DECK BUILDERS INC

Overall, the experience was excellent. We're the sixth person that has used them on our street; Ricardo is such a nice man! His crew is very nice, too. They clean everything up and do all the work to code. Ricardo also designs everything himself, and his ideas are great!

I called Deck Builders Inc. on Tuesday and had an appointment the following day with Luis Figueroa. Luis sat down with my wife and I and we talked about how we want the deck to be designed. Luis did a couple of drawing for us and we decided on one of the three options. The next day Luis emailed us a different layout that he thought would look better do to the way our back yard is configured and yes we agreed to the drawing Luis has great design taste. My wife and I had three company?s come out and provide us with estimates Deck Builders was willing to give us more for our money without charging us for every little nail and screw so we signed a contract with them that following Monday a good selection of C ? cut wood was delivered and the workers started working on the deck within that first week was deck was almost finished. The workers were great and very respectful we had a great crew of three hard worked doing our new deck. The job was completed on time the job was inspected twice by the PW deck inspected without any problems or code violations was gave us piece of mind knowing everything was building and attached properly to our house. I would truly recommend Deck Builders Inc. to any of my friends for any deck projects they might have.

Quick response to request for appointment. The design consultant (Mr. White) showed up promptly as scheduled and proceeded to do a thorough review of our problem and what was needed. We had a deck and attached screened in gazebo and we wanted to replace all of the railings, ballusters, screening and trim with low maintenace material. He was very knowledgeable and reassuring. I went out of my way to ask him if this job would be considered too small. He ASSURED me that this company contracted for all size jobs, and our job was not too small. He spent a long time talking about the alcolades of this company and my husband and I felt reassured that we were dealing with a strong reputable company. To make a long story short, the next few weeks were spent waiting to hear back on our email for an estimate from Mr. White. This involved two followup calls from us to him politely inquiring when we could expect the estimate. At the first phone call he explained that he had been out of town due to a death in the family and he gave us a new timeframe to hear from him. We certainly empathized with his situation and waited patiently. About a week past the new deadline we left a message with the company voicemail inquiring and never got a response. My husband finally called Mr. White again and was once again given a timeframe. We wasted about 4 weeks waiting on an estimate. Our issue is why couldn't he have been honest with us from the start and not wasted our time. Now we are into the summer and don't have our outside area to enjoy because we waited so long on this estimate. To this day we have had no further communication with Mr. White, therefore, based on our limited, but frustrating experience, we do not recommend this company.

Fantastic!Bid Process: Deck Builder's professionalism was unmatched by all the other companies I sought estimates from. The Deck Builders representative called (within an hour on a weekend) to schedule an appointment after my on-line request to their website and ask a few questions to understand the scope of the effort. The representative emailed the day before to confirm the appointment then appeared on time (actually a few minutes early) to review the planned work. He listened closely to use patterns and customer desires. The representative inspected the home's structure to ensure he understood requirements for deck support prior to submitting a bid. He carried many pictures of previous work to offer ideas on deck design details. The process was described including the permitting and inspection process. With decisions made, he provided a draft estimate (after about 15 minutes) that would be emailed in final form that evening. True to his word, the formal proposal matched his draft exactly. CONTRAST TO OTHER BIDDERS: Other companies either tried to convince me that the structure of a 20+ year old visibly sagging deck was sound or since this is a replacement deck the job could be "grandfathered" without a permit (incidentally as a homeowners assoc rep I have checked with the county and this grandfathering is not allowed due in part due to safety restrictions on deck railings). The other bidders clearly tried to steer us to what they wanted to do, not what we wanted. Comparison of Bids: Based on the higher level of professionalism exhibited by Deck Builders in the bid process, I had expected that I would have to pay a premium for their service, but this was not the case. In fact, the other bidders initial quotes came in above Deck Builders with a caveat that they would "attempt" to price match if I had a lower quote. (You be the judge on what that means.) With promises of discounts from some, the best I could do was close to Deck Builders, but none would match their price. Scheduling: In this busy part of the season, companies promised a 4 week start time; Deck Builders estimated 3 weeks but in fact started the work in 2 weeks. Quality of work: The finished product was first rate. Permits were obtained before the start and all inspections conducted during the process. The attention to detail was as promised. Workers arrived early in the morning and worked to about 7 to complete the job (incl SAT) in a week. OVERALL: If I had additional work to do, I would not hesitate to go directly to Deck Builders. They stood apart from the rest and their product was superb. General note of caution to homeowners: After personally observing how detailed Deck Builders is in the bid process to fully understand the job and their attention to compliance with permitting and code compliance compared to other bidders, the tendency to go with someone who says "that's not required" and offers a cheaper price for less work scope is temping. However, when the job begins and previous "unknown issues" crop up - you're in for a battle on who pays. In fact, a neighbor recently did not select Deck Builders after DB stated what work was required for code compliance; the neighbor selected another bidder who was willing to develop a "work around". Time will tell as that job progresses, what was the best value.

