Virginia Deck Builders

Caution: fraud, theft. We hired Nikolay Jantic of Virginia Deck Builders in October 2023 to complete a three-seasons room porch remodel. The contract stipulated that the project would be done by February 2024 by a licensed contractor. Nikolay's license (2705177868, Deck Dream LLC doing business as Virginia Deck Builders) was revoked by Virginia DPOR in December 2023 and as of May, he is UNLICENSED ([*** Link removed ***] He has multiple violations listed on the DPOR website. To date, our project is still unfinished and we are owed significant funds. Nikolay is unresponsive to communications. This company calls themselves an "Angie's List Super Service Award Winner" on their contract. However, the company has committed fraud and theft and I do not recommend their services.

The only time that Nikolay Jantic, the owner, was responsive was when he came to pick up my 50% deposit check. 2/10/23 - I paid $3,752 (50%) to have 20 rotting boards replaced on my wood deck, power washing, and staining. Despite repeated calls, I received no info on scheduling. 4/18/23 - Finally a 3-man crew showed up and replaced the rotting boards and one upright post, but they left all the old wood in a pile behind the house. 5/15/23 - I was concerned about safety and HOA rules in regard to the pile of wood boards, so I paid 123Junk to haul it away, I also called Jim the Handyman who agreed to come this week and complete the project, because I was only getting the run around from Nikolay about when they would return. If you choose Virginia Deck Builder, expect total lack of communication and long delays in receiving the product you paid for.

Our deck/patio project was to resurface our total 400 sq. ft. deck& patio from wood to Trex; no permits required, just needed approval from HOA. Great professional consultation with Jeff Mineo. He provided an itemized estimate quote within 2-3hrs, always quick to reply to our questions & revisions. No pressure sales. Within a few days we got on their schedule. Nikolay also suggested & confirmed our color choices pairing, so happy he did. The crew was amazing, respectful and highly skilled. Work was done within 4 days with some rain disruption. They kept to their schedule 8:00am-5:30pm. Work done before promised date. Impressed with their hard work ethics, skillful craftsmanship and beautiful finished product! Can’t recommend them enough! Pictures really says it all. All Tex. floorboard - Enhance Rocky Harbor cocktail rail - Transcend Spiced Rum railing - Transcend White Rail, Black round balusters Picture-framed accents -Transcend Spiced Rum

Great company prompt professional quality work at a very fair price!

This is a very professional company to deal with. Quality of work is exceptional. They are a very easy lot to work with.

*DO NOT* use this company! I signed a contract with Virginia Deck Builders last fall, and as soon as I did, Nikolay stopped responding to my messages. After several weeks without any updates (and long past the point when my project was supposed to start), I asked for my deposit back. I spent another two months hounding him for the refund, which I eventually received... only to have the check bounce. I assumed the company had gone out of business, but then several weeks ago, I received a promotional email offering a discount for any referrals. Furious, I contacted Nikolay again. He responded immediately and said he would look into it, but I have not heard from him since sending him confirmation of the bounced check. This is extremely unprofessional, and I see here that I'm not the only one who has had problems. Find a different company!

