Custom Deckworks

"Thank you for the GREAT review of our company! We LOVED working out there at your place! After the fence, deck, deck roof, and storage building I'm not sure there is much more we could do! You have no idea how much we appreciate that you chose us to do all of those projects! And how much we really enjoyed getting to know you both (and the dogs)! Thank you so much for being patient with us during the winter weather and for letting us take care of another customer with a deadline right in the middle of your project. You are both good, kind, and fun people that we are glad to know. If there is ever anything else we can do for you , please don't hesitate to let us know! Thank you again for your kind words."

"I didn't even realize this review was on here or I would have responded sooner. Thank you for having a "nice" fence project for us! Since we are not a 'fence company', we really like to do ones like you had - level yard, pull our trucks right up to the site, easy digging dirt, not 10 million trees or bushes in the way, etc. :) But seriously, it was our pleasure and we were glad we could get it done for you before the dogs arrived. I would like to know which companies told you it would take 4-5 days because we feel like WE normally take longer than a do-it-everyday fence company. Of course, we take time to do some things a little more right than others might, and that takes longer. But anyone taking 4-5 days to build 100ft of standard privacy fence is a little of the mark. Thank you again for the great review and being so great to work with! It is customers like you who make us keep loving what we do!"

"Thank you so much for the kind review of our work. I also appreciate your patience with us while working on the more-than-usual time-consuming composite and while we worked through some speed bumps with training a new guy. There was a tough week there where I had a lot of appointments and wasn't able to be on site as much to help our Foreman watch over the new guy and he did a few things that weren't up to our standards. Our goal is certainly to leave you with a finished product that is worthy of your money and our name. So I appreciate you helping me check the details as we progressed so I could make any corrections. It was a pleasure working with you and we hope you enjoy your deck for many years! Please let us know if anything ever needs any attention."

"I was extremely surprised that we were able to get all of the cedar wood trim off without breaking any! Things were just going our way that day, I guess. But it's only fair to charge to the lower price if we used less materials than originally expected. Surely EVERY other contractor has this policy too? Just kidding! We all know they don't! But they should! Anyway, it was our pleasure to help get your porch in good shape and we look forward to working with you on rebuilding your deck when you are ready. We're happy to help however we can! And let us know if you have any issues with the screen. While the newer screen has many benefits over the old kind, it's still screen and may need attention over time. Just let us know and we'll be there! Thanks for the work and for being so great to work with!"

"Thank you for the great review! It was a pleasure working with you and we are glad we were able to help you out. Your project was a perfect example of a job that many people think is too small to contact us about. Especially when they see our body of work on our web site, some folks may assume that we have no interest in the smaller decks without all the bells and whistles. In fact, much of what sets us apart is in the structure of a deck anyway and our fair pricing. So we are always happy to provide everyone with lasting quality - no matter how big or small. Thank you for contacting us and giving us the chance to show you what we can do! We hope your new deck serves you well! Let us know if you need anything."

"As always, it was our pleasure! You were great to work with! I want to thank you for communicating with me in a professional and proper manner as well. You recognized that we do a lot through email for a reason and you didn't let that stop you from getting in touch with us and developing a working relationship. Wouldn't it be sad if you were never able to get connected to the (apparently) only contractor that could create the roof you wanted just because you tried to contact us using some 3rd party means instead of the proper way we have provided? Thank you for being professional. In talking about his roof, this member brings up another good clue to observe when meeting with contractors: If you are hearing "That can't be done" or "I don't think I could do that" then you may be talking to someone that is inexperienced or possibly just unmotivated and not very creative. By the same token, beware of anyone that seems too eager and too quickly states that they can "make it work". You may be talking to someone that just wants the job and will TRY to figure it out later; that is a disaster in the making. If you present me with a challenging request, you may see me make faces of concern or uncertainty. I will then tell you that I'll try to come up with a solution during the (free) design phase - before you invest any money. If I can't find a solution I will be honest and tell you. If I do come up with a solution, I will prove it through drawings and explanations. Before you sign a contract and hand over any money, you need to make sure that your contractor can actually build what you have requested and is willing to communicate thoroughly. We hope you enjoy your new deck, the dogs enjoy their new ramp, and that it serves your family well for many years!"

