DeckAidPro LLC

Terrible!!!! Gave Russ the owner a deposit to do work. There was no communication after receiving my deposit. After 3 weeks, I contacted him several times as to when he could start. He was belligerent and hostile to deal with on every occasion. He went so far as to scold me for the form in which I contacted him. I realized I wanted no further dealings with him and requested my deposit back. He said he would not return it. Do not do business with this person as he has serious anger issues.

To request a free estimate for deck maintenance or restoration an internet form must be completed -answering a number of questions that included contact information, location, type of service, when would you like the project completed, what needs to be cleaned, if wood, what type? I completed the form and submitted it. The email response to my inquiry was very quick. DECKAIDPRO, LLC RESPONSE TO MY REQUEST FOR A FREE ESTIMATE Before we can consider quoting your project and to serve you better, we need to know the following: 1) what type of finish is on or has been put on the wood now or in the past? - Paint? - Solid color stain (none of the wood grain is visible thru the stain)? - Semi-transparent stain (the wood grain can be seen thru the stain). - No finish - bare wood and dirty as can be ... 2) When was the last time any maintenance was done to this deck? Washing, sealing, staining ... 3) What was done? What brand of finish was used? 4) Who did the work? Once we have the answers to all of these questions, our normal procedures are to stop at your jobsite soon and view the project. I will take measurements & run some minor tests to determine exactly what is the best method to perform your request. Then I will send you a formal proposal through the mail complete with project details, costs, references and information on how we take extra care to protect your property. I understand that you are taking a leap of faith, so to speak, in seeking out our services. We take that personally and will not let you down. Since we do these estimates for free, it is not necessary for you to be there but if you feel that it is important, I will gladly set up a time to meet with you AFTER you have had a chance to review our proposal. Thanks, MY RESPONSE TO THE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS - I no longer have the can but think we used Wolman DuraStain from Menards (2012/2013). I believe it was semi-transparent stain but it turned out to be much more solid and the grain did not show through. A month or so ago, restoration was started on the deck by a family member who stripped, power washed and has completed some sanding on the deck/railing. Due to circumstances beyond his control he is unable to complete the project. DECKAIDPRO, LLC RESPONSE to my email Thanks for the info Because you have not hired a professional to do this in the past, we have to ask. Are you prepared to spend over $800 to get this right? MY RESPONSE to what I thought was an awkward question I would appreciate it if someone would come out and make the assessment and we'll go from there. Thanks, I then PROVIDED A P.S. TO MY LAST RESPONSE P.S. I should have included this in my last reply to your request about whether or not I was prepared to spend over $800? I'm a bit offended by the question. You have assumed that I have not hired a professional to do this in the past and that is a false assumption. I addressed the "latest" maintenance by indicating that there was a family member who recently worked on the deck. Additionally, i have worked with many contractors for various reasons over the years and have never been asked up front if I was prepared to spend more than a fixed amount - up front. If there is any interest in coming out to make an assessment and provide an estimate please let me know. If there are concerns about what I can or cannot afford then maybe this isn't the best connection I could make for an estimate. Please let me know one way or another. Thanks. DECKAIDPRO RESPONSE to my email My questions are attempting to determine if it is worth my time to drive over there, do my testing, develop a proposal...all very time consuming and also FREE! If you have never paid a professional before, sticker shock is a real concern. We have done this for 17 years. 3 of my biggest competitors have gone out of business in the last 18 months. We have to be smarter and more efficient or risk the same fate. We will not be quoting this project. Thanks for considering us. MY FINAL THOUGHTS Determining if a FREE estimate will be scheduled should not be linked to a barrage of email questions following a request for a free estimate. IF answering multiple questions about the project either qualifies or disqualifies someone for a FREE estimate then there is something wrong. In particular, the question about whether or not I was prepared to spend over $800 (before seeing the project) was very off-putting. I have had estimates in the past and have hired "professionals" to maintain and restore my deck. Perhaps the "Request for an Estimate" form should include a statement indicating quotes start at $800 minimum or perhaps just ask the question on the form as to whether or not the person has ever hired a professional. Operating smarter and more efficient shouldn't include insulting the consumer prior to scheduling a time to come out and do an estimate. The provider stated, his questions were in an attempt to determine if it was worth his time to drive over and complete the process for an estimate - again, what does that have to do with offering a FREE estimate. Perhaps a better approach to weeding out those who can't afford to use the service and sign a contract would be to charge for estimates. If the customer signs a contract to do the work then that estimate charge will be applied as a credit to the final cost. It appears my straight forward response put the provider on the defense as demonstrated in his last email and... since he made the decision to not quote the project at all, speaks for itself.