(My original review was posted over a year ago...see below) POTENTIAL CLIENTS BEWARE! It has now been 15 months since our project started and is still not complete. After my first review, Nikolay immediately responded via text. His tendency is to respond once in a long while. Most communication goes unanswered. He continually promises that he will have a crew out and finish everything right away, but the pending work remains as is. The outdoor fireplace was subcontracted out to another company to build, it remains incomplete. Our project included him to construct an extra-large automated metal pergola with screens, lighting and fans which has yet to be seen. All our pre-existing outdoor wiring for audio and lighting was dug up, tossed to the side and no longer functions as originally laid down. We have yet to see permits for anything. After reading the review by Eric Ebenstein (written approximately 2 months ago), I am most concern about his validity as a legit business with Fairfax County and his credibility. Based on other reviews, Nikolay has clearly moved on from those projects that require permits, are more than just Trex decking or were booked knowing the scope of work was outside of his company's abilities. We have been more than patient and have no choice but to escalate this to our legal team. ORIGINAL REVIEW-CLIENTS BEWARE! Nikolay/VA DECK Builders has abandoned our project midway. It is now over 90 days since the start date and past the contractual completion date. This project is for a large outdoor composite deck, outdoor fireplace, and large covered pergola/pavilion with automatic screens amounting to a six figure contract. Upon receiving 2/3 of the monies for the entire project, Nikolay and crew disappeared and stopped all communication (he may be running a Ponzi scheme). We have a paper trail and proof of all attempts to communicate with him as well as signed contract detailing all work that he and the company were to deliver. Initially Nikolay was very eager and was quick to respond when he was soliciting us to get our business. Once we signed the contract and he started receiving payments, work began inconsistently as did correspondence. Nikolay gave us an excuse that his foremen and some crew members abandoned him, and then stopped communicating altogether approximately one and half months into the project. Again, we believe he may even be running a Ponzi scheme. The TREX decking has been laid down (not smoothly and with bumps that are apparent when you walk on it) with some ground lighting, but the site is a mess. The crew has torn up and badly damaged our existing outdoor stone spa and stairs. There is materials and construction trash everywhere on site and around our home and yard. The company has also damaged our existing outdoor lights as well as the sprinkler system and torn up our lawn. For those of you who have had work completed, consider yourselves lucky. My guess is Nikolay took our money to finish other projects and now has abandoned his commitment to us/our project. I do not recommend them. DO NOT WORK WITH THIS COMPANY OR GIVE THEM YOUR BUSINESS.

We are deeply worried this company is not real, and that we have been defrauded by a criminal. Over 4 months ago we signed a contract and put down a $17,914 deposit to get started on a deck replacement. Roughly a month after paying the deposit, we discovered this company wasn’t licensed to do work in Prince William County. Then we lost all communication for a period of time, before finding out our sales rep had quit the company and our project was supposedly being handled by the owner, Nikolay Jantic. Since then, every contact with Nicolay has resulted in us either being ignored or lied to. Our contract is now expired, we have demanded that our deposit be refunded, and still the lies continue. 147 days of this. The most generous way to interpret the situation is this: Nikolay has too much work on his plate and is simply unable to handle our project. This company could be legitimate, and if we get our money back, we’ll assume we just got unlucky and hired the wrong contractor at the wrong time. And we’ll update this review with that information. But if you’re reading this, and you too are worried that you’ve been defrauded or scammed by this company or any other company the name ‘Nikolay Jantic’ is associated with, please contact us directly. If you’ve heard these excuses “it’s my birthday week”; “I’m at the DMV”; “my friend is in a coma”; “I’m working in the field”; “I’ve forwarded your request to my legal department” (there is no legal department); then you may be in the same position as us. If there are several of you out there, then we can likely establish a pattern of behavior that rises to the level of felony fraud. As a former police officer, I have successfully built cases like this, and I will happily do so again. Again, maybe we’re the only unlucky and mistreated customers of this company and we’ll actually get our money back.

The new deck is beautiful. The workers and work was very high quality. I highly recommend!!!

My deck construction was started on May 2019, but has not been finished now, more than 2 years later. I contacted the owner, Nikolay, many many times, but he never responded. The final inspection by the county has not been done yet.

Awesome company to work with. Very professional and finished quality work in the given time frame. I Would definitely recommend them for any deck needs.

We had a fantastic experience with Virginia Deck Builders. They worked with us on a difficult project with some complicated carpentry. They were patient and professional and did excellent work. We've been recommending them to our neighbors and friends, and I would say they should be your first call if you're considering a deck project!

I hired this company to build a deck for me, they did a great job and it came out beautiful! They were very professional and always available to answer any questions I had.

Our deck is amazing but the whole process from start to finish was just a pleasure. Absolute professionalism throughout, would recommend to anybody!

