National Deck & Stair

I called early last week to schedule an appointment. I was told that I was scheduled for Tuesday this week. I called today(Monday) to confirm the appointment. Despite what we agreed last week, they said they had to reschedule for another day because they have another appointment else where....I am extremely disappointed. When I hung up the phone, it was quarter to 5PM. I do not think they were going to call me to let me know that the appointment was canceled, and I would have gotten up early in the morning to show up at the job site for nothing. Now I have to reschedule my week because of this. I hope this comment will help this company be more professinonal and punctual for their own benefit. In the mean time, I will be working with another deck maintenance company.

I ended up selecting a general contractor to address my problem as well as take care of some other home issues.

After finding a good review on AL I called National Deck and Stair to set up an appointment for an estimate. Their representative came to the house at the correct time and gave a fantastic overview of what needed to be done. He was bright and knowledgeable and efficient. I was thrilled to have them come out and do the work. We were waiting on some french doors to arrive and be installed before their portion of the work could commence, so we agreed that when we were getting close I'd give them a call. The following week I called to let them know we were getting close. I called on a thursday. It turns out that they do all of their scheduling on wednesdays for the following week. Keep this in mind if you decide to use them. That means that since I was calling on thursday that the next available time that they could actually think about when they might be available was next wednesday, and at that point the earliest they could possibly then come out would be the following wednesday, if we were first in line... by wednesday. That was a little irritating, but I really liked their rep and was looking forward to working with him, he had great ideas. The issue is that we had other contractors involved, stucco, woodworkers, etc, and it's starting to get near rainy season. SO we needed to put things on hold until wednesday to find out when they might actually be coming out. Thursday they give us confirmation that they will be starting our project between 8-10am next monday. Ok. Now we know. Some of the other contractors have some questions about how the waterproofing that National will be doing will interface with their work so that everything can be correctly prepped when National arrives. We are doing some things that are very specific. I ask the rep if he can swing by when the other contractors are here and he says that they can work it all out over the phone. So I give his number to my guys. They call and are told "it's going to be fine, we'll figure it all out on monday." Luckily my other guys are amazing and offer to be at the house on monday when National gets here to work. Cool. Here we are. Monday morning My stucco and construction guy is here with me and up rolls the guys from National. They seem nice, but where's my rep? He's the only one who has been out here. He knows what is going on. Instead I get two worker bees that are a bit shocked when we tell them what we are planning. They have some ideas and it looks like this might all work out anyway when they say "we've got another job in North Hills. We're just dropping some stuff off here at your place and heading to that job. We'll be back after lunch." Seriously? I've got my other contractors here to make this all work. What was with the bureaucratic scheduling system if you aren't actually starting when you said you'd be starting? Perhaps National Deck and Stair is used to working on bigger, corporate projects and not small detailed work such as my place. Next time I will be sure that the person I am talking to will be at least overseeing the work, but I'd prefer to get someone who actually does the work. We'll see how all of this goes. They won't be getting a check until it's perfect. I just hope that their work is of high quality, since I won't know for sure for a couple of years.... They came after lunch and demo'ed the old waterproofing and pulled up the plywood sub floor. I was then told that they needed to take the waste to the dump and they'd be back in an hour to put in new plywood sub flooring. They left and never came back. Throughout all of that Bruce, the guy that had been my contact person, the guy that had sold me on using his company, didn't come by? didn't even call. Day Two. The guys showed up and put in new plywood. I don't want to disparage the men doing the work, they seem terrific, but I have an ongoing concern about the person I had my discussions with, the person I made the plan with, not being here yet and that played out when I mention to the workers that we are going to be putting tile over the waterproofing. They hadn't heard this. There were aspects of the job that had been discussed during the planning phase that were affected by our use of tile and the installers were never made aware of any of it. This leads me to believe that they were sent out with generic instructions. This makes me feel like I'm a small client to a big company. Day Three. The work they have done looks good, but I got an email last night informing me that I owed $520 for replacement plywood, while the estimate I was given explicitly states that all replacement plywood under $560 is included. That feels like a combination of oversight and prying me for more money. I returned the email and pointed out the line item in the estimate?. and call the company. I tell them some of my concerns and they give me Bruce's cell number. I'm next on his list to call! What a coincidence! He explains that the billing was in error. I let him know that I'm concerned that some of the choices that have been made might not reflect that we are using tile over the waterproofing. He assures me that it will be fine. I don't doubt it, I just don't feel like someone is at the helm that has the map. Day Four. They have done a nice job in general. Today they are just applying the finish coat. The invoice is delivered and now I think I understand the problem. The estimate says that they will replace any plywood underlayment as necessary, not to exceed $560. That's not to exceed $560 of my dollars, not $560 possible dollars of the estimate. I certainly would have been more aggressive in finding out if every single piece of plywood needed to be replaced if I had understood that the estimate didn't include ANY plywood replacement, even though Bruce and I had certainly discussed that they would be replacing only what was necessary (and it was obvious that some would be necessary.) Day 5. I have since received multiple invoices outlining the amount owed, even though the phone conversation I had was reassuring that a mistake was made. I have sent an email in response to the invoice but have yet to receive a reply.

