Mike Draper

Terrible the worst person to build a deck. Mike Draper was initially contacted from a Craigslist ad regarding building a deck for our house. We being skeptical about hiring someone to do the work from Craigslist, looked under other sources and found that he was on Angie’s list as well. We requested references and all said that he did good work, but we now know that is dependent on the type of project he is actually doing. The plan was for him to start work on Monday, June 13th, so he came to the house to find out the type of deck that we wanted and how we wanted it done. During the discussion, Mike was told the size of the deck and the placement behind the house where we wanted it to be. This should have been a red flag as he has the tendency to talk over you and he had mentioned that typically, he designs his own decks (REMEMBER THIS!), as opposed to getting a deck package from an outside company. If you are used to designing your own decks then using a package which includes a detailed plan, specific wood, braces, screws and other hardware, cement, etc. should really not be a problem. Wrong! After coming home on the first day I noticed immediately that the deck was pushed several feet over from where we requested that it be positioned. And although he did provide an explanation, it still was not sufficient that when being paid for a service, he did the project as he wanted as opposed to how it was requested. On the final day (which happened to be my wife’s birthday) I was able to come home and see him finishing the project. When I was outside observing the progress, Mike informed me that this was the first time he had built a deck. Okay, is this what you say to us now? Needless to say, as I was walking on the deck I noticed the deck was buckling all over, from where he did not have sufficient support in the frame of the deck. (My father is a carpenter and I have always been his apprentice in all home projects – including decks, but due to my current work schedule, I felt it would be easier to just pay someone to do the project myself.) I informed Mike that I was not satisfied with the deck, and he immediately got defensive, saying that he had been outside all day, was tired and ready to go home, and that in order for him to fix the problem he would have to remove all the deck boards on top. Did this all of a suddenly become my fault that you have not taken any pride in your work? Mike did remove a few of the deck boards and put what appears to be three boards diagonal in between the beams. After looking over the deck for quite a while, I contacted Mike to let him know of our utter disappointment with the quality of work and the fact that the deck was buckling from anyone from 115lbs and higher. His attitude steadily became worse, and he seemed annoyed constantly referring to himself as a relative guy. Does relative mean that you would find sub-par work satisfactory? The deck, aesthetically, ended up looking okay but clearly was not level nor steady if you desired to walk across it or sit in a chair. Also, the amount of wood left remaining was astounding and concrete evidence that not only did he not have experience building a deck, but had no clue nor care as to what he was doing. There was even a pile of pieces that were cut in half that did not need to but cut, if plan was followed and if used properly. Resolution (The Work that Should Have Been Done in the First Place) With the help of my father, I have spent the past three, almost four weekends, fixing the deck. The amount of time I have had to use to resolve the issues I could have actually built the deck myself. We initially removed the deck boards to find surprise after surprise. 1. The posts were not straight, and some posts were not even touching the cross-beams, and one actually broke due to not being stabilized. 2. The cross-beams were placed too far apart, and were not attached properly with the braces. The braces have holes for 4 screws to secure the wood, and most of the cross-beams were only secured with 1-2 screws – which could have potentially been a huge problem. 3. In addition, Mike used two pieces of wood to complete the outer frame of the deck on both sides and put wood putty to try to cover the mistake. I had to go through and put screws (2-3 in each) into all of the braces in the original cross beams, after which I had to cut additional cross beams and add throughout the entire deck.

He arrived on time, did the service the day I called and I thought he was very professional and reasonable.