Jim Clain Construction

Excellent responsiveness. Came in on time and on budget.

My friend and I layed out the fence along the property line with a string. We recently had a survey
done so we knew the precise lot boundaries and necessary easement setbacks. Jim liked the
looks of our work laying the line and marking the post locations with red spray paint so he went to
work with a crew of four the first day digging post holes and setting the first part of the fence.
The cost was for labor only for Jim and his crew. We purchased the vinyl and concrete ourselves.
The supplier shipped too few line posts which held up completion. We were able to get seven more
line posts sent FedEx at no cost to us and Jim was able to finish a couple days later.
All in all we are very pleased with the fence appearance. Jim did a careful job keeping it straight
and following the lay of the land which was on a gradual slope. He also was careful to set corner
posts where we wanted them for gates.

Aluminum Deck and Cable Railing This deck was built in Borrego Springs. We wanted a 12 foot by 23 foot wide deck on our home in the desert. Having never built a deck before we undertook some investigations of materials and methods. There are many options and a summary is as follows:
1. Redwood or other wood such as IPE.
2. Composite decking using products such as: Trex, Fiberon, TimberTech, etc.
3. PVC decking using products such as: Azek, Evolve.
4. Aluminum decking from Lockdry.

The array of products and choices can be bewildering and to help out we purchased for about $15 a review from Consumer Reports. Also, doing Google searches one can enter and quot;xxxxxx decking problemsand quot; with the name of the product you are considering and find many tales of woe about almost any product. The cheapest product is redwood to which a stain or sealer can be applied. Jand W Redwood in San Diego is a good source for this material. We favored a composite material which we hoped would require less maintenence than redwood. A Fiberon product, available at Jand W, called their Horizon Decking seemed durable with the least bad reviews. It was about $3.49 per linear foot for the boards and we would require about 700 feet. Adding on fascia boards and metal clips that allow a fastener-free surface totaled up to about $3070 dollars. This is for the material and does not include installation.
A 100% plastic decking called Evolve was investigated. This is supplied by Pacific Plastics Decking in Escondido. It is made from recycled HDPE (#2 plastic used in milk cartons) and looked nice with a simulated wood grain. I was concerned with thermal expansion of decking materials and the HDPE has the most with composite somewhat less. In Borrego Springs a 40 degree change is possible some days and more if the deck is in direct sun. The Evolve was tongue-and-groove and was installed with no gaps. Fiberon was installed with expansion gaps using the special clips. Thus I was worried the Evolve might buckle in the heat.
Our final choice was an aluminum deck from Lockdry. This received the highest rating in Consumer Reports. There was no local distributor for this product and it had to be ordered direct from the factory in Alabama. The company sent out samples of the decking and railing materials with the colors available. The aluminum didn't look like wood, but had small ridges on the surface and a rough, powder-coated paint finish. It looked durable and very good on slip resistance. I submitted a design dawing to Lockdry which showed the placement of a cable railing. We liked this type of railing which wouldn't block views as much as a picket railing. The company has a website: http://www.lockdry.com
To build the deck we selected Jim Clain who is an experienced contractor who lives in Borrego Springs. He hadn't built an aluminum deck, but he showed us a redwood deck he had built in Borrego and it looked good with careful construction. He agreed to work in stages and woul charge us for labor and we would buy the materials. I preferred this way of doing things. The frame was built using all pressure-treated lumber except for 2and quot; by 8and quot; redwood fascia boards. Jim picked up this lumber at Dixieline in El Cajon and brought it out.
One problem with the decking occured when the delivery from Alabama didn't arrive on time. Numerous calls to the San Bernardino shipping office led us to conclude the shipment was stolen. After a call to Lockdry they sent out another shipment of the deck material and this arrived safely with the railing. We didn't suffer any loss from the stolen shipment only about a two week delay.
Pictures show the deck construction. Jim did a good job on the frame. It was built with a one inch down slope from the house for drainage. The aluminum can be installed over a 24 inch joist spacing, but we over-built a bit and went with 16 inch. I painted the redwood fascia to match the tan deck and it came out well. The railing is very nice and Jim and his crew did a good job installing this. We are quite happy with the finished deck and it seems very durable and won't need hardly any maintenence. Jim was good to work with and always showed up on time and did a careful job. I recommend him for similar jobs. He later installed an aluminum awning for the deck which went well too.