It had been originally done by a guy selected by the Homeowners Association who was terrible and it turned out that he wasn’t licensed or insured. So, we had to get somebody else to come in and fix it. National Deck & Stair did a great job. We spent about $5000 for their services since it was a major job. They were very upfront about what they were going to do, how they were going to do it, how long it would take and what it would cost. They were extremely accurate on all of that. It has been great for a couple of years now. There have been no leaks or significant cracks. It has definitely held up. So, I am very pleased with the outcome. I would definitely use their services in the future too.

They were very punctual, did good work and their price was fair. They were everything you look for in a contractor.

A very satisfactory experience. All representatives of the company were very efficient, cordial, and cooperative. All calls were promptly returned, and all of my concerns and questions met with explanations of process taking place. My wife and I are very pleased with the result.

I am very pleased with the service. They did a very fine job. They were very cooperative and helpful. The sales person was very clear and explained exactly what they said they’d do. The price was exactly what they said. They put the discount from AL on my bill. I am very pleased with the service. They went above and did a few things not mentioned before and didn’t charge extra.

They were very professional- punctual and did quality work. We needed a large upper balcony refinished to improve water drainage and appearance. They accomplished both objectives in a timely manner.

It was like night and day. I was having a lot of water in a room that was low level coming in from there and they did a great job to repair it. I would certainly recommend this company. They were very professional, very clean, and they made sure we could get in and out while they were working and at the end of each day.

We decided to redo the entire roof, which meant removing the old roof, finding out that there wasn't any fiberglass underneath, replacing it, and adding up to 23 pieces of plywood to slope it correctly. They also resloped and refinished the 3rd floor deck as well as a walkway between garage and 2nd floor. As I recall, approximately 6 workers arrived on time, worked hard for a week, and did a terrific job. Before, water would pool all over the place. Now, on the roof, it drains beautifully in two different directions. Sometime in October (about 3 months after the fix), I noticed some hairline cracks on the roof again. Concerned, I asked Bruce to come out again, which he did. He looked at the cracks and couldn't tell whether it was due to some movement in the house or maybe some residual moisture in the plywood, or what. But he said that there wasn't any reason to think that the underlying fiberglass was damaged. He sent two men, including the lead who had done all the fantastic sloping work, to come out for a day. They repaired the cracks (with a new layer of fiberglass and more top concrete coats) and repainted the enitre deck. It took a full day's work. No extra charge. Again, fantastic. There were a few miscommunications with the secretaries setting up appointments, but overall, Bruce Singer was responsive, explained the issues in great detail, and was committed to getting things right. And again, the workers really showed almost artistic understanding of water flows on flat roofs. I would easily hire them again.

The bid process was efficient and straightforward. Scheduling was delayed two weeks, but the job was completed on time except for one section that did not dry properly. Scheduling the repair was slow. The workmen did not show up on the first scheduled appointment (no phone call); on second attempt, the coating was applied just before a rain storm and washed away by morning. They fixed it on the third attempt.

They came out and gave us an estimate and also came and did an excellent job. They identified the places in the decks that were uneven and that they were going to take care of that and we made some choices. They also said that they preferred to get onto the decks by ladders, so nobody had to be home to let them in and that was very convenient that they could do the work and we did not have to take time off work. They just did a perfect job and the decks look beautiful. We had another company before, years ago that tried to seal them and they were cracking already. They were very professional and we can?t say enough about them. We spent a little over $1000 for all three decks.