Virginia Deck Builders is a consistent and dependable company. They are none of the typical contractor, they are very diligent with their work and I am very satisfied with the results. I am highly recommending them to everyone!

Nikolay and his crews did a great job on my new deck install. They are professional builders equipped with a knowledge and skills turned out better than i expected. Nikolay worked with my design and helped me how to build more efficiently. Also his professional and gentle manner gave me a pleasant experience with this company. Highly recommend.

I admire this company so much for their accountability and transparency. The work they provided is also very good, worth the price I paid and working with the crew was stress free. I am highly recommending them. Amazing timing and service!!

In over 30 years of owning 5 different homes and hiring numerous contractors, I have never had one this bad. Not even close. His communications with us essentially ceased the moment he received our substantial deposit in May. Occasionally he would reply to a note, saying he would make progress, but he would immediately go silent again. We did not get a deck design, no permit from Arlington, and no deck. We were fortunate enough to recover our deposit via the credit card company after 5 months. In retrospect, I am highly suspicious of many of the great reviews he received on multiple forums. Many discrepancies there. We learned our lesson. We should have done more research, been more discerning, and viewed the request for such a large deposit as a red flag. Hopefully you can learn from our mistake as well.

I scheduled an appointment online for an estimate from Virginia Deck Builders. The appointment date was changed by Virginia Deck Builders without confirming with me, but I was okay with the new date/time. Nicolae came out and took some notes. He said that he would send me an estimate over the weekend. I never received anything. I followed up by email and text - never got a response.

Reached out to Virginia Deck Builders and 4-5 other deck contractors back in mid May about building a deck and patio/fire pit. Due to COVID, there are obvious delays in getting permits, even delays ordering building materials. Nikolay came out to provide an estimate and I could tell he was honest and fair unlike a few other contractors who I received estimates from. After a few weeks, permits were approved and construction began. There were a few changes to the original estimate as I added a fire pit, retaining wall and additional post sleeves to hang patio lighting from. Overall the entire project took ~ 2 months but I couldn't be happier about the finished product. Considering Virginia Deck Builders estimate was in the middle of all estimates received, I chose to use Nikolay because he was direct and honest. Julio and his team were also very professional, communicated very clearly about delays and what times they may return for work while they waited for Back ordered materials. All of my neighbors can't stop raving about the deck, the patio and the fire pit.... do yourself a favor and look at the yelp reviews and the quality of the work they do!!

On June 12, made an appointment for Friday, July 3 at 3:00. On Saturday, June 27, received an automated email saying our appointment had been rescheduled for Monday June 29 at 5:00. We were going to be out of town on Monday - they rescheduled without consulting us. Left a voicemail that Saturday night saying it was not a good time. Called again on Sunday, June 28 and got their answering service - an actual person - I explained the situation and he said he would let Nikolay know right away. Didn't hear anything, so on Monday, as we were leaving town, my wife called again (twice), and left a message that we would not be home. Didn't hear back. Got home very late on Monday evening, to find a note on our front porch that said (paraphrasing) - "Came by for the appointment, but apparently no one was home." Nikolay left his card. I emailed his direct email - and left a voicemail on his phone - that if wanted to honor the original appointment, we would do so. Never heard back. Also note - neither their business voicemail, or Nikolay's phone identifies the company or person. Just "You're reached ". I guess the silver lining is that we didn't hire him, and then find out about these communication issues.

The owner came out to give us a quote and seemed very thorough. We came up with a plan for the deck and he said he'd respond within a few days with a quote. After several emails and attempts to contact him went ignored, we were unable to get a quote from him. Complete waste of time.

Awesome people to work with! They do what they say they will do. Clean and professional. I highly recommend them for deck building project!

It went beautifully, they came when the said that they would, and they did everything as it's supposed to be. Everything went above and beyond, finish timely manner and they were outstanding.

They were very good. They did an excellent job. They were very professional, they really know their stuff.