We moved into a circa 1916 bungalow a few months ago and our home insurance company is requiring us to install a stair railing on the front porch (approx. five stairs). This showed up during our inspection but we had bigger fish to fry with requests of the home's seller and didn't address the lack of a railing. Now I'm wondering the best way to achieve this. We don't have the tools to cut into concrete and likely will hire for the installation, at the very least. I've read aluminum is cheaper and requires less ongoing maintenance than wrought iron, but at least one railing installation company I've contacted doesn't do aluminum.
I'm interested in people's thoughts based on their experience: Is there really that much of a difference between aluminum and wrought iron? Will the aluminum look cheap?
Since it's the front porch, I'm a little more concerned about curb appeal than if it was in the back yard.
