It is rare that I provide negative reviews but when I do, it's usually for good reason.
I decided at the beginning of this year that I would finally get a deck installed. It was something we wanted to do for a long time, and we finally felt ready. Since a deck is part of the structure of a home, I wanted to make sure we got a vendor who was licensed, insured and experienced. I got a couple of estimates, and a neighbor had recommended the people they had used and said that they were able to get a permit quickly. Because I wanted to get my deck done before the summer, I decided to request a quote. Dan from Valer Builders met with at my home and did some measuring and talked a good talk. It ia amazing how people behave when they are trying to get your business. The estimate I was provided with was about 6k over what my other vendors had provided but Dan persisted and when I told him what I had been quoted, he asked for proof and tried to match it. I was a little hesitant as to how much he kept trying to get my business and how quickly he dropped his prices but, in the end, I thought that I would be dealing with a professional company, one that would provide great quality work, quality materials and great customer service. I was WRONG!
After coming to an agreement, signing the contract and putting down the deposit and getting the permit, a date was set to start the work. On the first day, Dan showed up and then a crew showed up and he introduced me to his "Project Manager". The crew started the work and for the most part they were doing a great job until they started installing the pickets. I noticed that there was a huuuuuuge difference on the wood, it was NOT new material as promised. I reached out to Dan and sent pictures of which he also agreed that the wood was not grade A. I was not happy because his crew previously tried to claim the extra material that I was paying for and then installed old wooden pickets. I first mentioned it to his "Project Manager" who was actually his subcontractor. The subcontractor at first denied to have installed old wood but I have eyes and it was very clear that I was not being provided with new wood and when I texted Dan the pictures, he agreed with me and asked his "Project Manager" to change them out. One of the laborers even mentioned that he told the "PM" that they shouldn't use that wood but that he was told to just do it. I was not happy and finally Dan came to see it himself and said that he had ordered 20 new pickets to be replaced and felt the need to show the invoice of the extra expense he will have to pay. He acted like he was doing me a favor and even told me to call his vendors. Why would a customer need to do that? Your job is to provide good quality materials. When I asked him if he had inspected the materials, he seemed to get offended by the question and started being rude and disrespectful. I had to remind him that I was the customer, and it got to the point that I had to kick him off my property due to his tone of voice. At this point I just wanted to get the work done and not deal with him again. His "Project Manager" listened to the whole conversation and knew I was upset and offered to change all the pickets. I didn't want to take out my disappointment with the subcontractor, so I simply asked him to replace the real bad ones which I have pictures off. The last step of the project was to fix the flooring which I had just installed a few years back. The quality of work was very poor, and my floor does not look good. His masonry subcontractor tried twice and said with time that the material he used would set and it would look good. Two months later, my patio floor is not up to standard.
At the beginning of June, the electricity in my house went out and I called the electricians who installed my new electrical box a few months ago. They confirmed that it wasn't the box and called Dominion Power for me and had then come to my property. It was determined by Dominion Power that the vendor that installed the deck placed a post in an area that caused the electrical line to break. Dominion power asked if I knew if the vendor who installed the deck called Miss Utility before they did the work. I hope they have proof that they did. Dominion Power determined that the damage was caused by the deck installation, and they said they will charge the vendor but that Dominion Power doesn't fix the flooring. I had no choice but reach out to Dan and informed him of the situation and that I needed someone to fix the floor that Dominion Power open up around one of the deck's post and to please fix the flooring throughout since the work his team did looks bad. Shared pictures with Dan and he declined to make things right, so he leaves me no choice but to take necessary action. I DO NOT RECOMMEND Valer. read more