Unfortunately I was never able to receive services or even a quote from this company. I requested a free estimate through their website and even provided half a dozen photos as requested. Was told someone would be in the area in the coming days but when I followed up simply inquiring when they may be able to look I received a very rude response. I was interested in the fact they state they operate differently then many deck maintenance companies. From what I can tell the main difference is that they are rude and just have no customer or prospect service. Hopefully they treat their customers better then they treat someone just looking to better understand their business and ask for a simple quote. I've never experienced a provider act in this manner, especially for a simple ETA to review the site for a quote. I am just glad I experienced this attitude before getting too far down the path with this company. Buyer beware Below is the exact chain of e-mails (in reverse order from 5/18/2015 to 5/22/2015) Friday Morning: (To Deck Aid Pro) 5/22/2015 Excellent, appreciate you letting us know you are not interested in providing an estimate. Enjoy the holiday weekend! Thursday Night: (From Deck Aid Pro) 5/21/2015 Hi Tom, You 1st contacted us 3 days ago and you are hustling me for our proposal already? Not interested! Good Luck! Thursday Morning: (To Deck Aid Pro) 5/21/2015 Good morning, Just wanted to follow up if you had an idea when the deck would be looked at? I should have all quotes by the end of the weekend and was hoping to make a decision next week. I was hoping and excited to see how you do business differently than more deck restore companies. Monday Night (To Deck Aid Pro) 5/18/2015 I am in no rush for the deck, would like it done this year if the prices make sense. Right now currently collecting some bids for the re stain, if things looks good I'd like it to be done in a month or so, but really looking for the right partner. Monday Night: (From Deck Aid Pro) 5/18/2015 Don't worry about the pics. I will be close to you in a few days and have to stop in and test this finish. How quickly do you need the deck completed? Monday Night: (To Deck Aid Pro) 5/18/2015 Sent multiple pictures of the deck, and explained the current stain and where it was procured from. Monday Night: (From Deck Aid Pro) 5/18/2015 Hi Thomas, What stain is on this deck? Can you send pics from well off the deck so we can see the landscape and steps and can then tell what needs protecting. Monday Afternoon: (To Deck Aid Pro) 5/18/2015 We have a relatively new deck (less then 3 years old). I stained it myself about 2 years ago and it is not holding up well. The vertical areas look good, but the deck planks themselves have flaked badly. Looking for a stripping and re staining and investigating a yearly maintenance plan to keep it looking excellent.

Wasn't home-they always do a great job.

I was not present but the deck was clean ready for another summer.

The service was good. We have a service agreement with them where they come out every spring and wash the deck. This is our third year with them. They are prompt and they are here when they say they would be. They are efficient and they clean up after themselves. I have been very satisfied with them. The only dislike is that they get started very early in the spring and sometimes they are very abrupt. They just tell us they are coming and come very quickly. But they do let us know ahead of time. I think it is a lot of money but it is worth.

They did a very nice job. It looked very nice when they finished. Very thorough. No dislikes with there services.

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Their service is very good. They did not have much to do because they had just stained it the prior year. It was a quick service. They are professional and prompt. We are happy with their service.

The pressure washing was done promptly and completed on time and looked very nice. We were told the deck sealing would have to wait until the weather cooperated. We all know what this spring was like and the weather was not helpful to getting the job done. We understood the problem and had to be patient. When it looked like there would be several nice days and I hadn't heard anything from them, I called and left a message twice. Finally we heard from them and they had been very busy because much of their work depends on weather. They were very accommodating and said that while they usually didn't work on Sundays if looked like rain on Monday they would come and get the job done. They called Sunday and told us that they were coming because the forecast for Monday looked bad. They came and were professional and pleasant and worked quickly and got the job done in a couple of hours. It looks great. We are very pleased with their work and wouldn't hesitate to recommend or use them again.

I have found this company to be less than professional and less than pleasant to deal with. Their work is fine and I have a contract, so I will continue to use them. But I prefer to have no contact when possible as the interactions are not pleasant.