Chris Dunn

If you are in the process of evaluating sub-contractors for ornamental metal work and were thinking of hiring Chris Dunn, please continue reading. We have had a terrible and exasperating experience with Chris Dunn, aka Creative Ironwerks. We hired him to make metal railings for our new home’s catwalk, staircase, elliptical staircase and railing, and two exterior railings. We interviewed multiple metal fabricators and after careful consideration of price, project timing, and previous work we decided to move forward with Creative Ironwerks. Before proceeding with the work, Chris had us sign a contract. Hindsight being 20/20, we never should have signed his contract. He basically wrote in the contract many different ways for him to get out of his own contract, and that is exactly what he did. Because of the scope and nature of our project we decided to purchase all of the necessary metal for the entire project and had it delivered to his shop. He completed less than half of the project and will not return the unused metal. We speculate that he has used the metal intended for our project on other projects he is working on. Throughout what little he did install, Chris Dunn neglected to follow building code and left several gaps much larger than allowed in the railings (4” diameter sphere cannot pass through), one section was installed crooked, two sections don’t line up, and another was installed at a height of 28”, far below code. While installing, he ruined custom walnut newel posts and the reclaimed elm flooring was left with several severe scratches and errant screw holes.