Deck and Shed Pros

First off it started with Steve coming to my house to give me a quote for the job. I was impressed with Steve's professionalism and his ability to sit and finish the proposal within half an hour with drawings too. The price made it even better. My job started the first week of December and the terms of the contract stated it would be done within 16 days. My room was done in 9 days. The skilled craftmanship that went into this room was amazing. I had my son come over from England for Christmas and he looked at everything the workmen were doing, he said to me mum, in all of the 15 years that you have been having work done on different houses, this is the best work I have ever seen by any workmen, not even in England have I seen such good work. I fully agree with my son's keen observation and do second that motion. Apart from that the guys on the workforce were very helpful in helping me to move heavy stuff around as well as even helping me to get furniture out of storage to put into my brand new room. I have absolutely no reservations to have this company do work on the house anytime in the future that includes passing their information on to all of my neighbours friends and family.

Maryland Deck & Shed did a great job building a beautiful 12' X 24' deck on top of our 100+ year old row home. They were incredibly fast in pulling the permits and getting plans drawn up. Construction began a few short days after we signed the contract and the deck was almost totally complete within one week. When it was finished, the deck looked just like planned. Even though we signed the contract in June, because Maryland Deck & Shed designed and built it so quickly, we were able to have a birthday party and fourth of July barbecue and could see the fireworks from all around Baltimore from our new deck. As happens with big projects, we had some miscommunications with one of subcontractor. However, when we made Steve, the project manager, aware of it, he reached out to us immediately and worked very hard to smooth things over and make sure we were satisfied. The finished product is beautiful and we have received lots of compliments on it from friends and neighbors. Maryland Deck & Shed is a service-oriented and quality-focused company and this shines through in the professionalism, expertise, and friendliness of the staff who planned and built our deck.

I hired Maryland Deck and Shed to re-do a 12x12 deck on my house. I found the entire experience very satisfactory. The job was done within a week of my first contact with them. Steve made several very good suggestions that made the final product better than it would have been without them. The work was done on time. The crew was professional. I am very satisfied with the final result.

In a word, great. Randy Smith did an outstanding job of explaining what needed to be done and why, providing a detailed written description of work to be performed with several cost options, overseeing the work throughout the process, and delivering all that was promised in a highly professional manner. We believe we were fortunate to contact the company at the right time (end of season) and lucked out in having sufficiently warm weather in November to get this job done promptly to permit staining before the weather turned too cold. We really appreciate Randy's dedication to completing the job within the narrow time frame. I expect this company gets much busier in the Spring in anticipation of people wanting to have their decks readied for another summer season. In conclusion, our porch and deck look great, and we are very glad we chose Maryland Deck & Shed. We can recommend them highly.

We cannot recommend Maryland Deck and Shed enough and we have been passing the name on to friends, and recommend to you to work with these guys. Don't bother looking further. Really. If there is another firm you know already, try talking to these guys anyway. His passion for making decks look attractive is very clear- Randy is about more than the sale, he is about the best design. He educated us about the possible options and sent us a tentative design in two business days. Randy then checked local ordinances, and found that we needed more setback for our posts. He sent more plans and contracts for an ok. Our budget changed. He sent another set of plans and contracts. He also warned of possible pitfalls in the county ordinances that might add slightly to the cost. These extra posts ended up being required, and knowing ahead of the possibility was very important to us. He gave us a lot of time to find the original closing papers with the "square" and he also lined up a survey when we couldn't find the closing package on the house.Overall he brought us a proposal for the maximum size of deck possible given our property line. As said, there were no hidden costs. So Randy was great! | Then, Jim contacted us about the actual construction. He scheduled around the weather and Thanksgiving to start the project. Once started the job was done in three days, including inspections, and looks fabulous. We are very pleased we chose the upgrade to recycled materials for the decking as it looks amazing with the hidden fasteners. The cleanup was comprehensive and complete (ie no small pieces still laying around), and I will note that there was a minimum of extra materials left over. A few deck planks and pressure treated pieces, and a small pile of cut waste. We consider this a clear sign that they really know what they are about. | Overall, the guys showed both passion and commitment to their work, and can justly take great pride in their finished products.