"Thanks for leaving us a review! We enjoyed working with you and we hope your new fence serves you well for years to come! Please don't hesitate to email us if you need us for anything."

"Thanks for the great review of our company! And thanks for the mention of me being “an ethical businessman”. With so many people these days making a decision for a contractor based on price alone, there are a lot of people ending up with unethical contractors. Even if they simply get what they pay for – get someone who will not go the extra mile because that ‘extra’ is not being paid for – it is still a shame. We treat everyone the same by acting like our current job is the only one that’s ever been important. Even though your house was far enough away that a good bit of our profit went to gas money, and even though there were some delay-causing adjustments that had to be made on-site due to your pool filter/pump, we stuck to our price because it is the right thing to do. We didn't give it a second thought. We retained a grateful attitude that we were working on a fun project, and for some wonderful people, and just did what we think every contractor should do, and that’s: “Do the best job you can, every time, whether you’re getting rich or not.” As always, we were able to pay some bills, get the rave review you left us (which leads to more work), sleep at night knowing you are happy…. and those things are WHY we do what we do – why we treat people right. Thank you for recognizing that our efforts and that what you get for the money you spend with us goes far beyond the simple building of a deck! And your review, coming from people that have built many decks themselves, really means a lot to us! Thank you for knowing that material costs are the majority of a project like this and, therefore, for seeing that the way we set ourselves apart from other companies is through our caring – not through our profit margin. We want you to know that it truly was a pleasure working with you and getting to know you! WE can’t thank YOU enough for the experience we had with you! We were already very Blessed by knowing you before this review. And the way you and your husband treated us, and now this review, makes every effort we take more than worth it! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Another Note: We love that our work evokes the emotion and words everyone can see in our reviews. We are grateful for them all. But we think EVERY company should do work & treat people in such a way that these are the kind of reviews they get too. We recently did a job for a guy that doesn't use Angie’s List (so you won’t see his review here) and this is what he said when we finished his deck: “In 68 years of hiring people and having work done, I have never seen anyone do a better job and put more care into what they are doing than I did with you and your crew. Never. Not once. What you have left us with is worth far more than the money you have charged us and I am extremely impressed that you were willing to give us this level of detail when your contract didn't require you to.” That really moved me! It made me sad that more companies don’t do better. We didn't set out to ‘out-do’ every contractor that man had seen in 68 years; we just did what we do – what we would want done for us. Thank you to Angie’s List for being the last real & honest way for people to find the unfiltered truth about companies. Maybe reviews like the ones we get will someday become the norm for everyone as companies (hopefully) see that Making People Happy with quality work & quality materials is how you succeed in business – not simply in trying to get more jobs by cutting quality and prices."

"You are SO awesome to leave us this review! YOU are our kind of people too! It is so fun to work with someone who likes our same kind of music. It was like working at our friends house - no pressure and all fun! It was very sincerely our pleasure to get to work with you and to know you! There needs to be a review site for customers so we can recommend YOU as one of the best people to work for! Thanks again and please let us know if you ever need anything!"

"We love what we do! Had a great experience working with you and we really appreciate the work! Thanks for the great review!"

"It was great to work on a project with a couple of items we don't get to do every day like the brick column and the custom concrete cap. While we certainly aren't trying to become full time brick layers, it is nice to know how to do some other things so that we can help our customers have a fully completed project withourt having to call in other contractors. And, as I always say, we will never do something at a customers house that we haven't already done at our own homes and if we don't have the full knowledge and skills to do; we won't "experiment" at your house with your money. We are so happy that you are pleased with our work. Thank you again for the business!"

