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Business
Nov. 22, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NEVADAN AT WORK: Iron creations wrought with love keep entrepreneur afloat

By HUBBLE SMITH
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
VITAL STATISTICS

Name: Tom Prato.

Position: Founder and co-owner, Artistic Iron Works.

Age: 60.

Family: Wife, Karen; daughters, Tina and Shauna; son, Tommy.

Education: Basic High School.

Work history: Served in the U.S. Army, Vietnam War veteran, 1966-69; worked for John Mansfield; worked for Schulman Meats; started selling iron work in the 1970s; founded Artistic Iron Works in 1990.

Hobbies: Golf, fishing.

Favorite book: "Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake" by Stan Redding and Frank W. Abagnale.

Hometown: Henderson.

In Las Vegas since: 1964.

Artistic Iron Works is at 105 W. Charleston Blvd. and can be reached at 387-8688.


Tom Prato, owner of Artistic Iron Works, stands in front of one of his custom-designed wine cellar doors on display in the showroom Oct. 27.
Photo by Duane Prokop

Walking the spacious showroom floor at Artistic Iron Works, founder and co-owner Tom Prato points out design intricacies in the railing for a spiral staircase and ornamentation on grand entry doors. He elaborates on the craftsmanship of wine cellar doors.

Prato's custom wrought-iron creations include fencing and gates, door and window guards, balcony rails, curtain rods, patio furniture, trellises, flower pot racks and wine racks.

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    • All of the displays are designed, fabricated and painted in the workshop at 105 W. Charleston Blvd., in the Arts District of downtown Las Vegas.

    Prato's business, established in 1990, is closely tied to the housing market. His revenues started to tail off in 2007 after a strong four-year run. Although he once employed 60 workers, he's had to cut his staff in half.

    Remodeling jobs and small commercial contractors are keeping him afloat.

    "There's still a pretty solid market of buyers out there," said Prato, a graduate of Basic High School in Henderson and a Vietnam War Army veteran. "We find a lot of business from people picking up repo (bank-owned) homes. Where the housing tracts have come to a standstill, it hasn't hurt us because we work with homeowners who've lived there a couple years and they're going in and redoing ironwork on their homes."

    With increasing reports of home invasions and burglaries in Las Vegas, Prato said he's getting more requests for heavyweight security doors and window guards. Artistic Iron Works also offers a line of code-compliant pool fences and gates starting at about $900.

    Econoline railing starts at about $25 a linear foot, while decorative interior railing can run from $150 to $1,000 a linear foot, Prato said.

    Question: How did you become interested in iron work?

    Answer: It goes back to the early '70s when I bought ironwork in Mexico and was selling it on corners. See, I'm not a blacksmith. I've never really been a welder. I just design, organize and manage to make things work.

    Question: What's the most interesting aspect of your business?

    Answer: Dealing with customers' needs and trying to fit the right design that goes with their style of house and their pocketbooks. You can get elaborate or you can keep it simple. It's dealing with the clientele and creating something for their homes within the range of what they can afford. What you put on a home is like a piece of furniture. It's an investment. It stays with them. People who buy security bars ... it's nice to see their peace of mind. We get phone calls and letters from customers saying not only does it look good, but they have peace of mind.

    Question: Who taught you about the business and what did you learn?

    Answer: People I surrounded myself with and employed. I bet I've learned something from every employee. If you surround yourself with good iron workers who are familiar with their craft, they leave some kind of imprint in your mind that this is the way you build your product.

    Question: Where can some of your best work be found?

    Answer: Right here in this showroom. You see everything built for display. Other than that, we've got work all over this entire city, everywhere. You can't begin to count the number of homes. We've got a job in Anthem Country Club ... all the exterior iron around the home, all her design concepts were unique. It took a couple months to build everything.

    Question: Your business was previously on Industrial Road. Why did you move downtown?

    Answer: We moved for the size of the building and the size of the showroom (13,000 square feet) we could create. We were able to open one of the biggest ornamental iron showrooms in the world. You walk in and see all these fences and rails on display. If you like it, we build it.

    This building's got a lot of history. This was the old Carpet Barn. You should see the pictures before we remodeled. It looked like it was ready to fall down. The city was offering us $50,000 for the remodel, redevelopment stuff. We didn't take a dime from the city. We wanted to do it ourselves.

    This was a perfect spot. I don't care who lives here or how long you've lived here, you at one time crossed Charleston on Interstate 15. We're hooked in with the Arts District.

    Question: How difficult is it to find skilled iron craftspeople and how important is it to your business?