I liked the price, they were prompt, and finished the job in exactly the amount of time that they said.

From start to finish, the work was done professionally, and in a timely manner. Cleanup was done every day. Since this was the only entry, workers ensured we could use the stairs and deck each day, by the end of the workday. Final cleanup was thorough. All work was completed within one week.

Our laundry room was badly leaking since it was built below our outdoor patio. We got estimates from 3 vendors and National Deck & Stair was the most reasonable and their approach made the most sense to me. The patio was built by a previous owner and the surface was not graded properly, below the surface cracks had opened it and leaked water through the ceiling of the laundry room. ND&S tore out the slate, added flashing, regraded the cement and added fiberglass. They painted it with colors I chose with a border that was a nice touch. Since we've had rain, there have been no leaks. Bruce was always happy to go over any concerns with us and the whole process was very straightforward. UPDATE - A couple of months after I wrote this review, we were really hit with some rain storms in LA. The entire room which we had just renovated was completely ruined, the small leak which I thought had been fixed leaked far, far worse now. When it rained, it looked like a shower was running inside this room. Luckily I had not moved my computers and anything else of value into this room because the entire ceiling and all drywall were ruined. I ripped out the drywall and ceiling to find mold and had to have these areas treated. Bruce was apologetic, his team came back and they resurfaced the patio over this room and extended the cement from our patio to go further onto the adjacent wooden deck. The contractor (a different vendor) who installed the window also made a blunder and a leak was found through the window. The two vendors decided to split the cost of drywalling and repainting after they each made their repairs. Eventually, the room was brought back to how we wanted it. Fast forward to six months later -- a crack developed on the patio above this room, which National Deck & Stair had resurfaced. Water was running in and there was a small leak. At this point I know the staff was quite exasperated with me and I was very frustrated with this ongoing problem. Bruce came out again, he was defensive and blamed the sliding glass door above the patio. Originally when I first had Bruce survey the area to give me a proposal for the waterproofing, I wondered if the door might be the culprit. He said it had nothing to do with the door, he had been doing this work for a long time and with all of his expertise he could tell it was the patio surface. He promised me we would have no more water problems. When I brought this promise up again, he responded, "You are going off of my word?" I was shocked. What else was I supposed to go off of? I'm sure both of us wanted to ring each other's necks at that point. The foreman Mario was sent back out to do the repair. He resurfaced the patio again and painted it a different color than what we wanted. I was so frustrated at this point, I didn't want to call and complain again. The way the cement extends from the patio onto the adjacent wooden deck will continue to grow cracks as the deck moves. There is a new one forming now already. I think this whole project was a big waste of money. National Deck & Stair is most likely very good at building decks and stairs as the other reviewers state, but for waterproofing I would look elsewhere.

They are the only people who responded to me. There are about ninety percent of the people who don?t return your phone calls. They only return your phone call when you say that you have money to spend.

It went very well. They did a really nice job on the balconies. The estimator, Bruce Singer, was very informative and professional. He took plenty of time to explain the job so I could understand what work was being performed.

They were very flexible, responsive and the final product was excellent and the price was fair.

They were good, they came within a couple of days. They didn't seem pushy at all. They seemed to know what they were doing and they did it quickly which was nice.

Everything went great. Bruce showed up on time to inspect the site and give an estimate. The estimate was within the expected price range. After contract accepance, the workers showed up at the arranged time and finished on time. The work was first rate. The site was left clean. Even the receptionist in the office was exceptionally professional and well-organized.

Great the even came back to sand and apply another coat of paint when weather caused it to bubble

It went very well. They delivered the surfacing material and offered recommendations. I did the resurfacing myself. But I am on a budget and couldn't afford someone else to do the work. However, National Deck and Stair was very helpful and I would recommend them to anyone who has a similar challenge.

Just a quick note. National does not do general deck maintenance or repair - as it says under services, they are in the business of applying a deck waterproofing material.

They repaired some joist damage and complete redid the roof structure with new plywood before applying the various layers leaving a beautiful strong deck. I would highly recommend this company.

They did a great job! We are looking into their services again.