Everything seemed ok upon the initial meet and greet. We should have known better once a few red flags began to show up. Things that were promised were not delivered.
It started with them saying they would grade below the deck with fill, landscape fabric, and gravel to drain away from the house. Sounds great and what should be done on any deck install. All they did was rake the ground a bit (red flag #1).
There were many discussions on us wanting to replace the ledger board and them saying they don’t usually use ledger boards, instead they build their decks as floating decks and don’t tie them into the house (red flag # 2). They pulled the old ledger board off and never installed the new one correctly (drip edge / flashing, etc.). Water is the worst enemy to the outside of a deck. Once these guys leave, it’s my problem of water getting down behind the stucco, freezing / thawing and then we have foundation problems later on.
We had steps that were 10' wide, had only 4 stringers and was tied in using only a hand full of screws let alone the fact that that they didn’t know steps should have a nosing overhanging each step to once again drain away water (red flag #3).
When we mentioned items we were not happy with and sent a letter indicating what needed to be fixed structurally, we never heard from them again. They took half my money (deposit) and now I'm left with a structure that is not safe nor up to code. Be forewarned that this company is very junior and inexperienced. I would hate to see someone else end up the way we did.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $6,800.00
- Company Response
We are truly sorry to hear you weren't pleased with your experience. While we tried to respond to all issues you had mentioned during the build process, we were locked out of your property at your request to have an inspector look at the work. We did not receive any formal inspection report from which to act upon at which point were not made aware of any issues which went against City of Calgary building codes.
Again, we truly do always put the customer first and wished to resolve any issues you had with the product. While we feel we built you a structurally sound and aesthetically pleasing deck, and despite the fact you feel we "took" half your money, we ended up taking a deficit on this job which cost us a great deal.