A classic case of over promising and under delivering. My job was filled with compromises and cute corners, which is is exactly what they said set them apart from other contractors. To be fair, the deck looks nice, but the process of getting there was rough.
The experience started out great. Our sales rep, Tyler was a pro and the sales material he provided were super polished. We ended up choosing this company because of their promises about not cutting corners and extra details like the use of ground screws vs posts, joist tape, stainless steel fastener, etc. Unfortunately, after signing the contract and the initial email with all the alleged contact info, for all the necessary parties, the problems started. We were out of town when they started the job, but immediately upon arriving, we notice that the failed to lay down the commercial weed barrier under the footprint of the deck. Frankly, i would not have even noticed, but for the fact that giant weed was growing out of the gravel they laid down. Moreover, the gravel they did lay down was super uneven and they left giant holes where the posts I removed were located. To be fair, I did the demo myself, but they supposed came out earlier to check on the site and they made no mention about filling in the holes where the posts were. More annoyingly, when I called them on the lack of the contracted weed barrier, Jason, our PM, tried to convince me that it was not necessary. I immediately, mentioned the weed I saw that brought my attention to issue. Moreover, his attitude was dismissive and patronizing. Next, when the framing started in earnest, I was surprised that they sent out a single guy named Dan to build the entire deck by himself. Dan was a total pro, but with how nice the operation presented itself, and the size of some of the boards, you would expect at least a two man crew. Also, early on, it seemed pretty clear that the crew that installed the ground screws, had limited communication with the guy who was actually building the deck. After the first day, it turned out the several ground screws needed to be reinstalled and they ended up leaving at least two in the ground without capping or covering. Even after reinstalling the screws, it would later turn out that a few of them were not plumb, which would create issues later on. Finally, after the framing was completed, it turned out that the space between the joist were a foot too wide so they failed the city inspection. In the end, they had to rip off the entire top of the frame and redo it. Moreover there were about a dozen 2x6's with huge nails were left on my drive way for several weeks. Once the frame got approved, the Trex went on pretty quick, but likely because of the delays, several fasteners were missed, the bench boards were crooked. More glaringly, they failed install the promised structural screws that fastened the joists to the frame (despite promises to do the same) In fact, we had one joist, (the one where they had to reinstall the ground screw, where the the frame was basically floating over it. Also, with one of the ground screws not being plumb, the joist was not sitting flush on the footing, More annoyingly, when we initially brought up these issues to CDC, they first mentioned how they had new processes to avoid these issues in the future. Little good that would do me. Next, they mention the "lifetime guarantee," but why not get the job done the first time? In the end they ended up putting shims to fill in the space. Here's hoping no issues will come up, because reaching people was also a bit of chore. Final gripe, the job site was a disaster for the several weeks it took for them to finish the job, tags were left on lumber, despite the job starting in July, we still have unused Trex sitting on my driveway. Also, the Bagster (rather than a dumpster) they left on my drive was was left on my lawn as well. I had to personally move it to save my grass.
Overall a rough experience and a company that I cannot recommend. read more