Very professional company from the start from the estimate to completion of work and making sure I was happy with everything.

If I could have signed somewhere where everybody could have seen, I would ask people to run and run fast away from these people. All the categories for them would be an F. I set up an appointment with them, and I decided to do some major things. They didn't show up and I’m sitting waiting for their response. Even if I'm retired, I just don't sit around my house waiting all day long. We rescheduled the appointment. The only person I would rate high was the person in the office. She was outstanding; but the people who were actually doing the work set up the second appointment. The man was supposed to come, and he was the vice president, responsible of the design. I said I don't need the design because I'm keeping the same configuration as the deck. I had a pretty good idea about the material I wanted. I had a photograph of what I wanted and how the product to look like. I had done my homework. Prior to the second appointment, I got a call from this man. He called me and we spoke. He started asking me questions on the phone and how am I expected to pay for this. I never met anyone from their company. I would not be trying to get somebody to do work that I couldn't pay for. I found that person to be odd and little immature. He asked what is the measurement of my deck. I said I expect him to come with a tape measure, and I am not a deck builder. His response was, if I don't know the size of my deck, then how am I expecting to get an estimate. The hackles on the back of my neck have risen already. He asked if I'll be there, and I asked will he be able to show up on the appointment time. His response was that he has already apologized for that, and he will not be doing that again. I set up the appointment again, and I told about it to my husband. He came and addressed me inappropriately. He told me that the whole deck had to be ripped off and need to be replaced completely. I never saw a measurement tape with him, and he was supposed to design the deck. I asked him to send the estimate through an email. The woman in the office was very positive and never interrupted while I was talking. The man who came out was arrogant. I could not wait to get this man out of this house. He was awful.

The first appointment with Deck Builders was for 3/21/11 and the person who was to come to do the estimate did not show up. i called the company to ask where the person was. Person in the office apologized but said that, since our appointment time had been changed, the person who was to come didn't realize that. The appointment had, in fact been changed but the change was made a week earlier. Another appointment was scheduled for 3/23/11 at 1:00 p.m. with a Jeff Seidel. The day before the appointment, Mr. Seidel called me to ask some questions. Among his questions were 'how are you going to pay for the work?' (which I thought was a bit premature); 'what are the measurements of the deck?'; my response to this was that I didn't know & that I assumed he would be taking measurements to which he responded 'if you don't know the size of the deck, I don't know how you expect to get an estimate'. He asked if I had an idea of how much I wanted to spend and I quoted him a price that had been given to me by another company and his response was "good luck with that...this job will be $25,000 or at least the high teens or low 20,000...all this with having never seen our deck! He then asked if I was going to be there for the appointment to which I responded 'the question is not if I am going to be here, the question is are you going to be here since someone from your company failed to show for the first appointment'. His response to me was, 'you have already been given an apology and I'm not going to apologize again'. When I reported this to my husband, he told me to just cancel the app't. I said 'let's just get his estimate'. Mr. Seidel arrived, went out on the deck, called me out and showed me some deterioration of the 6'X6' posts and said that the whole deck would have to be torn down, not just a replacement of the surface and railing. I found Mr. Seidel to be very condescending and arrogant. He said that he would design a new deck & set up an appointment to show us the design on 4/2/11 at 9:00 a.m.; we didn't want the configuration changed and called him to tell him that so he wouldn't waste time on a design. We then contacted a structural engineer to look at the deck posts; his evaluation was that the posts didn't have to be replaced & if this deck was attached to his house, he wouldn't replace the posts. He recommended a product to "wrap" the base of the posts as a barrier between the soil & the posts. Obviously, Mr. Seidel wanted to design a deck, not replace one. He commented on our "beautiful home" and I believe he saw $$$ signs. We kept the app't. on 4/2/11 at 9:00 a.m. and Mr. Seidel didn't show up; when we finally contacted him, he said that he had it down for 1:00p.m.. We told him not to bother to come and to just e-mail us the estimate. Then at 1:20 p.m. on 4/2, we got a call that he couldn't find our house!! When my husband reminded him of the conversation earlier in the day, Mr. Seidel said he had us confused with someone else! Confused is right!! I was contacted the next week by a person in the office and I related all of the above events to her. She was the most professional person I had spoken with at Deck Builders and apologized for all of the mistakes with the company. It ended up that the company that will be building our deck is owned by a person who used to work for Deck Builders. I saw his name on Angie's List when I researched Deck Builders and all of the comments about him were glowing. When I asked him if he was, in fact, this person, only then did he tell me that he had left Deck Builders because he was being treated badly. He never bad-mouthed Deck Builders and ohly told me of his association with them when I brought it up. Bottom line is that I wouldn't let anyone from Deck Builders anywhere near my property especially the arrogant Mr. Seidel.

