I will separate my complaint into two sections; facts and opinion. Facts I would like to submit a review about Mr. Richard Morris, d.b.a. Decks Unlimited, 2607 Branson Place, Marietta, GA 30064, (770) 919-2363,
[email protected]. Richard has had payment in full, for a deck re-build for which I hired him, since approximately mid-June. The work is still not completed. On December 1st, 2019, I sent Richard an E-mail asking him, once again, to complete the work, for which I had paid him, before December 21st. In the E-mail I specified exactly what remained to be finished. Richard contacted me, shortly thereafter, and told me that he would like out come out on Sunday, December 8th. I told him that he was welcome to come out and finish the work and, since he didn’t need to have access through our house, he could come whenever he liked. Richard never came out. He never informed me that he wasn’t going to come out and finish. That is why I am submitting this review. Richard gave us an estimate, for our deck re-build, on 1/15/19. The estimate was for labor only, and we were required to provide all of the materials. We agreed to hire Richard, and he asked for a 50% deposit to get started, another 25% when the work was halfway completed and the final 25% when the work was finished. I agreed to his terms and we wrote him a check. The work we asked Richard to do was on a high deck on the back of our house, which was most easily accessed by allowing Richard to come through our basement. I provided Richard with the code to our garage door and allowed him access to our house, through the garage, when I wasn’t home. When I was home, he and his sons/friends (who helped him occasionally) had free access into our basement and the bathroom downstairs, while I stayed upstairs with our dog. Initially, I trusted Richard completely. Early in the demolition process, I noticed some things that gave me cause for concern. Richard set the depth of his saw blade too deep, and cut into the stringers and posts, which were going to remain in place, while he removed the old decking. While this may not have adversely affected the structural integrity of our deck, I didn’t think it was the correct way doing the job. I mentioned this to him and he brushed it off, told me that he had everything under control and asked me to trust him, which I did. There were several weeks, during this 9-10 month process, where Richard wouldn’t come out at all to work. There were several weeks where he only came out 1-2 days a week to work. Sometimes this was due to weather issues, which I completely understand, but I also learned that Richard had other ongoing projects, which I did not expect. Richard would often tell me that he was coming out to work, and then show up late, or not show up at all often without letting me know. When he did come out to work, the length of his “work day” was usually about 3 hours. He told me that he tired easily and didn’t want to perform sub-standard work because of this. Since he already had our deposit and the contract we signed was not very specific, especially as far as the completion date, I decided to stick with him. The work quality, as the project progressed, was very good. Richard asked for a favor, and final payment, ahead of completion. As a show of good faith and trust I agreed, and paid him, in full. Since then, the work slowed down considerably and I had other issues with the quality. While cutting off the top of a post, Richard put a gouge into a $250 Aluminum railing, which he had installed. In my E-mail, of 12/1/19, I asked to Richard to complete the work before 12/21/19, or send me a check for $1000, so that I could hire someone else to finish the work. He has done neither. OPINION The estimate, for labor only, seemed good initially. But, I wish that I would have asked Richard for a completion date, when I signed the contract. I enjoyed the relationship that I had established with Richard, and the others who came out to help him, but I should not have trusted him enough to give him the final payment before he finished his work. If you should decide to hire Richard, be careful. You will need to check his work, keep after him about completing your project, have very specific work completion targets and dates, that trigger subsequent payments and don’t, under any circumstances, pay him in full until all of the work is completed and you’ve inspected it. i trusted Richard and he betrayed that trust.