Melfi/Lock & Tech(Best Ironwork NYC) saved my fence when almost no one else would or could. Through a series of unfortunate situations (I won't go into details because I don't want to blame anyone though I should), my recently-installed iron fence's driveway gates and front gate became misaligned, would not close, and was beginning to essentially fall into itself. I seriously thought I would have to replace everything.
Enter Lock & Tech(Best Ironwork NYC) and their welding, concrete-whisperer angels: Melfi and Edwin. I found Lock & Tech(Best Ironwork NYC) on Yelp, submitted a quote request, and had an encouraging response about my job from Monica within 30 minutes. I called and had an appointment for a quote for 10am the next morning. They then called me the prior evening to confirm the 10am appointment.
At 9:55am on quote-appointment morning, Melfi called me to say that he would be at the house in 5 minutes. At 10am he showed up as promised. Ever the consummate professional, he listened to my needs, saw the issues that were evident in my fence, and proposed several solutions to each. His confidence in being able to fix the fence without needing to replace it, while still honestly conveying that the job might be more difficult than usual given the oversized driveway gates and the tight space between property lines, were all completely reassuring. When he gave me the quote, it was almost like he knew my budget and was trying to be as fair with the price (given the work) as possible. I found the perfect guy and company at the perfect price just in time. I had them ring me up for the deposit and scheduled the job to be done the same day.
Several hours after the quote, Melfi came back with Edwin and all the equipment he knew he'd need to do the job. As he quickly and methodically got to work, it became clear that he was essentially fixing the prior installation's shoddy work. The reason my fence was falling into itself was because the prior installer only inserted the fence about 6-8 inches into the ground. The fence could not maintain its stability and rigidity while swinging open with that minimal amount of support. Melfi and Edwin had to dig out 3 (of the 4) existing fence posts. They then got to digging! They even dug out a post leftover from the previous fence that was installed before this one being repaired (a job that the prior installer could have done to prevent the fence problems now). When all was said and done, they created a 24 inch deep (2 feet!) space for each of the 3 posts so that they would be completely stabilized for a long time. They then added (soldered) the necessary iron extension "feet" to each of the 3 existing posts so that the posts would have a foundation that fully used the full 2 feet of spacing. Then they started doing their concrete magic (and when they ran out of concrete, they ran to the Home Deport to get much more of that good stuff).
I have to emphasize how careful they were with the critical alignments that they had to make sure were all in synch: the alignment of the front gate's doorknob and bolt lock to the holes on the adjacent post (so that these could fully lock); the alignment of the two oversize driveway doors with each other; and the alignment of the driveway gate's stabilizing drop bar into the hole in the ground and to the latch on the other door (so that a lock can be used to securely lock the driveway gates). Melfi and Edwin were very, very careful about making sure that these were all fully functional (and looked great!) by the time they finished the job.
As for the job, it was done professionally, quickly, effectively, and they fully cleaned up after themselves. They were communicative, respectful, and very conscientious, treating my fence and property like it was theirs. They even wiped off the excess cement residue, painted the foot of the posts with same-color Rustoleum, and took away the concrete and rock debris that we couldn't dispose of ourselves.
I was very glad to pay the balance for the job, since it took less than 24 hours from the time I requested a quote for the job, to the time I received the final receipt and thanked them for their help. This after I had given the prior installer 3 weeks and multiple chances to fix his shoddy work. This also happened after I requested quotes from three other companies, and none of them were very responsive or able to do the job.
This was a really great experience during an otherwise stressful time in our (coronavirus) world. I would absolutely use them again, and fully recommend them to anyone interested in their unique services. Thanks for everything Melfi, Edwin, and Lock & Tech (Best Ironwork NYC)! read more