

Like everyone else said, Tilahun (T) was fabulous to work with! We had a wrought iron fence installed in our front yard, and they were responsive, timely, affordable, and very professional. He was the only one of our bids that mentioned that would call utilities before digging, and once we decided to go with them (a Saturday), everything was completed by the following Thursday. The end result looked great, and was high quality! I will certainly use Abay Ironworks again.

Let me join the crowd in praising Tilahun of Abay Ironworks!
He responded quickly to my request for an estimate to install exterior handrails to my front porch and was very accommodating to the special payment arrangement I needed! Tilahun and his workers did the job with efficiency and expertise. I am very happy with the work he and his workers performed and will recommend him to anyone seeking ironwork!!!

I absolutely and completely recommend Abay Ironworks.
T, the owner, responded same-​day to my initial call. He also came to our house that same day. And he completed the work the next day, which required him to spend the entire day outside welding materials during the frigid cold. His prices were reasonable. His professionalism was great. And the quality of the work was top notch.

Much like everyone else’s 5-​star review, I cannot sing the praises of Tilahun (T) enough! We hired T to make and install an exterior fence in our front yard and also make and install some railings on our interior stair case.
T was great via email or phone (usually responding within 1 business day) and the work started just a few days after we signed the contract and put down 50%. The outside fence was done in one day, and the interior railings done on the second day.
The end result is EXACTLY what we wanted! We are so happy to have used Abay Ironworks and could not recommend T enough. Also the fact that he is local to our Trinidad neighborhood in NE DC, only made it extra awesome.

T is the man! He came out yesterday and gave an estimate. As I type, the work has been completed! It’s not often you get great work done. It’s more rare that you’re able to get custom work done. T is a rarity! I’d recommend him to anyone who wants great work done by someone who’s looking to get over on you! All aces in my book!

We needed iron gates for the french doors on our new home, and we needed them in a hurry. T’s estimate and timeline bested the competition. He was able to custom manufacture and install the doors in four business days. They look great and he was a pleasure to work with. We’d highly recommend him.

I had several firms give me quotes on a new iron banister for the front steps to my house and a security gate for my basement door. I really liked that the owner, who goes by T, was able to show me exactly what I could chose from using photos on his iPad of the various design options. He also turned the quote around quickly and broke each item down as I had asked. Once I was ready to go ahead with the work, T and his crew completed the job within 24 hours. The final product looks great and the price was very reasonable.

Good experience! I hired Tilahun to build and install security storm doors on a set of French doors, window bars and repair the banister on the front porch. He provided a competitive estimate, drove me to see a similar project he had done, and completed the work within days of getting the contract. He does quality work with a good attitude. I will hire him again and am glad to provide a glowing review.

I needed a new railing and banisters on my exterior metal staircase because the old one was out of code and dangerous. Tilahun (he goes by «T») responded the same day I contacted him, after finding Abay Ironworks through Service Magic. He came out the next day to do an estimate, and offered to do the job the very next day. I appreciated the quickness, but wanted to get one or two other quotes first so I declined the next-​day service. Turns out, other iron workers wanted to charge more money for the same job, and they wanted to take longer to complete it, and some iron workers didn’t return my call until after Abay finished their job! So I chose to use Abay. Tilahun and one other worker came out and removed the old railing and replaced it with a newer one to code and with banisters, they started in the morning around 9a and finished in the early afternoon. The new fixtures look great, as if they were original to the staircase. Tilahun assured me if I came across any issues with their work down the line (unexpected rust, loose/​bad weld, etc) to just call and he would take care of it, but I don’t expect any problems.
Abay Ironworks does not accept credit cards, but they also did not require a deposit before they started the work. If you REALLY need to use a credit card, ask your card’s bank for access checks (they all do it) and they will send you a blank «check» in the mail that you can write to a contractor or whoever and it charges to your credit card account for a small fee.

After a disturbing middle-​of-​the night burglary at my coop in NW DC, I decided to install security bars on my fire escape windows. I contacted Abay and made an appointment for an estimate. Abay showed up within hours, emailed me a cost proposal the following morning and completed the security bar installation the following day.
Contracting for home improvements in this region can be very frustrating. Abay proved the exception to the rule — they actually follow through! I was also impressed by their courtesy and professionalism.
I highly recommend Abay Ironworks!