Steve is a very innovative designer and did and excellent job with regard to both the construction and the finish details. The construction crew (contracted by Maryland Deck & Shed) did a very good job of the actual construction - there were a couple final inspection issues that required correction or I would have rated excellent. However, the crew was prompt and EXTREMELY cooperative in responding to and correcting all issues. Cory, the crew foreman, is a pleasure to work with always interacting with customers respectfully and listening carefully to understand their needs and concerns.

Maryland Deck and Shed did an excellent job extending our deck. Steve was very innovative in coming up with the vision of how to extend the existing deck so that it looked good and was cost effective. He was also very patient in answering my many questions along the way. Rob and his crew did a great job in building the deck in just a couple days. When I thought the built-in bench was too short after the work was completed, Maryland Deck and Shed came back to fix it asap without charging me extra. I was very pleased with their work and had them come back a few months later when they added deck sealing to their business so that they could seal the deck for us. I would highly recommend Steve and his team.

From start to finish this was a very positive experience. The result is a wonderful deck that exceeded all expectations. Design. Steve worked closely with me as I worked through the myriad of design and material options. His quotes were precise in what was included, unlike some of the vague quotes I received from other companies. Installation. The installation crew was fantastic, demonstrating that they're true craftsmen. They were very precise, ensuring even the smallest details were completed properly. Of note, this included not just straight decking, but also a curved front to the deck and herringbone pattern - both of which were perfectly done. Additional details: - Rob and his crew were respectful of me and my property, ensuring that the surrounding yard was not unduly impacted by the construction. - One true test of a company is how they react when things go wrong. Through no fault of their own, they received the wrong color decking in the delivery from the lumber yard. This could have caused a several day delay due to an upcoming long weekend. Instead, the crew hopped in a truck and made the couple hour round trip to personally pick up the right materials and keep the project on schedule.

Every step of the way went exceptionally well in a most professional manner. The new deck turned out better than expected.

Half of our deck railing was still unfinished 4 years after we built the deck. Far from thinking the job too small, Jim jumped at the opportunity to fit it in between other jobs. He came the next day to ascertain what additional materials were needed, matching what we already had, and gave an estimate. Materials were delivered the next day, the crew arrived the next afternoon. The foreman improved on our design by what would conform to code. They worked efficiently, finishing the work in about 3 hours and cleaned up thoroughly. It looks great. I would recommend them to friends.