"Well, we certainly DO love what we do. And working with people like you and your husband is just icing on the cake! Thank you for your kind words about us and for treating us so well while we had your backyard turned upside down. I really appreciate getting to work with people who have such great vision and a desire to fulfill the entire potential of a project. You didn't settle for "good enough" when you wanted the classier balusters and the tile floor. And you were very receptive to using materials that wouldn't need to be maintained and monitored as diligently as treated pine - which helps us both in the long run. The few more dollars it cost to allow us to go above and beyond our own standards will pay off sooner than you know. Your choices = Great investment decisions! It does cause some slight scheduling conflicts when we have to pull off a job so other contractors (tilers & painters) can get in there to do their work, but the results are magnificent. And we get to say we were part of that amazing project! And by the way, that screened porch wouldn't look nearly as good without your creative and elegant decorating touches and furniture. I think you were right when you mentioned that it could be featured in Southern Living or Better Homes & Gardens magazines, but it would be YOUR work that sold it! Thank you again for choosing us and don't hesitate to let us know if we can help you again in the future! -Chris"

"Wow! You don't see this kind of review everyday! A review about a project that did have one little after-the-fact issue left to take care of (replace a 4x4 that had split), that hadn't yet been taken care of when the member posted the review. I feel like that speaks volumes to our workmanship and the trust our customers place in us based on all of our actions. How does she know we will really come back and take care of this issue? Even though she already rated us, gave us all "A's", and wrote a very nice review (which is worth A LOT to us), not to mention she has already paid us in full for our work, what would happen if we never went back to replace the post? Well, she could probably edit her review to reflect a more negative experience, but would that one negative review really hurt us? As far as we're concerned, and what she knows based on her experience with us and our 16 year reputation, none of us will ever have to find out if one negative review will hurt us because we take care of our customers whether reviews & ratings are involved or not. She was right when she said I was checking the schedule to find a time to come replace the post. And that time is one of the first two days of the upcoming week. How will you, the prospective deck customer, know if we really did go take care of this for her as I just said we would? Well, by the time you read this (maybe even before Angie's List even approves my response) it will be done and you will be able to tell because we will still have all "A's" from this member and her review will still be all positive. And would I have said all of the things I just said if we had no intention of taking care of this issue? No. Why didn't I just wait until I knew the repair was done to post a response here? To prove a point. To put my money where my mouth is. To be brave. To show all of you prospective deck customers that WE are the ones that do not hide or trick or scam. To show you what this member already knows: that WE do not allow negative reviews to even become a thought in a customers mind; that we believe it is easier to do right the first time than to provide excuses or defenses later. When you see these companies that have a pretty good rating but have a negative review or two (I don't care how many reviews they have), you have to ask yourself: Do you want to be the one or two of that company's customers that got a raw deal? And even if it is over something as simple as a post that is structurally no problem, but you hired a company that would rather tell you "too bad" than to just come make you happy? Well, then good luck with those odds. If you can hire someone with a 100% satisfaction rate or someone with a 90% satisfaction rate, why would you choose the latter? Most every business will tell you that "there will always be an unhappy customer here & there" or "you can't please everyone". I beg to differ! Don't let these companies tell you that their few negative reviews were due to misunderstandings or "crazy" customers. As a REAL contractor, I believe there are ways to avoid misunderstandings right from the start. And in 16 years, if we have worked for someone "crazy", then I don't know it! You usually only find that out if you fail in your duties in some way - and we don't have the time or money to fail; even a little. Look at every single review we have. If we can do that, why can't EVERY company? There really is no excuse. Thank you, member, for pointing out that you can have "faith" in a contractor, but that that faith has to be based on some real things! We enjoyed working with you and we will see you again next week!"

"Thanks for the great review! We really enjoyed working at your place and helping to create a new space that you could enjoy! We hope it serves you well for many, many years. And a reminder to new customers: Material prices have gone up this year and are still going up. There was a jump in prices this January that was the biggest jump in years. And, though the increases have slowed some, prices are still trying to creep up. For anyone leaving us a review: We take our "grades" very seriously and we take them to heart. We strive to earn "A's" in every category every time, but we can't control material costs. In an effort to give future customers a realistic impression of the value they can expect from our company, if everyone would simply enter $100 in the required Price field, that would help greatly. Plus... how much money you have to spend on a project is your private business - I don't think it's a good policy for Angie's List to prompt people to divulge this information in such a public forum. Due to the material increases, just one month after the completion of this project, there is no way we could build the exact same deck for the same price listed above. So, potential future customers, when you get a bid from us please don't feel like someone else got a deal that you are not getting. Our quotes are always as low as they can possibly be for the services we provide. Thanks for understanding, and we look forward to continuing to provide the best quality decks at the best value in the state!"

