Apex Ironworks, Inc.

unknown

Went great. Excellent work

Looks great!

Mark is a very professional business owner and very conscientous about his products and advice he gives customers.  He delivered my gate and all accessories to my farm in Tryon NC from his shop in Memphis at a very reasonable rate. It was as ordered and he was extremely helpful on how everything needed to be for our installer.  Overall very good experience.  As a small business owner who is experiencing a large amount of growth the company may not have the time for frequent emails and phone calls for feedback, as some may want (including me) so, as I found out, please bear with them, as I got what I ordered and expected, and would do buisness with them in the future.

Project was well scoped and specified.
Pricing was approximately 5% higher than other bids but we selected Apex based on their attention to detail in the scoping process and examples of previous work.
Contract was delivered within 1 week and we paid 50% up front.  Completion time was given as 4 weeks.  Ended up taking 12 weeks!!!  Numerous contacts to Apex were made, and they were pleasant, but continually stressed that they were booked 100% and were behind schedule.
Finished project was very well done and quality / installation met all expectations.  
I would recommend to others with the caveat that you need to be very specific about installation dates and perhaps negotiate discounts or other recovery if they are late in delivery.

The estimate was completed by Mark and a contract was signed on September 21. I specifically asked if he thought the fence could be completed before Christmas a 3 month time frame. In the contract he indicated a competion date before Christmas unless there were weather problems. I agreed  25% down. 25 % at start and 50% at completion. Since I have a dog he assured me the time between the take down of the wood  and install would be minimal. At the beginning of December he requested MLGW to locate the power lines. Around Dec 10 they took down the wood fence installed the new  posts and told me they would be back the following week to install the fence They used a power auger to install the new posts and took the old post out of the ground unlike some who just saw off the old posts. His crew left without taking the 25% at start check. The yard was open from around Dec 10 until the fence was installed on January 21. The install was about 4 months after the contract was signed. The fence is high quality and the gate has a deadbolt lock with key. We are very happy with the quality of the materials.

I searched for welding on the list, and several providers were listed.  I called the first four to see if this was something they could do and to get an estimate.  After reading the Apex company description, I thought they would not want to do something this small, but I called anyway.  I got the answering machine and left a message.
Later that day, Mark returned my call.  I described what I needed and he said he would be able to help me out.  They had an offsite job to do the next day, when I wanted this done.  But he said if I came by between 8-9 am, he would have someone there.  I got there about 8:30 the following morning and was greeted as I came up to the shop.  Since the person there seemed to know exactly what I was looking for and started examing the cart, I assumed it was Mark.  But I later learned it was Mike, Mark had just let everyone know to be expecting me and what I was looking for.
Mike took the cart into the shop and we looked at it to determine exactly what needed to be done.  I pointed out the spot weld I thought I needed, but after doing this, Mike went ahead and reinforced the other welds to make sure I wouldn't have a repeat.  In the meantime, Mark had come over, introduced himself and took a look at what we were doing.  He thought bigger washers on the sides of the wheels would make it more stable.  As it was an ususual size, the drilled out washers to create slightly bigger holes that fit perfectly.  Meanwhile, Mike had finished the welds (which was all I was expecting for the price I was quoted) but then began to grind them down to a smooth finish.  After doing this, he then proceded to paint not only the welds, but also a couple of other spots that had gotten scuffed up over the last couple of years.
Mark and Mike went way beyound my expectations and I will definantly use them again.  I got to see the other iron products they were working on and plan on contacting them when I replace the ironwork over my patio door on the rear of my house.  Everything I saw appeared to show a hight quality of workmanship, and pride in the work they were doing.

My husband called Apex after a friend of ours found out we were in the market for a new driveway gate. They had a fence done by Apex last year and were very pleased. So, we visited their shop and looked at getting an estimate. It was a very busy place! Several very nice gates under construction that we got to see. Joe was very informative.  He showed us a lot of styles and finish options. We learned a lot about the process and decided to get the gate from them after shopping around a little bit.  It took about 8 weeks total but it was well worth it.  All the posts were put in concrete and the workers were very organized and polite.  While they were there one of their guys (Mikey?) took a little time to explain to our very inquisitive young son what all they were doing, and how the work is done.   Zach is 8 and it made his day.  Overall it was a very good experience and we love our new gate.  I keep meaning to take a picture of it so I will post it as soon as I can.  I would definitely hire them again and would not hesitate to give them a good reference!

I received no contact for 4 weeks.  I called several time to inquire about the status and was told they were backed up and very busy.  I noted that  the time frame called out was 5-8 weeks.   Mark Johnson the owner stated that is why he hadn't cashed the down payment check.
The down payment check was cashed in early June.  Another 4 weeks went by (there were some follow up calls in there - again I was told they were backed up) with no activity.  Finally I got the owner on the phone and pinned hime down on a date to come by and take final measurements on the patio.  
they finally came by 7/13 to take measurements and explain that they'd install mounting brackets for the posts and weld the posts together and install them then take measurements to complete the rail sections.
2 week later I, 7/27, I  received a call asking what finish i wanted on the posts and was told the posts were welded and needed to go to the finisher.
2 weeks more went by no contact.   I had left a couple of messages previously as well as emails and did not receive a response.finally i got the owner on the phone and was told the finisher  was backed up.
today is 8/20.   nearly 4 months has passed and i've spent $1450 and have nothing but 16 bolts drilled into my patio. 
Seems like a very nice man with good employees but response is terrible and follow up is terrible. 

UPDATE : 9/28  the rail was finally installed September 21.    I feel that the quality of the work is good and the people on site to install were professional, courteous and good at what they do.

UPDATE: 10/16/14.   Much of what is said here is true.  I wanted the job done right.    The sad part was that all of my face to face dealings with Mr Johnson were positive.    He talks of his workers doing good work - no one ever disputed that.  They were never the issue.  Joe was the most pleasant person to deal with in his shop.     What it all comes down to is that i was told 6 weeks by contract ( that is off of memory) once it was signed he said it would take 8.    What it ended up taking was 16 weeks.  the finish I chose he suggested.  he said it was new and would go with my house.   No one is disputing the quality of the work.  The issue is his not returning phone calls or emails and letting promise dates glide by with no notice.   I was forced to go to Angie's list in some hopes of getting  a response. and that I did.  the minute my payment processed he called me wanting me to take down my commenst on agies's list.   I explained they woudln't be there if he'd been more responsive. With that he raised his voice at me.   That was the entire issue.  His offer to remove the railing was phrased as " we will come and rip it out if you want!".  Disappointing.    I manage projects for a living.   I know responsive and not responsive.   He wasn't.   If he's busy I understand but you can't expect someone to wait double the contract date without updates and be happy.  All he had to do was work with me.    The attached explanation from him was more than I every got from him in 16 weeks.    My intent was to come on here and remove my inital post until I saw his reply blaming his customer for being difficult and demanding.   I'm disappointed with how he handled it.  No one here is quesitoning his workers.  it's his responsiveness that is the issue.   We all get busy.   Blaming customers is not the right path expecially when they've waited so long.  80(