My experience with Third Arm was partly good and partly bad. I'll describe the job then present "goods", "bads", and "medicores". I hired them to replace all my decks with Trex and also to replace an old fence. There was a lot of decking and part of it was floating decks that required a vinyl water proofing layer.
Goods:
* The Trex decking all turned out fantastic. It looks great and they strengthened all the framing. It looks great and I think it'll last well beyond when I leave the house.
* The waterproofing subcontractor was very knowledgeable and did a great job.
* Their bid was comparable to the other one I got.
* They started approximately when they said they would.
* The fence looks good from a distance.
* They noticed issues with my roof and had somebody come and bid a replacement (although they didn't tell me they were going to do that and they just showed up on the weekend).
Bads:
* They made the fence shorter than it was before while telling me that it was the same height. It may be the same height from the outside only after they lowered the ground, but it's clearly lower from the inside than it was before. Both a part I used to hop over all the time and one of the gates (the gate is comically short) are definitely shorter. They also clearly cut multiple posts off too short and even added on to one to lengthen it. They did the bulk of the fencing in just a couple of days and all in all, it felt like they were over time and rushed it.
* They moved part of the fence a post width over which makes it no longer line up with a pergola post I had there. When I told them it looks bad and asked why John said: "there was a sprinkler line in the way." I told him I could have moved it, and was told: "Oh, we didn't know that." I wish he had just asked (and told him that). Looking at it after the fact, it's not ever clear how it's in the way.
* The lower fence beams are pressure treated 2x6" boards which is good, but there's a huge gap on the inside where the outer vertical slats hang down. It looks bad. John suggested filling it up with sand or gravel, but it'd take a ton of work (and material) to do that. I think I'll end up putting another 2x4" pressure treated board to close up the gap. I wish they had finished it such that it looks good.
* They didn't backfill the dirt against the 2x6 boards on the inside. This would have been a small amount of work and would have made the job feel a lot more finished.
* They took about 25% longer to do the job than they said they would.
* I have a roof over an add-on room that started leaking toward the end of the job. I can't say for certain they were the cause, but they definitely spent a lot of time on the roof while working on one of the decks. I pointed it out to John, and he didn't take any responsibility. I had to replace the entire roof after they finished the job.
Mediocres:
* They didn't stain the fence at all. To be fair, they didn't say they would and it wasn't part of the bid, but it would have been nice if they had offered. It took me a full day to do with a sprayer I had on hand.
* They told me during the bid process that if they needed to replace any plywood or framing, they'd charge me materials + an hourly rate, but they didn't add any of that to bid. Once they started, before they even looked, John made it clear they would need to to a replace a fair bit of framing and plywood. That extra work added about 15% to the overall price. He did what he said, but I would have appreciated a better heads up and/or baking some of that into the original bid rather than leaving it out to keep the initial bid low.
* One of the floating decks that had vinyl on it ended up being catastrophically un-flat (likely for drainage). That was never mentioned to me at all and I only discovered after I put my grills back on there and they were semi-unusable. This isn't their fault, but I would have loved them to make me aware and suggested options.
* John frequently messaged me during the job which I liked, but his messages were often so terse it took multiple back and forths to figure out what was what.
Summary:
If I had hired them to just do my decks, I would probably be leaving them a 5 star review. Very pricey labor, but quality work with only minor quibbles. Adding the rushed, mediocre fence really brought them down in my eyes. I also think I discovered that fencing/landscaping is not something they are good at. I don't think I'd hire them again, but if you have a job that's in their wheelhouse and doesn't require much critical thinking, you'll likely end up with something great. read more