"Thanks for taking the time to leave us this review! We know you are very busy. It really means the world to us that you said the things you did in your review of us. We can show pictures of our work and our job sites can always be visited so people can see how well we clean up and other construction related details. But the one thing that is hard to convey through our website or on appointments is that we really DO care about our customers - the deck they will have to live with and their experience throughout the entire design & construction process. As you mentioned happened to your family members: someone gets scammed, treated badly, or just gets poor quality work everyday. After every job we do, we may only have enough money to survive to the next job, but we are enriched and successful because we kept one more family from having a bad experience. Honestly, I hate having to hire people to do work at my house. But if they will actually listen to me and care about what I care about, then it is a complete pleasure to pay them for their work. But if they don't listen, if they act like I am just a "check" to them, then even if the work is good, it makes me feel sick to have to hire them. We are passionate about building decks and we are passionate about letting people know that 'Do unto others' is still a motto that a few people use. Thank you for recognizing EVERY aspect that sets us apart from the others! We are extremely grateful for the chance to partner up with you on this project and we hope you enjoy your deck for many years to come! Let me know if you need any help with the low-voltage lighting whenever you get around to doing it."

"We thoroughly enjoyed working on this project. Due to height restrictions under the deck where there was a concrete patio, we got to install slightly arched support beams to allow for more headroom. It turned out to be a simple thing that was mostly for practical reasons but also created that extra little touch of "design". And Member was great to work with in planning these details and in every facet of the project! We appreciate the opportunity! And again.... the mention of a "B" on price..... As I've said many times - I agree. But I do wish there were a separate box to check that would make it clear that prices are determined by lumber, which is a commodity, not by us. The money we get to keep at the end of a project is very little. Prices may seem high for what people would "like to spend" on a deck, but it is all relative and not controlled by us. I know none of our members intend for this to reflect negatively on us, but it can give the impression that WE are overpriced. When, in fact, we are actually underpaid for what we provide and it is the lumber company that makes all of the money. I hate to "keep on" about this on any individual review, but I think Angie's List should reconsider prompting it's members to list the price they paid, especially in a field like ours where each project is SO different and the mention of "price paid" can throw off a prospective customers true comparison abilities. Under the rating on price, maybe there should be a sub-selection so members can indicate what they think about the price of lumber and the value they got out of the labor (if that were the way it was done, we would surely get an "A" every time and lumber costs wouldn't get better than a "C"). This is NOT a response to our customers at all or to THIS member. They have all been great and they wouldn't have hired us if they didn't see the value in it. This is more of a message to Angie's List (who I have begged many times to evaluate this subject). In many fields price IS a very important thing to mention to establish value in a chosen company. But we build CUSTOM decks which are all very different (and therefore can cost different prices - even for two that are the same relative size) and we don't control the lumber prices (which, believe it or not, is the majority of the cost on one of our decks). We live job-to-job, and if compared to other custom creative contractors like landscapers, swimming pool builders, custom concrete installers, etc., we should be bringing home at least double what we do on each job. So for us to ever appear to be faulted on price (especially compared to other deck builders who: don't have licenses, insurance, throws old decks & scraps in the woods instead of pay the dump fees, uses inferior hardware & other materials, don't spent the time to draw workable plans, and on & on) it really creates an unfair atmosphere. If I could charge less I would. Angie's List has been great for our company, except for this one little glitch that they refuse to even debate. Sorry again, Member, for doing this rant on your review. It's not about you. I want you to know I understand and agree with you."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Of course, we can only take so much credit for the design - it is also thanks to your vision and ability to "see" what needed to be created to finish off your already splendid backyard. The fact that you were so thorough and clear in your desires for what the deck should be, and your willingness to take great care when working with us and other contractors to make sure everything ran smoothly and in concert, just made the project easier and more fun. You made it very apparent that you appreciated us while we were there and we are already missing getting to come to work at your house everyday. We really had a blast working with you and getting to know you! When we get to be a part of a project that is truly so custom and something that is "magazine worthy" due to the dream and vision of the homeowner, we are so very appreciative! Thank you again for choosing us to be the ones that get to say "We built that!" We wish there were 100 more of YOU out there with our phone number in their hands! The fun time we had working with you is the very reason we are in this business and love what we do! We can't thank you enough. -Chris"