Classic Deck Impressions

Paul and his son arrived promptly for the 2 hour sales pitch about decking materials and their ability to perform what I requested. I let slide the fact that no questions were allowed during the pitch "hold your questions to the end." I had to email them to remind them they had promised me a quote a week before. I told them I was ready to move ahead and use their company. And after that, I got responses to my emails asking when we could finalize the plans, with delays and promises to contact me "soon" "after we finish this big job" "next week", etc. Wasted two months of my summer thinking we were going to get this done. I moved on to Penn Fencing who has been a dream to work with.

Paul Schmitt was a consummate professional from beginning to end. His presentation was very detailed and informative. The designs were well thought out and estimates were easy to understand. He worked with us to make the correct selections of Trex style and color. Paul and Chris worked nonstop from the minute they arrived until quitting time. Their craftsmanship was evident in all the detail work they did. They were always pleasant and available for questions and comments. Two of my neighbors were so impressed they have talked to Paul about getting decks as well. We are thrilled with our deck!

Excellent job from Paul Schmitt and his crew. Straight up would recommend him to anyone. Right from the beginning Paul was on time for our initial appointment, explained everything, the process, materials, options, colors and timeline. He secured the building permit, started on time and finished quickly...even with a couple of days of rain..kept a clean job site..what more could you ask for? Have neighbor getting a deck installed by another company. I can see structural supports Paul provided, that the neighbor's builder is not providing. Again, great job by Paul.

This project went very well. Paul was very knowledgable on the Trex products and he helped us choose the style and colors for our deck. He was very patient and flexible as we worked our way through this selection process. He left sample boards with us so that we should see how the colors complemented each other as well as the rest of our house. Scheduling was not a problem, he worked around our travel schedule and kept us up to speed on the progress by sending daily photo updates. His crew was small but they worked non-stop and made significant progress every day. They cleaned up each day and at the end of the job. I would definitely contract with them again on any future decking project.

It took this company almost 6 weeks to come up with a quote. I went with them because they were willing to do the fence and deck. The other companys I had quotes from were only decking companies. And their price was reasonable. This was Trex Transcend materials for the deck and Vecka vinyl fencing. After receiving the quote it took them another month or more to give me a start date. The deck was to be flush up to the fence. The deck was completed in about 2 weeks. The fence was supposed to be delivered 4 weeks later according to the contract. Although the deck looks very nice, they left a 1 foot gap between the deck and the fence. This is very unsafe and is not what we wanted and as of today 9/21/2017 they have yet to do my fence project. I am it able to reach Paul Schmitt, which is the owner of the company. He will not return our phone calls and will not return emails. I have reported him to be BBB. This has been a nightmare. Needless to say a very expensive one.

I set up an appointment with Paul Schmitt to come and look at my deteriorating wooden deck because I was interested in replacing it with composite. Paul came to my house promptly and went over everything that I could possibly need to know about getting my wood deck(700 sqft) replaced with Trex. He then said he would have a quote to me later that day(Thursday). When no quote arrived by Saturday, I texted him to ask if he would have the quote done soon, and he replied that he was almost finished with it, and that he would have it to me in a couple of hours. Needless to say, he did not. I then called him twice on Monday and got his voicemail both times, and left him messages. It is now Wednesday, and I have had no response from him. Too bad for him that I have now moved on to another contractor who actually returns phone calls/texts and have already set up the job to be done by him.

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Paul Schmitt, the proprietor of Classic Deck Impressions, came in the Spring of 2015 and showed us samples of Trex, for which he was the authorized representative. We decided on wood and Paul then sent us several computerized sketches showing various sizes and configurations of decks as attached to the house. Paul also did all the interface with the Borough Inspectors. Upon learning that we did not have enough build-out space toward the side we had initially indicated, he redid the plans and resubmitted the sketches for our approval. Paul did all the legwork with the Borough Inspectors, making sure that the plans for the deck provided that the brick wall of the house would not provide lateral support for the deck, as per Borough requirements. Due to an unusually rainy season, Paul and his crew were not able to start until August 17, 2015. However, he and his two-man crew stayed with the job until it was finished. Paul and his crew were fine craftsman. Additionally, they disposed of all the rotten timbers and building materials from the old deck, working steadily each day from 8:30 to 5:00. Each day they cleaned the area such that the area of construction was immaculate. Under an additional contract, Paul and his crew installed a new ceiling under the roof covering part of the deck as well as new house siding on the exterior portions of this roof. Also, of interest, Paul knew that a cement contractor was coming after his crew to put down a cement pad under the deck and sidewalk leading from the deck. Paul installed one the of 6x6 beams supporting the deck in such a fashion that the cement contractor could remove this support beam in order to get his crew and machines under the deck. Afterwards, he reinstalled the beam and the finished product was perfect. We have shown this deck to many of our neighbors and friends and they have marveled at how beautiful the finished product looks. One of our friends, himself a craftsman, said, "you can tell that this guy (Schmitt) is a master carpenter." We could not be more pleased with the finished product. In fact, we have an understanding with Paul that he will return in the Spring to build an auxiliary deck supplementing the main deck.