There were a number of issues. Workers smoked on site. Md Deck and Shed said that they did not allow smoking onsite. Eventually, we settled for having them smoke off our property. They prepared the site to pour a concrete walk even though the contract did not call for one and we did not want one. We stopped them before it was poured. They requested that we pick out a color for the interior to be painted. One day while we were away they painted it with a very different color. We made them repaint it correctly. They have returned on two separate occasions to repair siding that came off. Construction was started on November 30, 2012 and completed on Februay 9th, 2013. The contract estimates 25 business days for completion with an extension of 2 days for every one day missed due to bad weather. The weather was good and they simply did not show up on some days. The biggest issue involves their installation of an obsolete (Fedders) mini-split heating/cooling system. We filed a Better Business Bureau complaint : (WE HAVE REMOVED THE NAMES OF ANY INDIVIDUALS AND REPLACED THEM WITH INITIALS.) Complaint: They installed an off-brand mini-split ac/heating system that was not contracted for and that we cannot obtain service for. Last November I signed a contract with Maryland Deck and Shed to build an out-building. Included in that out-building contract was installation of a mini-split heating/air conditioning system. At the time I was told that the system that would be used was a Fujitsu mini-split system, a system we researched and approved of. In December the individual came to the construction site who was to install the system. He was accompanied by R. S. a representative of Maryland Deck and Shed. Shortly after they started to do the installation, I noticed that the system was not the Fujitsu system that had been quoted to me by Maryland Deck and Shed. Instead a Fedders system was being installed. There had been no previous discussion about the change in systems and I had not be asked about it ahead of time. When I questioned them about this change during the installation, I was assured by the Maryland Deck and Shed person that the Fedders system was comparable or "better." Since they had already started the installation, I did not stop the installation process even though I was unfamiliar with the system. Problems developed several weeks after the installation when the Fedders system started to malfunction. At that time I called Maryland Deck and Shed and they told me to contact C. B., the individual who installed the system. (It should be mentioned that the installer does this type of work on a "moonlighting basis" for Maryland Deck and Shed. He works for a heating and air conditioning company during regular working hours. Consequently, he makes installation and repair calls during his free time at his convenience.) After some negotiating for an acceptable time for him to look at the malfunctioning system, the individual came out to repair the system. The system continued to work for another month and then broke down again with a different problem. At that time I called the installer directly. Because he was only able to do the work "at his convenience", he did not make the repair call until six days after I called him. He came out to work on the system at 9AM on a Sunday morning. After these two repair events, it was obvious that I needed to locate a licensed company that I could rely on to do service calls when needed and not use somebody who moonlighted. I went to the internet and discovered that Fedders listed one licensed contractor for doing repair work in the state of Maryland. I called that company and they told me that they do not repair Fedders systems any more. In fact, they told me that Fedders was being restructured and going out of the minisplit business. At that point I contacted 6 different licensed companies who do repair work on minisplit systems in order to find a company that would be able to do future servicing for me. In all but one case, the results were the same. They do not work on Fedders systems and the repair parts are unobtainable. The sixth company came out to look at the system. At that time they said that they would not be able to work on it because there was nowhere to get parts, if needed. In conclusion, Maryland Deck and Shed had their representative install a minisplit system that is unserviceable by licensed companies. When the system dies or needs repairs, I am stuck unless I wish to use the original installer. Since he is not an MHIC-licensed company and does this work on a part-time basis, then I am at his mercy. I have no idea if he will be able to get replacement parts if needed. I would like Maryland Deck and Shed to remove the existing system and replace it with a system that can be supported by licensed companies. The general consensus among the companies whom I talked with is that Mitsubishi would be the proper system to install and that it had a wide base of support services. The estimate for buying and installing a new system is $3200 which I feel that Maryland Deck and Shed should pay for since they are responsible for initially installing a system that is a faulty and a "white elephant." Consumer Note: We asked for them to replace the unit they installed with a serviceable name-brand unit. BUSINESS RESPONSE : While we agree with the intent of the Better Business Bureau's complaint resolution process, we do not agree with the method as it appears that the BBB presumes that the individual filing a complaint has a valid gripe. This complaint is without merit, and Mr. K. D. is making allegations that cannot be substantiated by fact. In response to the allegation that Mr. D. has made about Maryland Decking Shed not installing an approved heating unit, Mr. D. only oulined part of the problem and the conversations that ensued. It is true that originally in the contract, a Mitsubishi unit was requested; however when one was not readily available in a timely manner, Maryland Deck and Shed spoke to Mr. D. about a different unit to which he agreed. Maryland Deck and Shed then installed the verbally agreed upon unit in his shed. Mr. D. did not state that he did not want a replacemen unit, but he later stated that he was upset because he thought that he would not be able to get a regular maintenance agreement. Although we did not have to do anything because he had already agreed to this unit we propose the following to which he agreed. If the unit failed we would split the cost of a new unit with him. We would depreciate the unit over 10 years. Or we would find a company to service is existing unit. I could not find a company to Services existing unit and will therefore depreciate the unit over 10 years and split the cost with him should the unit ever fail. Again, this is something to which he verbally agreed. It is surprising to me (I own Maryland Deck and Shed) that this complaint was written at all. Maryland Deck and Shed has been going above and beyond what is required to satisfy the customer. J. T S., President, Maryland Deck and Shed CONSUMER REBUTTAL TO BUSINESS RESPONSE : Mr. S. has forgotten the facts in this complaint, not for the first time. Each discussion we have I remind him of the complaint and what needs to be done to resolve it. He has kept the discussion going for many months while avoiding a resolution. Here are the facts, backed up by documentation and research. 1. I did not request a Mitsubishi system. 2. R. S. emailed the specs for the Fujitsu system, which we approved. 3. I received no change order to sign and had no discussion about replacing the specified Fujitsu unit to the obsolete Fedders unit, even though there is a change order condition in our contract. 4. During installation of the system I assumed the unit was Fujitsu. It was not. I noticed the substitution AFTER the unit had been partially installed. 5. I questioned R. S. who told me that Fedders made a better unit than Fujitsu. Maryland Deck and Shed did no research on the unit or would have known that Fedders is out of business. 6. I called several companies and visited the Fedders website (now defunct) for a referral to a local company. No MHIC licensed companies will service the unit because they cannot guarantee that parts will be available. In fact, Mr. S. by his own admission was also unable to locate an MHIC licensed company willing to service the unit. 7. The unit came with no instructions, no warranty information or no specifications, 8. I am unwilling to run the unit until it breaks down, which it has done twice, because once it does: (a) lack of heating/cooling could cause damage to delicate equipment and materials, (b) the building cannot be used in extreme hot/cold weather, and (c) the 2-year warranty may have expired. Maryland Deck and Shed has spent considerable time avoiding a solution, so surely would not accept responsibility for replacing the unit, leaving me to deal with a contractor, maintenance contract, and complete payment for the unit. 9. I was willing to accept Mr. S.'s proposal to settle this issue. But it was based on depreciating replacement value of the unit AND their finding a satisfactory licensed service contractor. By their own admission, both by phone conversation and in writing, they have failed to fulfill that part of their own proposal so the proposal is null and void. 10. The only acceptable solution is for the Fedders unit to be removed and replaced with a fully serviceable unit by Maryland Deck and Shed. We are willing to resolve this issue in a manner that is agreeable to both parties, but operating an unservicable unit until it dies is not a fair solution. This complaint is closed as unresolved by the BBB. Since then at our own expense we have needed to replace the unserviceable Fedders unit with a name-brand unit.

