The Deck Pros

Work was never completed to satisfaction Provider dosen't answer phone

They never returned my call for an estimate.

I didn't hire them. I really wanted a large deck but I have a limited budget. I had a design and I asked him if he could do the job within my budget. He gave me an estimate on a much smaller deck than what I wanted and it was a little more than my budget. The original size I wanted was much higher. He knew a lot about his job and he was quite the expert. He knew a lot of details and building codes, which some other builders don't care about. He was very detailed so maybe that was the reason his price was higher. He was very good and professional. I didn't hire him because of the budgeting. I actually hired someone else. He showed me a lot related to the job but he was expensive. He was on time and if he was 15 minutes late, he would call me.

Tom responded to our initial request quickly, gave us an accurate estimate and told us when he could begin work. When the first work date was changed, he called to confirm that this was fine with us. Once he started, he said it would take two days, but it took one. Everything was done professionally and precisely, and the work site was cleaner when he left than when he started. The estimate was accurate and payment was easy.

They did a complete resurfacing of my deck with a hardwood called Ipe. They repaired a number of rotted support beams and made the remaining beams solid for years to come. In addition the existing exterior surfaces were clad with the same material that gave it a very beautiful finished look. We were very pleased with the final outcome and the cost was very reasonable. The Deck Pros were just that! The owner, Tom Seniuk was responsive and flexible, and he and his assistant worked hard to satisfy all our requests. A very positive experience.

Their estimate was lower than all the other estimates. They did it in a quicker time frame than the other people had estimated. We had no complaints and they were very good.

It went very smoothly from start to finish. Tom Seniuk visited my house to look at the job, and educate me about materials possibilities. He brought samples. My goal was to avoid the maintenance headache of wooden baluster railings and, to a lesser extent, of wooden decking. At my request, Tom priced both the job described above, and a smaller job ($2600 ) to just replace the railings with vinyl.. Tom and I traded emails a few times while I continued the materials education process, visiting Arlington Coal & Lumber's showroom display of materials. Tom is extremely good in using email for what it's good for, which is being precise and responsive without consuming a lot of time. I wound up upselling myself to composite railings instead of the vinyl rails I had originally requested; the $400 increase in cost was not very steep but the difference in appearance seemed significant to me. And I wound up choosing the full job including deck replacement, to escape the bondage to repainting the deck every few years and replacing deck and stair boards here and there. I indicated "N/A" on my rating for price, because I did not get any other bids for this job. By the time other possible bidders called me back, Tom had already gone two rounds of contract proposal with me (by email) and I had called his references, who spoke in glowing terms. I decided to go with his bid based on the relatively small size of the job and all positive references. Originally Tom predicted the job would take a week and that he could start in a month. It turned out that he could start sooner due to a permitting delay on another job. He and his long-time helper Derek finished the job in four and a half working days. There was absolutely no drama, just steady work. They are capable of working very independently, though they were always pleasant when approached, and responsive to my few questions and suggestions. Both are nice guys, serious about their work, acutely aware of leaving the job site safe and clean at the end of the day. These are people I'd be happy to sit on a jury with, or go kayaking with, or have date my niece. It took me about half a day to get used to the fact that I wasn't going to have to watch these guys closely, but just stand back and let them do their thing. (I work at home, so I could have spent a lot of energy watching them, as I did my roofers last year). My front porch opens to a foyer that contains a half-bath, and I turned that over to the crew for their use for the duration of the job. They kept the bathroom spotless, cleaner than if I had been using it. One thing that really impressed me was that on the fourth day, I could see they were getting close to done, and I was starting to fear that they were going to rush to a finish that evening. Nope. They quit at quitting time and came back the next day to finish things up cleanly without rushing. They had been using my driveway as their staging area. After they left, it was cleaner than it was when they arrived. The end product exceeds my expectations in every way. I thought I was going to get low maintenance but maybe a little bit tacky looking. Instead, the front stairs and porch are now the best looking feature of the house. Tom persuaded me to let him do a "window framing" style of laying the decking, and invisible fasteners. The look is quite pleasing, from every angle. Practically speaking, it's also not as slippery-when-wet as it used to be (because of the TwinFinish decking). And the stair treads, which used to give a bit when walked on, are now solid (though not unyielding; it's not like walking on concrete). All in all, I am glad I looked for a deck specialist rather than a general carpenter, and I am glad I found these guys (on Angie's List).

John met with me at my house to discuss my project. He brought samples of different deck materials and described the pluses and minuses of each based on his experience. This was extremely helpful as I was thinking of a nice mahogany deck; glad I did not go that way - wood decks require high maintenance. There is a wide variety of no maintenance deck materials. I settled on Trex. The crew was great. They were professional, showed up on time every day, and they cleaned up at the end of each day. I was very comfortable having them at the house while I was at work. John was available to answer any questions I had by phone in the evening, and he was very accommodating in making some minor changes that I requested. Best of all, they built a beautiful deck. Everything went smoothly, except for the start date. The project was started a week later than scheduled due to weather delays. This is the second time I have used them; they remodeled my bathroom a while ago.

It was a big job. They were very diligent. They were always on time. They were responsive when any problems came about. I would recommend them to others.

First off, dealing with Frank was an absolute pleasure. He is very patient, listens well, and offers sound suggestions. Frank also was very available when the few inevitable hiccups in the project occurred, and was able to solve the problems. For quality, I can't give them a straight A, but more an A- (note that I'm very picky): 1. The crew had not used our material (Eon) before. The initial install of the material was incorrect (confirmed with Eon directly), with large gaps in the materials in the corners. Re-installation resulted in a less than perfect deck (still some larger gaps showing the fastening mechanism), but one we are still delighted with. 2. The crew did not do a magnetic sweep, and there were numerous nails/screws left on the property - a safety issue with children. 3. The foreman was not very flexible when he reinstalled the downspouts. Frank stepped in to make it right. Overall, though, one of the best contractors we've worked with.