We had numerous contractors come to look at our project. In some instances we had contractors draw a simple picture and said that is what we are going to get. Nothing custom. Nothing special. Price would be cheap, but you get what you pay for. Paul spent about an hour with us going through the different deck options we could. He described the differences between the decking materials and explained how the materials have changed over the years. We hired Paul early in the year and had our deck built around March or April (can't recall). It took about two weeks from start to finish. Paul and is helper are extremely detail oriented. We have had contractors visit the house since the deck was built and we are consistently told that we got a great deck. Something nice that Paul will do is send a spreadsheet with all of the options you could want in a deck. In the spreadsheet, each option and its costs are highlighted. You get to figure out how much you want to spend and what features you want versus what you can do without. Composite versus wood? Metal spindles? Vinyl railings? The choice is yours. Paul will tell you the pros and cons of each, but you decide what works for you. He will also provide several computer generated images showing what the deck would look like on your house. This helps visualize what everything will look like when it is said and done. Paul has my recommendation. When the day comes where our deck needs to be refreshed or updated, we will definitely reach out to him again.

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Paul Schmitt and Classic Deck Impressions created an amazing deck on the back of our house for a reasonable price. Paul is extremely skilled at his craft and was able to design a deck on computer that had character and was exactly what we wanted. They worked continuously until they finished the job and were the nicest, most upbeat people on the job. If anyone is looking to build a deck on their house that will exceed expectations go with Paul Schmitt and Classic Deck Impressions. I can recommend them without hesitation.

I searched the internet and Angies List for a provider that was familiar with the Rain Escape system. I was referred to Classic Deck Impression by a Trex representative. I contacted Paul who came to my house to give us an estimate. He and his wife work together and we found both to be very pleasant and accommodating to our needs. The work was done in professional manner and we were very happy with the final result. He kept us informed as each aspect of the work was initiated. We would call him again for any future deck work.

Paul is an incredible carpenter and a master deck builder. He is absolutely an expert in his field. He micro-manages every detail which is both a good thing and a bad thing. It is great in that every detail is attended to. The bad news is that it can take some time. Ultimately, we decided to be patient. It was well worth it. If you can hire Classic Deck Impressions to build your deck, you will not be disappointed in the finished product.

They were on time every day, provided great input as to the progress of the job and the expected completion date. Provided great 3D renderings of the deck and allowed us to make changes to the plan. They updated the 3D renderings so that we could evaluate the changes before the job ever started. Price was as quoted and very reasonable for the quality craftmanship put into the job.

Paul was very professional in his presentation and had some good suggestions that improved the finished product but he was not at all pushy. They started the job about a week earlier than we expected. Paul and the other two guys worked steadily every day and were very polite, quiet and easy to have around. We have no complaints. Our deck is wonderful and would not look as nice if we had not had the suggestions from Paul.