The construction was completed on time and it met County code requirements. The crew was excellent. They knew their jobs, and were diligent in their workmanship. They cleaned up at the end of each day. At the end of the project they did a good job to ensure the entire area was cleaned up, raked, swept (where needed) and all nails, etc. were picked up. I asked for some add on's after the project was started and they were able to accommodate me with no problems and at reasonable costs. When the project was completed there were a few "punch list" items and they were quick to return to make the corrections. I would use them again, and have already recommended them to others in my HOA.

The Good: Tommy was really easy to work with. When we had concerns he was on site the next day at a time when we could be there as well. Crews were competent and courteous. It didn't go as quickly as originally scoped, but there were weather issues and we really weren't in a huge hurry anyway. The Not so good: Tommy knew from the start that the lower deck was for a hot tub. He recommended black aluminum balusters, which are very attractive and preserve our lake view, but turns out they can't past a safety code on the lower deck with the hot tub. Now what? Also, after the main deck went up, it became apparent the elevation wasn't what we had expected and we would now need a stair case to get on to the deck. We agreed on placement of the stairs and they started to dig as needed for placement. A few days later, they covered up the hole, never put in the stairs and tried to bill us for the final payment. We called Tommy and he agreed to get the stairs in, but would not put them in the location previously agreed upon. He told us it was because of the uneven elevation of the yard and we bought it. Now we have stairs that interfere with the landing of the stairs down to our dock and it looks ridiculous. The only solution we have now is to tear up the landing of the dock stairs and figure out a new layout to blend the two staircases together. The entire deck was on uneven ground, I'm sure he and his crew could have come up with a solution to give us the look we wanted and the free access to the dock stairs we needed. Other small things. The crew took out a rhodadendron bush...by accident, and it wasn't a very mature one...but they tried to hide it by filling in the hole and tossing the bush in the woods. Tommy agreed to pay for it. Finally, one wood plank has a noticeable error on it. (Wishbone seam is crooked and gaping along one end, but it falls smack in the center of the deck). Tommy agreed to have them fix it, but they never did. We should have withheld final payment, but it was one plank out of hundreds and we thought we'd get over it. Turns out we won't, it's really annoying!! Over all, it's a very attractive deck with solid construction. We'd recommend him, but caution you to be firm and follow up on things Tommy agrees to do. He's honest and wants his customers to be satisfied...our fault that we weren't a squeakier wheel.

Tommy was very professional and responsive to my ideas. I really appreciated his assistance.

I would not recommend this company to anyone and should have listened to the other postings. Tommy came out to my house for an estimate on my deck and then I NEVER heard back from him despite 2 emails and 2 phone calls. Completely unprofessional.

