I am writing this as a fair warning to people to not use AJ Iron Works for their iron work and/or steel deck. The following is an account of my experience in working with them from July to Dec 2022 to construct a 10x17 foot steel deck with railings in my Brooklyn backyard. Their overall work during this project was completely unacceptable. And since project completion, they have continued to refuse to rectify the issues that occurred less than 4 months after finishing the job. I will attach pictures through Yelp.
1. Deck deformities: There are 2 deformities that they neglected to mention to me at the time of installation, one is a warping of the I-beam structure, and the other is a bent piece of steel where the staircase is cemented into the ground.
2. Bluestone and Fence damage: As they were installing the deck and painting it, they never properly covered the bluestone that was just installed and dropped black paint on the newly laid bluestone patio and fence. They tried to remove the paint with some abrasive material/products and ruined $7,300 worth of bluestone that had to be replaced. They also left black paint on the newly installed fence. They tried to blame the contractor's men for the damage, but the contractor's men had not been at the work site for at least a week.
3. Timeline delays: They were severely behind on timelines around the NYC permitting process as well as securing the necessary documents to obtain permits. There were lapses in between when the work was being done that were not forecasted or explained to me that put the project behind ~3 weeks.
4. Communication issues: Throughout the job, communication had been both non-existent and inconsistent. Some days I had no idea the guys were coming over. And other days when they said they were going to come over they didn't...and then would possibly show up the next day. There were some 'front office' illnesses that could have explained the lack of communication; however, a proper business would have a back-up person communicating to all customers.
5. Rust damage: They claim that the deck railings were properly primed and painted, however the amount of rust damage observed (starting Feb 2023), would suggest otherwise. In fact, I have spoken to 2 other iron works companies who both doubt that the railings were primed and painted correctly. Sandy at AJ will say that he offered to touch up spots that we noticed in Dec 2022, but I would not allow him to do so after he ruined the stone and fence (see above). The amount of rust that now exists has gone way beyond needing touch up's to be done, especially since nothing was likely primed properly to being with.
I have since worked with another company to fix the rust issue because AJ has continued to refuse to review the damage and remedy the situation. I had to pay for this all out of my own pocket, which was a very expensive job. When I provided this quote to Sandy at AJ and asked for reimbursement, he initially did not return my communication. I gave AJ one last chance to rectify the situation and make good on all the damage, time, aggravation, and out of pocket costs that this ordeal has caused me by sending this note to him in hopes that he would do the right thing. But he continues to decline.
Please see pictures attached in their profile on Yelp of all the above.
To anyone looking to work with a company for your iron and/or deck needs, I would absolutely not work with AJ iron works in any capacity if you wanted a quality outcome on your project. read more