I left Paul a voicemail explaining that I would like an estimate for a new deck to be installed at my home. I did not hear back for a week, but after emailing him he explained that the voicemail was accidentally deleted. We set up an onsite estimate over the phone for the next day (a Sunday, which was unexpected), but not until they attempted to set it up 2.5 weeks, then 2 weeks, then 1 week out. Now I was very excited because Paul was extremely professional in his delivery, almost to the point of robotic, but he gave many options and it seemed like this was definitely the person that I was going with for the job. He stated that we would have the 3D drawing and estimate the next day, which I was suprised that it would be that quick. But after 2 days I emailed him and he stated that something unexpected had come up on a job and that he would have them done the following day. After another 3 days passed, I emailed (my EXACT email is listed below, to illustrate that I was polite but firm) asking when I could expect the drawings and quote...no repsonse. After another 5 days passed and I was a little more firm and explained I would be leaving "appropriate feedback" on Angies if I didn't have the inf. I did not hear back. I'm not exactly sure what the problem was, but anything short of tragedy is no excuse (and email auto-replies should cover that). Based on him his previous feedback, he may do great work, but I call his integrity in question and imagine he would be difficult to work with...but I'll never know. 1st unanswered email Paul, I understand you had run into problems on a current job, but I was expecting the drawings 2 days ago per your last email, do you have an idea when I'll have them? I have all of my other estimates but I'm looking forward to yours, especially with the 3D versions and ease to make design changes. I would like to have a first draft sometime today so that I can firm up the design/price this weekend and get the work scheduled for the coming weeks. With that said, I had forgotten to ask you before, what is your current timeframe looking like to get started with this project if I make a decision in the next week or so? Thanks again Paul, 2nd and final unanswered email Paul, I would appreciate a response to my email below concerning the estimate and drawings I was expecting from you. If I don't receive an email or call in the next day I will assume that you will not be providing me with the info and I proceed with other offers and will leave appropiate feedback on Angie's List. I feel that I've been more than polite and patient considering that the original timing set by yourself was a one day turn around on the info and we are now at 8 days and you failed to respond to my email from 3 days ago. I have all of my other quotes in hand but I was highly anticipating your info based on your reputation and presentation. Regards,

I found this company at this year's Home and Garden Expo and scheduled an appointment to discuss the project and receive an estimate. Paul and his wife, Rachel were very courteous during the appointment. He seems to know his trade and gave sound advice. At the end of the appointment, Paul told me I would receive an email containing both a drawing and estimate (using all the various materials wood vs. the three levels of Trex) by the end of the following week. However, that time came and gone and I didn't receive said estimate. I called to follow up on the estimate. Supposedly the email was sent, but never reached me. Paul said he'd send it again. I double-checked all of my spam to see if somehow it was automatically directed there - nothing. The second email attempt also didn't arrive. I tried to call Paul to let him know that the email wasn't working, but now I couldn't get a hold of him by phone. In the meantime, I received a second estimate (which seemed rather high). The runaround trying to get the estimate from Classic Deck Impressions was an indication the job could also have similar issues. None the less, I needed numbers to compare so I could make an informed decision of the cost of the deck, so I tried again. Finally, I was able to reach Paul and he told me that he would return my call that night at 7pm and while we were on the phone he'd resend the email and confirm that I received it. I agreed and repeated that I would have my phone with me at 7pm so not to miss the call. Paul failed to call at 7pm. If something had happened that kept him from calling, he has made no attempts to contact me to follow through on the estimate. I'm only speculating, but I feel that after the Expo, Classic Deck Impressions was overwhelmed with interested customers. They didn't have enough time to follow through with everyone and so some were just forgotten. I would have understand that they just didn't have enough time to get back with me right away, but that should have been communicated. Instead, Paul said he'd do something and then didn't, not very professional.

Summary: the build went well, the deck is better than we'd imagined, and Paul's company did a lot of little beyond-the-call-of-duty things that mean I can thoroughly recommend him. Classic Deck Impressions was the first company we interviewed and Paul spent over two hours with us discussing our needs and explaining the different options. He was very patient as we worked through several configurations, eventually sending us computer-generated drawings of how the finished deck would look. Based on his Trex Gold certification, reasonable price and evident knowledge of deck building we picked his company to build the deck. This process went through periods of frequent communication interspersed with the occasional period when we weren't able to contact him for a few days at a time. Not knowing Paul's company as we now do, these silences were a bit of a worry, but we decided to stick with him and are so glad we did - the end result is even better than we expected. Classic Deck Impressions dealt with the building permit process for us. We only found out later that there had been a few 'issues' with the permit that Paul had deftly managed in order to secure the permit without causing us additional administrative difficulties down the road. Once that was done they began tearing down the old deck, taking great care to ensure that the site was safe for my children. The demolition and build process took about 3 weeks, including several days lost to bad weather and waiting on city inspections. Paul managed to accommodate a last minute change in the design (making a walkway narrower) and suggested a change to the color scheme which, with hindsight, was absolutely the right thing to do. The quality of the finish on the deck is outstanding - the boards run at a 45 degree angle which adds some interest, there's "picture framing" around the outside of the deck and much of the supporting frame has been covered with Trex to enhance the look. Take a look at the attached pictures. A couple of little things that were pleasantly unexpected: they sawed up the (untreated) scrap timber for firewood for us, and they hauled our gas grill up a ladder and onto the deck so that we wouldn't have to drag it through the house. The deck is wonderful - it really changes the tone of our yard. Excellent craftsmanship.