Although Deck Builders ultimately did not end up winning our business THIS TIME around, this says nothing negative about the company. I was EXTREMELY pleased with the amount of time and effort Tommy Harper, owner, placed in me and my small deck job inquiry. Deck Builders would most certainly be one of the companies I consider for future work. He was in our 'Top 3' companies and lost only by a small margin after a pro's and con's list was completed for our Top 3. From the very beginning, Tommy was very receptive - something that other companies should take note of and try to immulate and put into their businesses more frequently. He went out of his way to provide me with the one-on-one communications that are so crucial to any homeowner looking to invest a sizable amount of money into a home project. I would state timelines below as I did for the other companies I've written reports on, but this really isn't important for Deck Builders as they took care of everything SO fast. They were professional, punctual and extremely responsive. Their pricing was spot on and they offer the $500 coupon which is something that only a couple companies offer. I can only speak for myself and my family, but from all my research, Deck Builders is a top competitor for anyone looking for good quality deck building companies. They are an A+ BBB rated company and they have been a member since 1998...this speaks volumes. They have had ZERO BBB complaints...the only company I found with 0 complaints within the BBB. They have been in business since 1993 - they would not still be around if they were not a quality company. Additionally, they are a locally owned company (Manassas), AND they've received two Super Service Awards and are an A member in Angie's List. A company isn't rated this highly without being a stellar company. I am not sure what's driving the negative reviews in 2010, but this was a little shocking to me. All the way back since 2005, there have been 'A' ratings within Angie's List and to suddenly be receiving C's, D's and a couple F's is mind-boggling to me. From my experience...they are a top rated 'A' company. One of the 'F' reviews is what really was the major con for my wife. I brought up this matter to Tommy and the reason I call him a stand-up guy with good morals is that he didn't try to sugar coat his response to my inquiry. He didn't attempt to tap dance or think up any excuses as to why the situation occurred...he just told me outright that it did happen and it was something that they regretted, but things just got ahead of him a little in the beginning of the year. He assurred me that this issue has been rectified and that it would not occur again. If you read the negative responses, please keep in mind that all businesses go through small rough periods. When you read their reviews...don't only consider the most recent reviews, but all of the reviews dating back to 2005. Over 95% of the reviews received for this company are A's and most customers have been VERY pleased with Deck Builders. This 'A' rating is the least I can do for Deck Builders in helping them get them back on the right track with the ratings. Give Deck Builders a chance! My wife and I will certainly keep them in mind and will consider them again down the road. Thanks Tommy!

Well, today was the weekend we were supposed to be celebrating a family member's birthday on our new deck, but we don't have a new deck. Signed a contract with Tommy on 04/07/10 with the understanding that the work would be completed before Memorial Day weekend. Handed over a hefty deposit, had Tommy over again a week later to work out some final details and waited for construction to begin the first week of May. Never happened. Contact Tommy who said work would begin May 6, again never happened. No phone calls, no communication, deposit check cashed and no deck. After I wrote Tommy a nasty email demanding a refund and telling him I no longer wanted to work with his company and requested our refund be returned within five days. He called me a few days later, apologized and said that company had taken on too many jobs, was sorry for the delay and the check was in the mail. Received refund on May 21. Extremely disappointed that I put my faith in this company because I truly thought they were going to deliver a brand new deck within the time frame requested.

I sent an initial email to Tommy and got no response. Two days later I called and left a message - no response. The next day I called again, indicating it was my last attempt. A day later he called back, and after a few rounds of phone tag we set a date and time for an estimate appointment. He never showed up for the appointment. I called to see if perhaps there was a misunderstanding, left a message. and he never called back.

Requested a quote on some deck and porch repair. Tommy was initially responsive and he sent someone over to look at the work to be done. I never heard from them again.

Very punctual, professional, responsive in getting job started and addressing my concerns during the work. In particular, I found a number pieces of wood to be undesirable because they had too many knots or were damaged. They were very cooperative in letting me review and select wood for use and encouraged me to monitor the work and let them know of any concerns as soon as possible. so they could address them quickly. They quality of their work overall was very good and done on time, with the exception of some minor things at the end - filling a large plug in a wooden support board that was made for inspection purposes, removing the temporary support from the stairs, and correcting a step that was splintering . It took about a month involving several calls and 2 letters to get them back to complete this.

They were okay. They were a little sloppy and we probably wouldn't use them again. The porch may have been a little bit beyond their abilities, I think they are more deck people. We liked that the price was in a good range and they used good materials. We didn't like the quality and the finish.

