DeRenzo Fence Co.,Inc.

UPDATE TO THIS REVIEW, APRIL 2014: Al DeRenzo, Sr., the owner of this company, died in January 2014. To my knowledge, Al Jr. is now running the company, but I am not certain about that. Also, an update on my fence: It survived our long winter, but I found that the magnetic latches on all three of my gates frequently froze up when it was cold out, rendering them inoperable. You need to keep the latch lined up with the magnetic post, and it's difficult to do that as the fence "moves around" in cold weather. I made several adjustments over the winter, but wasn't always able to get them lined up due to the limited adjustment range. Needless to say, I have been disappointed in the performance of the gates in the cold months. Not necessarily DeRenzo's fault, but it seems like the latches could be made easier to adjust and more "winter-proof". Now that it is warm again, the fence has returned to its original position and the latches are working fine again, so I don't think anything moved permanently. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Bottom line: My fence looks great, but it took much longer than expected. See the details below! I initially got my fence quote from Al DeRenzo, the company's owner. I immediately felt comfortable with him and I was confident he would do a good job. He said he would work on only my job until it was completed, and that he would personally oversee the installation. I received the quote via e-mail within a few days, once the fencing suppliers got back to him with pricing. Al also quoted a less expensive chain-link fence so I could compare, since the aluminum fencing is a fairly expensive type. I felt his price was fair, since I had compared pricing for similar fences at a couple of big-box stores and I knew the installation would cost quite a bit. After I paid a 50% deposit, Al ordered the fence. It was supposed to take 2-3 weeks to ship, but it didn't arrive until the end of the 4th week. I was out of town and had met with him again at my property before leaving. At that time we made a small change to the layout which he did not think would impact the quote. He planned to complete the job while I was away, expecting that he would receive the materials in time. As it turned out, he contacted me on Thursday of the week I was out of town to tell me that he had just received the fencing and that he did not receive everything he needed. I will skip the details, but the bottom line was that he failed to order (or even quote) some of the materials required, so he was only able to do some initial prep work. It was about two weeks later before the rest of the materials arrived and they could start the installation. Most of the work was completed in about a week, but in the end, there was another piece missing that had to be ordered separately (this time, it was due to the previously mentioned design change I had requested). It took several more days for this item to show up, and finally the job was completed 8 weeks after the initial order was placed. All in all, the installers did a very good job. The two times I came home to see the work in progress, it was not Al but his son in charge of the crew. This wasn't a problem, but also not what I was led to believe. I never did see Al Sr. at my house, during the installation, although I believe he did come on some of the days - I just missed him. Al Jr. seemed to be very experienced, and the final product is very professional - the fence is perfectly level and straight, and all four gates work very well. They also fixed a couple of small issues at my request, neither of which was their fault. I have a few quibbles about this supplier: - Inaccuracies in what was quoted and ordered caused several weeks of delay. Al blamed some of the delay on himself and some of it on the shippers. During the delay, the supplier's trailer was parked in my street and his equipment was in my back yard. - It was sometimes difficult to reach Al directly. He responded to e-mail, but on occasion he said he sent me updates that I never received, and on other occasions he said he didn't receive e-mails I sent. When I called his office, I typically spoke with his wife. - The actual installation took longer than I think it should have, partly because the crew worked fairly short hours (9 AM to 4 PM, and they left even earlier on Friday), and partly because they sometimes had only two or three people on site. On the other hand, I am very happy with the final product, and I give this supplier credit for many things: - Professional installation - Honesty about the source of the delay - Detailed updates during the work and delays - Supplier did not charge me for the parts that he failed to order (which I estimate would have been 10-20% of the total fencing cost!) - Supplier arranged to have all utilities marked and would have handled permitting, if required - Supplier used small equipment and hand-trucked the concrete into the backyard, thus minimizing lawn damage - Supplier continued to keep me updated until the job was complete and all small details were addressed All in all, I would recommend DeRenzo Fence for an aluminum fence job, provided you are not in a rush.