It was expensive but they did a good job in terms of designing the project.

The team that came over to work was extremely profesional and respectful. We had a great experience. Our back yard is a big slope and so it is challenging. however, they did a good job and finished all in time. I would call them again for sure.

I highly recommend this company - call them and save yourself significant time looking at others who don't compare - while looking for a contractor I called nine different companies - most were very disappointing - MD Deck and Shed was a gem - they promptly responded to my first inquiry, provided a sketch drawing of the project at the first meeting in addition to a price quote - a week later they followed up to see if I had any questions - I said I was still getting estimates and not ready to commit - a week later they followed up again - they were the only company that seemed to want my business and I gave it to them - construction process was fast, efficient and clean - guys who did the work were responsive to my questions and specific requests - after work was completed the company followed up to get my opinion and ensure I was satisfied - the transaction was run like a business instead of the stereotyped poor experience that takes place with so many contractors - hire this company and you'll be extremely satisfied - I rarely write reviews but they earned it!!

Overall, the work was done to my satisfaction. Unfortunately, it was done in two days instead of the one as promised becuse they didn't have all the necessary tools handy.

deck construction was great. Deck was sturdy and well constructed. It met all expectations. However the duration of build was longer than expected. A 1 month estimate turned into 3 months. Most of the delay was due to the need to redesigns to get it through permits. During the whole process our contact Randy was very professional and informative.