When we need to have our deck rebuilt we will definitely go to Deck Builders Inc. These are careful craftsmen who really know what they?re doing. Their final product is extremely well-built from a safety standpoint. In addition, they also take great pains to make sure that it looks great, as well. In short, they did an excellent job and cleaned up everything very well. We heartily recommend Deck Builders Inc.

Tom Harper arrived promptly and gave us a complete estimate with a minimum of fuss. Work could have started promptly but we were delayed by our HOA. The crew were very polite and worked quickly and neatly. We are very pleased with the attention to construction details. We were happy that they treated our small job with the same care you would expect for a larger project.

Overall our experience with Deck Builders was very good. From our first meeting with Tommy we knew we were working with the right person (after sorting through 4 others first). They started work 3 days earlier than expected and finished 4 days later than planned. The materials they provided were of very high quality - no short cuts here. Their workmanship was also very good, they paid alot of attention to details that most people would probably not even notice. There are of course always areas to improve on, the communication between us could certainly have been better at least to more clearly understand what and how they were going to go about thier work. In addition they did not pick their debris and trash until the last day, it was piled every day at the end of their work but not hauled off until after almost 3 weeks. Overall we are very pleased.

The rain was not in our favor but the workers pressed on and passed all inspections without incident. As the frame was being completed, it looked beautiful. It was sturdy and level and very detailed but it was wrong. I saw that the larger portion of the deck was at the door and the smaller portion was at the lower end. This was backward. I immediately did a visual reconstruct and mental compromise as how I could functionally use the deck if it remained the wasy it was now being constructed. Unfortunately, that would change everything that I needed it to be for functionality and ease of use. I left a copy of the original plans where the workers could find it the next day. I later received a call from Tommie informing me of the mixup and we discussed the options. Although, I could live with the change would it be as functional? He opted to have another look. It would appear that the plans were drawn in reverse but he was NOT happy with what the outcome would later be if they remained the same. He informed me not to worry and that things would be as originally planned. IT WAS! Without question, they corrected the mishap and fine tuned the deck work. The attention to detail and the little additives which put the finishing touch on the entire project were simply phenominal! I was so excited about the deck - I cried~ I love this deck! See for yourself - simply beautiful!

Most of the work was done while I was out of town. My husband and daughter had daily contact with the workers and said they were a pleasure to deal with. They showed up on time, put in a full days worth of work and then cleaned up the site when they left.

I contacted Deck Builders for an estimate. Tommy came to our house on a Saturday afternoon. He listened to my request and looked at our backyard and original stairs. He said he would e-mail me Saturday night with an estimate. I hadn't heard anything from him by the following Tuesday. I e-mailed him that day and he e-mailed me the estimate later that evening. After that, we communicated by e-mail, which was convenient for me. Tommy was quick in responding and would explain things to me in terms that I could understand. We signed the contract and made a deposit so work could begin. The workers came on a Friday around 5pm. They set up and worked until 7pm. They came back Monday and finished the job. While building, the workers sawed and drilled pieces of lumber, spraying sawdust from pressure treated wood all over our newly seeded backyard. They left all of their construction materials and debris directly on the lawn. They said they would return the next day (Tuesday) to remove the materials and trash. When the debris was not removed by 9pm on Tuesday, I e-mailed Tommy informing him. The workers came back on Thursday and removed most of the materials except a for one large piece of lumber and various trash. I e-mailed Tommy on Friday telling him a large (over 10 foot long) piece of lumber was left behind and that the workers created a mess on our lawn. Sawdust was all over the backyard and there were screws and trash throughout. The workers came back on Monday evening. They sawed the remaining piece of lumber and added it to the landing. In doing so, they created more sawdust in the backyard. My husband filled a small trash bag with leftover debris and trash. I e-mailed Tommy one last time telling him that we weren't happy with the mess the workers left behind. Tommy only replied that the project was done. He didn't acknowledge our complaint or apologize for the mess.

Deck builders was able to start sooner than expected. The crew arrived on time, tore down the old deck, and began on the new deck. It took about a week from start to finish. The crew did a fantastic job, cleaned up the debris and gave us a beautiful deck.

We are satisfied with their work, and the people were great. They cleaned up after themselves and everything worked out well. The deck is beautiful.