A gate that has dropped on its hinge, railings with rust pushing the paint off, security grilles for windows, a handrail that moves, or a metal structure made to measure. Send a photo of the whole item and a close one of the damage, and you get a free quote before anyone comes out.
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Metalwork in the Algarve, the trade known here as serralharia, covers gates and railings, security grilles, handrails and metal stairs, frames for pergolas and canopies, metal doors, and the welding, repair and anticorrosive treatment of all of them. Near the coast, corrosion is what shortens the life of exterior metal, and catching it in time costs less than replacing the piece. Handyman Algarve quotes metalwork in the Algarve for free, in English or Portuguese.
Within a few hundred metres of the sea, exterior metal has a different life from the same metal inland. Salt settles, holds moisture against the surface, and gets in through any break in the paint film: a scratch, a drilled hole, a weld that was not properly prepared. That is why the material and the treatment matter more than the thickness of the section. Painted mild steel needs regular maintenance and a touch up as soon as a rust spot appears. Hot dip galvanising buys years. Stainless and aluminium solve it differently, each with its own limits. And whatever the material, the detail that extends life the most is the dullest one: rinsing salt off with fresh water, particularly on hinges, catches and locks.
A railing or handrail does not have to break to fail: it can simply come loose, when the fixing into the wall or the floor gives up first. A balustrade takes a horizontal load every time someone leans on it, and a post grouted into a shallow hole in a tiled terrace, or bolted into hollow brick with the wrong plug, transfers that load into something that cannot take it. Fixing into solid concrete, using chemical anchors where the substrate is hollow, and sealing around the base so water does not sit in the hole are what makes the difference. A railing that moves is not cosmetic and should be dealt with as a safety item, not added to a list for next year.
The national list of works of minor urban relevance, at article 6.º-A of the RJUE, covers boundary walls up to 1.8 m that do not front a public road, and retaining walls that are either up to 2 m high or do not significantly alter the existing ground levels. That is the wording in force since 1 October 2026, in the RJUE as republished by Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026, and it carries exactly the same words as the wording in force before that date. These exemptions never reach a building, or an ensemble or site containing it, that is classified or in the process of being classified (em vias de classificação), nor a building inside the protection zone of one.
The rules for the start of works changed on 1 October 2026. The RJUE's start-of-works information reaches the câmara municipal at least five days before work starts and names whoever will carry out the work; since 1 October 2026 it expressly includes works exempt from a licence or a comunicação prévia, and since the same date the owner or the works director also posts a notice at the site, visible from the public road, at least five days before work starts (article 80.º-A n.os 1 and 5, in the wording republished by Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026). Portaria n.º 320/2026/1 of 31 July 2026, in force since 1 October 2026, approves the national form for that information and revised site-notice models. Before that date, Silves and Loulé already required exempt works to be notified to the câmara locally, at least five days ahead; the site notice came with the national text. Anything that changes the appearance of a facade is a question for your own câmara, and in an apartment building for the condominium as well.
As of 2026, a new piece is quoted by the metre or by the unit, and what moves it is the material, the section of the profiles, the design (straight bars are quick, curved or decorative work is not), the finish, and the installation on site. The finish is a bigger share than most people expect and it is where durability is bought: galvanising, anticorrosive primer and paint are three decisions rather than one. A repair is quoted as the visit with welding on site, plus the section replaced and the protection afterwards. Anything made to measure needs a site measure before a firm price, and that measure is part of the free quote.
Photos of the whole item and of the rusted areas, plus rough dimensions, are enough for a first estimate. See how it works for the process from request to finished job.
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It is the Portuguese trade that covers structural and architectural metalwork: gates, railings, security grilles, handrails and stairs, frames for pergolas and canopies, metal doors, and the welding and repair of all of them. A serralheiro measures on site, fabricates in a workshop and installs at the property. If you are searching in English for a metalworker, a welder or a wrought iron specialist, this is the trade you are looking for.
Painted mild steel is the cheapest and the most demanding: within a few hundred metres of the coast, salt finds any break in the paint and corrosion starts there. Hot dip galvanised steel lasts far longer and accepts paint over it. Stainless is the durable choice for handrails and exposed hardware, and even that stains if it is never rinsed. Aluminium does not rust, is light and suits doors, grilles and light structures, but it does not have the strength of steel on a large gate.
Usually yes, and it is the decision a rusted gate puts in front of you. Surface corrosion is treatable: strip it back, cut out and replace whatever has lost section, weld, apply an anticorrosive primer and repaint. It stops being worth it when the sections are perforated in several places and the joints have gone, because at that point welding is a patch on a patch. A close photo of the worst areas and one of the whole gate is usually enough to say which side yours is on.
Welding is one of the techniques a metalworker uses; a welder is someone whose speciality is welding itself. A metalworker measures, designs, cuts, bends, assembles and finishes a piece, and welds as part of that. A welder executes and certifies joints, often in an industrial context and qualified for particular processes and materials. For a gate, a railing or a grille, the metalworker is who you want.
It is worth thinking about before ordering. A fixed grille on a bedroom window keeps intruders out and closes an escape route. In a single storey house with one exit, or in a child's bedroom, grilles with an opening section releasable from inside, with the catch reachable by whoever sleeps there, are worth the small extra. It is not the fabricator's decision, and it should be a choice made deliberately rather than by default.
It depends on height and location. Article 6.º-A of the RJUE exempts boundary walls up to 1.8 m that do not front a public road, and retaining walls that are either up to 2 m high or do not significantly alter the existing ground levels. It never reaches a property, ensemble or site that is classified or being classified, nor the protection zone of one. Exempt does not mean unannounced: since 1 October 2026 exempt works are also notified to the câmara at least five days ahead (article 80.º-A), as Silves and Loulé already required. Anything that changes the look of the facade is a question for your own câmara.