Well, this is a good news, bad news story. Of the deck builders I had out to make a recommendation and an offer, only Randy Smith of Maryland Deck and Shed viewed the trees as a positive thing. One of the other companies wanted me to cut them down( !), and both gave me plans that placed the trees outside the perimeter of the deck. Not only did this make the deck smaller, I like the tree in the deck. Maryland Deck and Shed gave me a plan that made the deck larger and incorporated both trees. The price was higher, of course, but not that much. It seemed completely in line with the larger deck and additional planning and labor to ensure the trees had room to grow without impinging on the deck. Randy even offered to fix a couple of storm doors leading to the deck that had water damage, which was very helpful to me. Work started promptly sometime near the beginning of July (it's been so long I forget exactly.) It proceeded at a good pace, with a three man crew out every day, all day. This was the time when we had 95+ degree weather and 100% humidity every day for more than a week. I was beyond impressed; it was a little uncomfortable watching these guys working under these conditions! The hot weather was followed by a period of rainy days that slowed work down, but did not stop it. Soon, the structure was complete, and they began installing the decking. At this point, work started to slow down a lot. The crew got smaller, and worked my job fewer hours. Some days it was hard to tell that anything had been accomplished. After the decking was complete and the rail installation began, the pace slowed more. I went on vacation for a week at the beginning of August, and I'm pretty sure nothing happened while I was gone. After an email to Randy, there was another flurry of activity, but it stopped short of completion. At this point, the deck was substantially done, with a few details missing (I thought, see below), but my deck was covered with sawhorses, equipment, and sawdust, and there was a pile of construction debris in the yard. Mid-week before Labor Day weekend, I emailed Randy again, asking about the odds that I could use the deck over Labor Day. The crew showed up to clean up the deck, and on Sunday, came back and removed the debris from the yard. I paid Randy the last increment (my bad). This is the last time I've seen or heard from them. Making a careful inspection of the deck, I found that more than a few details were undone.There were about 10 finishing pieces (e.g., caps on top of the vertical railings) missing from the rail. Worse, one top horizontal rail is completely unconnected to the vertical piece it's supposed to attach to. This is not obvious and if I forget to tell people, they lean against it . No one has fallen yet, but this is a dangerous situation. I emailed Randy again two or so weeks ago, listing every missing piece, but have not heard back. I emailed him this morning, asking for the name of the railing maker so I can order the missing parts, and hire someone to install them as well as fix the loose railing. I sure hope he responds. I'd like to have my deck completed and safe. So in summary, good plan, poor execution. If you use this company, you can't be in a hurry and don't pay until it's done.

Team of workers did a magnificent job of replacing all rotted and near rotting boards. Worked fast and cleaned up afterwards. Price was competitive with other bids. Highly recommended.

UPDATE** I was surprised to read the response from the company. To add insult to injury, they did not return several times to repair the gate, they returned once to reinforce it but that did not do the job. Also my son does not hang on the gate and that is entirely irrelevant to the poor construction of the gate and railings. Such comments reflect very badly on the character of this company. I have been waiting for a call from Jim the owner for over a month now, but it is clear this company does not honour their work. I finally had someone else come and the issue was in the construction of the railings. They have all twisted since they were wet when installed and one of the posts was not installed in the right place to support the railing with the gate. A minor railing adjustment has repaired the whole gate problem, but at an additional cost to me. All of the other railings are still crooked looking but maybe next summer I will get those repaired too. If the company would still like to turn this "D" into an "A", have Jim call me to work out straightening the crooked railings.*** I am sad to provide the review I am about to provide at this time but will update as necessary. Our deck project began in March 2013. Steve was really great that first day. He came within a day or two of us contacting MDS and stayed a good amount of time talking and visualizing the project. He is great at creating and selling visions. We were super excited with what was to come. It took a couple of month to finally get HOA approval etc which is to be expected. In that time we realized we were going to have way too much deck in our little yard so I spoke to Steve about cutting down the project almost in half (from $8K->$4). That's how good he is a selling and fortunately he was very understanding of our decision and we are glad we went that way. We like to have some grass too. After HOA approval and city approval it took longer than I what I found acceptable for Steve's crew to come and build the deck. There was a lot of me hounding Steve to commit to a date. We also wanted to do the build it yourself option, which was a huge selling point for us, but Steve changed the construction date at the last minute making it impossible for us to help (a weekday instead of a weekend). He sold it to us again, since he had the best crew available that day, but we were fine with that in the end. The deck took about twice as long as they said it would. Again, this is to be expected, so no problem. I actually felt bad for Rob and his crew for having to come back as many times as they did to finish the job. Final payment became a sticking point when I didn't want to pay out the last payment until everything was finished. There was also the issue that I had been paying Steve and suddenly Rob wanted to be paid and I was not made aware of this. In the end it wasn't a problem. The deck was finally finished and very beautiful. We were very happy. The real problems started when a month later the gate started to sag to the point of hitting the wood and damaging it. Two months and several frustrating emails later, Rob's crew came to "fix" the gate. A week later it began to sag again since the real problem lies with how the post that is holding all of the gate's weight was originally put in. It just cannot hold that weight and needs to be braced properly or the gate made lighter. MDS offers 2 (or 3?) year workmanship warranty. I'm not even 6 months in and I am getting the vibe that they no longer want to resolve this issue. Overall I still think the deck is beautiful, but I paid for a working gate and I will continue to contact MDS until the issue is completely resolved. I will update my review and rating as appropriate.

