Deck Head Inc

My wife and I hired Deck Head Staining, Inc., from Omaha, Nebraska in August 2015. The company owner, Ben Armstrong was hired to stain 3 different cedar decks attached to the rear of our house at 1010 Michael Drive, Papillion, Nebraska. His company stained my deck in September 2015 utilizing an oil based stain from Pittsburgh Paints. We paid $1025 for the work to be completed, with an understanding it would not display peeling for a few years. This was after I thoroughly stripped/removed the old stain and scrubbed everything clean, that Deck Head, Inc. approved as complete, and ready for stain. Upon initial completion of the work, we were satisfied with the results. Unfortunately, during the winter months, we noticed several areas of the deck flooring were peeling, that included areas of never used during the winter. I contacted Mr. Armstrong on April 12, 2016 via text message that included photos of the deck. On April 25, 2016, Mr. Armstrong visited my home and left with a peeled stain sample from the deck. After several text messages and a few phone calls, a representative (Liz) from Pittsburgh Paints came to our house May 23, 2016. She also left with a peeling sample from the deck. Mr. Ben Armstrong continued to drag his feet throughout June and provided us little, to no communications. On July 5, 2016, I sent Mr. Armstrong a letter by e-mail offering/requesting a solution to the problem. The letter included an estimate from a reputable company that I had previously used to complete the deck stripping and re-staining. Since it’s cheaper to replace all the wooden lattice, I agreed to purchase/replace that myself as a token of my generosity. This would have satisfied my staining issue as a homeowner, and would certainly alleviate the involvement of outside agencies. A few days after receiving the letter, Mr. Armstrong requested a meeting, which I agreed to. He quickly said he would not pay another company and I could take him to court, but he had a lawyer and would win. He politely asked my wife and me if he could have the opportunity to make things right with the deck. After explaining his plan and agreeing to apply the stain by brush only, we verbally agreed to let him redo the deck. In addition, it was agreed that once my wife and daughter returned to school in mid-August, that he would start work on the deck. Once mid-August came around, Mr. Armstrong continually had excuses to not start working on the deck. Some of the excuses were rain is forecast, once I finish another job I’m behind on, I’m still trying to work out my cost with Pittsburgh Paints, I need to ensure I have enough help, it’s my busiest time of the year, and so on. Once mid-September rolled around and the deck was still sitting unfinished, I told Mr. Armstrong it would probably make more sense to wait until spring, which he agreed. Mr. Armstrong assured me that make my deck would be a priority in the spring. On March 26, 2017, I contacted Mr. Armstrong about starting work. After several delays of him failing to show up at my house, we finally met up. We discussed and agreed on everything that he was to do and how my deck needed to be a priority on his schedule. I further told Mr. Armstrong that we expect him to accomplish things in a timely manner, which he definitely hasn’t done. After his first round of pressure washing, he failed to rinse the remnants of stain from plants, siding, landscape lights, and the deck itself. He quickly pressure washed a second time and once again failed to rinse. My wife and I had a lengthy discussion and felt we needed a guaranteed solution after a year of headaches when dealing with Mr. Armstrong. We informed Mr. Armstrong not to return to our house and hired Brush & Roll Painting from Omaha, Nebraska, whom we have used on several different occasions in the past. In addition, Pittsburgh Paints has agreed to provide (at no cost) the stain needed for the project.