DECK PROS

We wanted to upgrade our deck and sought several estimates. Jeff was the only one who asked if we were happy with the size of our deck. When I said that I would like a larger one, but that it was not allowed on our lot, he offered to review our site plans and found a way to slightly expand the deck without our having to request a variance. We did need a permit, and Jeff handled the paperwork for that and was able to secure us faster permission than is usual from our town. That small increase in size made a huge difference in the usability of our deck, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the result. I haven’t rated price because I didn’t seek any additional estimates on the larger deck that we decided upon.

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I had a $17,000 Ipe deck installed by this company. Here were the problems: 1. The owner said he would be on site for the work, but was not. He did not show up until the end of the job. 2. The deck wood was sawn on the lawn with no drop cloths and pieces of wood, nails and screws were left all over the yard. 3. The workmanship on the deck was extremely poor. One board was clearly warped, but used anyway. A piece of railing hardware broke in two but was installed that way. The deck was nailed (not screwed) in many places and the nails are now popping thru. Ipe is too hard for a nail gun. Pieces of the railing are loose because apparently they were fastened with one screw instead of two; not up to code. 4. The owner, Jeff Bader, is rude. In reply to my e-mail about recent problems, he e-mailed back the following: "Even though I am sure the "issues" you outlined in your email are going to be as grossly exaggerated as the "issues" I took care of last summer, I will stop by in a few weeks when we are in the area." The "grossly exaggerated issues" I had last summer were two boards with more than a half inch of space between them because one was warped, and pieces of rail molding that had fallen off. He came to repair them only after I stopped into another company, where his work is displayed, and spoke with the owner. I have decided to pay another company to fix my deck problems rather than deal with this owner again.