    Answer: Skilled craftspeople are extremely important if you're going to put out a quality product. You might find one out of a thousand welders who's got the skill needed to work in this type of trade. It's not normal welding. This is art where you start from scratch. They're very hard to find. You'll hire 15 to 20 guys and one turns out good.

    Question: What's your proudest accomplishment at Artistic Iron Works?

    Answer: I think finishing off the showroom, from what it looked like before to what we created. We probably spent $4 million on it. To have people come in and see the craftsmanship on display, some of the creative designs for their homes. It's like an art showroom.

    Question: We've read about several children drowning in swimming pools over the summer. Could your fences have prevented these tragedies?

    Answer: No cost compares to losing a child. I have three kids and four grandchildren. Every one of our houses has an extra fence around the pool that absolutely stops a really young kid from getting in there and they really don't have to be that expensive.

    Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.

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    David G. Stibor D.D.S. Ltd wrote on November 24, 2009 04:35 PM: Artistic Iron completely remodeled the staircase in our home, the job they did was incredible, Tom Prato is really much more than an iron specialist, he is truly an artist, his design concepts and attention to detail set him apart from any other company. My wife and I highly recommend them.


    shopper wrote on November 23, 2009 06:23 PM: My wife and I read your article today and needed some iron work for our house, we decided to go down to the showroom. I I have to say I was happy we did, The showroom was just beautiful and everyone was friendly and attentive. We we're so happy we bought our doors and gates from them today.
    Thankyou AIW


    Mary & Robert wrote on November 23, 2009 03:04 PM: Artistic Iron transformed our large bathroom tub window into a design masterpiece. This company came out to my home and looked at the large 5ft. by 6ft. window above our garden tub which we wanted privacy and created a rose pedal trellis style window guard that was to die for. They meticulously painted the roses to match the rose bush which previously grew underneath the window and now intertwines this custom piece. These guys really know how to imagine and create something worth showing your friends as well as enjoying for years. Thanks Artistic Iron!


    LV Family Man wrote on November 23, 2009 02:44 PM: I recently had a break in and it really shook me and my family up. I was giving Artistic Iron Works's information from a friend who had security doors installed. The came out and really did a great job. I'm not the type to comment on stories, but this company is so legit. Not only is their product efficient but it gave me such peace of mind. Their service was amazing too. I really appreciate their hard work to make sure my house was secure.


    Very Satified Customer wrote on November 23, 2009 01:37 PM: Artistic Iron Works has done a few jobs for me over the years and has always done a fantastic job. Their work came out great, and the sales people were very professional.


    kdag wrote on November 23, 2009 01:32 PM: @my two cents:
    I had iron work installed at my house recently. Great experience, really nice installers who cleaned up the back yard beautifully when they were done. Not sure what you are talking about... their website shows a whole bunch of residential work.


    Happy Customer wrote on November 23, 2009 12:24 PM: I have used both Artistic Iron and AR Iron for years and have had nothing but success with both of them. I wouldn't put much validity in the BBB or the state contractors board. Both never side with the contractor even when it is in black and white. You also cannot please everyone. Some people are just too difficult.


    my two cents wrote on November 22, 2009 09:18 PM: This company put window gates on my home in 1999 and I was really satisfied with them. However, when I called them back in 2007 to ask for 2 matching side gates in my yard, and two additional window gates, with case ready to pay, to the tune of over $2K, I was told that they "weren't doing residential" because their commmercial business was booming. No exceptions.

    I still need this work done for my home and would like the grates to match my original style, but hesitate to call a company that was so "smug", and rude to boot,to the little guy because they had boom years. Sure, I would be their best friend NOW, but I think I will instead just save my money, until the boom times come back again...if they do, or go "standard" so another company, who appreciates the little guy. Never forget the "little" people, who help make who you are!


    John wrote on November 22, 2009 08:14 PM: Abolish_public_education:
    Please learn how to read. The article stated TWICE that he is a graduate of Basic High School in Henderson. (hint, a pronoun is capitalized).
    Watch out!:
    Be aware that ANYBODY can make a complaint to BBB, customer or not. So I don't put too much stock in to what they have on their records.
    I have hired this guy and he did a great job. I give him credit for starting his own business and being successful.


    Abolish_public_education wrote on November 22, 2009 01:59 PM: Prato has a "basic high school" education. Does that mean he dropped out? He seems to be doing just fine. I am so sick of education advocates -- who make money off the system -- telling us how important it is to get a college education. If we had more independent businessmen like Prato, we wouldn't need so many CCSD students, employees and contractors.


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