The entire process was a good one. Steve was very good to work with during the estimating and design phase, and Rob and his crew were outstanding during the actual construction. They were polite, hard-working, and helpful in answering our questions. We are very pleased with the new deck.

Had high hopes but let down by the end. Communiction is definitely lacking. Dont expect them to pass info unless you call first. The start date kept slipping due to the heat but we had to ask when they didnt show up. There seem to be no rhyme or reason to when the workers showed up. The contractor goofed up the materials order and almost installed slower quality decking than we paid for. Something we happened to catch by accident. Simple mistake I suppose. The contractor graciously apologized. They also didnt order enough lumber. This unnecessarily extended the project about three days. Overall the deck looks great but I was surprised they tried to leave without backfilling the post holes. The contractor failed to adjust the project cost for not having to replace two existing posts even though he said he would.

Contractors got all the permits from Prince Georges County and handled all difficulties. Work crew came early, worked all day, brought materials and their own water & coolers. They were polite and responded to all questions and requests.

After contacting MDS I received a call back within hours. An appointment was made the same day and I was provided a detailed estimate of services within the next two days. The crew assigned for the work was always timely and was very careful not to start work before 8:00am as not to disturb the neighbors. Great design work and willing to ensure work done professionally and to my standards and approval

Our experience with MD Deck & Shed deserves a 5-Star rating!! I researched various companies that are listed on Angie?s List. I called a few, but had mixed responses. MD Deck and Shed was the most responsive and set up a time to come to the house to survey the project (other builders had quoted a price without even seeing the site). At our initial meeting, (Salesperson Steve) arrived on time and was not in a rush compared to other builders I had met. He respected the budget I had set forth for building the deck and helped save me money where possible without compromising quality. After our initial meeting, I was confident in their professionalism and commitment to the project. Steve also educated my wife and I regarding the various options in decking material and maintenance by providing us with the best options for our budget. A company representative even offered to drive us out to see one of their recent projects in the area. Their website was also informative, offering a sampling of the decking material options we had to choose from. As we decided on the decking, MD Deck & Shed took care of the extra paperwork, which included creating the necessary deck plans, contacting Miss Utility to set up site markings, and setting up a Montgomery County inspection of the project. The construction of the deck (by Cory and his team) only took three days- one day to pour the footers, another day to frame the deck and the last day to install the decking material and railing. The crew and progress of the deck was on time and as promised. The overall construction of the deck was excellent, we could definitely tell the attention to detail- a sign of their expertise! Upon completion, Steve came to do a final walk through to ensure our satisfaction. They were always in communication throughout the building process from beginning to end. There was also an option for us to add any other agreements to the basic contract. Payment options were also very convenient. So here are the steps we took in deciding on a builder: - Research and find a builder (MD Deck & Sheds) - Set up a meeting for them to come survey (some builders will bring sample materials, pictures etc) - Contract agreement and detailed building plan (signed by both parties- you and the builder) - Some communities may have an HOA so you?ll need to submit the building plans, HOA form, Property Survey in order to get a Letter of Approval to start - Your Builder should call Miss Utility prior to digging, Montgomery County for inspection and submit the plans - please note that most builders charge extra for this - Once you get the letter of approval from your HOA and Miss Utility has marked the area, you are ready for construction - Payment agreement (payments were divided into three installments: Initial payment at signing, Second payment once material was delivered, Third payment upon completion of project) - Company was responsible for safeguarding materials delivered outside - Construction for the three days included One day for the footers (concrete dries and inspector approves), Second day to put up the frame, Third day for installment of decking boards and railings - The county inspector will come back for a final inspection

Company came out on time and gave a detailed estimate, multiple options, and advise based on what we needed. Would definately recommend.