Tru Decks LLC

Jon met with my wife and I to design our beautiful deck. We came up with a plan and set a schedule. Jon was very organized and kept us informed during the process. Jon and his crew were very neat and meticulous. They were respectful of our home and great working around my dog and kids. I would not hesitate to refer Jon to my friends and family. I will attach some photos of the deck because of the fall weather we have not had it painted/stained but it still looks great.

Tru decks has helped us out before. The house we purchased in 2002 had a nice, large deck, but it was not a secure as I would have liked it. so I contacted Jon Truax, and he made my deck like new! He even add a wonderful gate to keep little kids in off the stairs. We couldn't have been more pleased . When we built our new house and it was time to add a deck, it was a no brainier for us... I can honestly say if our house blew over, our Tru Deck would still stand... It is just that well made.. Our new neighbors wanted Tru Decks to built their deck, they were so pleased with ours...so they patiently waited till the following summer because when you want the best there is a waiting list... (And they PRIDE themselves on being SUPER picky). THEY COULDN'T BE HAPPIER TOO!!!
Every phone call returned.. Every email answer... Top notch all the way!
My only complain is when I want them back ... I am standing in the waiting line... But when you want the best, that's what you do.

THANKS TRU DECKS!
I would refer you to anyone!

RUN, DON'T WALK FROM THIS CONTRACTOR!!


DECK CONTRUCTION, SPACING AND CUTTING ISSUES
A deck board was installed around the perimeter of the deck first. Through discussions with other deck builders, we learned the deck was laid out backwards – the interior boards should have been the starting point. That aside, the board along the 18-foot run was placed 1-inch away from the house (reference photo), creating a gutter for debris collection.

The board along the 16-foot run was positioned roughly 3/4-inch away from the house (reference photo). As a result, we had two mismatched and massive gaps. We have yet to see any other deck with type of configuration – definitely not what most would consider the industry standard.

A separate board was then butted-up and installed end-to-end against the 10-foot board. However, the two boards were offset from one another, creating an awkward and huge 1 and 3/4-inch gap (reference photo) between the outer picture board and the second picture board – EXTREMELY unusual.

As previously noted, the double border deck boards were installed FIRST. This meant that each of the angled boards needed to be cut separately and installed like a jigsaw puzzle after all the edge pieces were placed. Note: we learned that common industry practice is to lay the angled boards first, then snap a chalk line, then utilize a circular saw to create a sharp, uniform edge along all of the angled cuts. Doing so insures an equal gap between all the angled cuts and the adjacent deck boards.

Throughout the construction and installation of deck boards we noticed numerous instances of irregular spacing. Some of the boards had wide gaps of greater than 3/8-inch, while others had virtually no space at all. When it came to the angled cuts, we noticed a rather unusual pattern whereby the boards were cut at something less than 45and deg; (estimated to be either 42and deg; or 43and deg;). The result was that each of the angled cuts on either side of the deck featured undesirable “outside-in” cuts. We were told that this was consistent with “industry standards,” but it was pretty clear to everyone that saw the deck (professionals and non-professionals alike) that something was definitely amiss. What was missing and never seen (or photographed) onsite was the $8.20 installation tool from TimberTech. As a result, the deck consisted of several mismatched gaps, some greater than 3/8-inch and others with no space at all – we couldn’t even get a piece of paper between a handful of deck boards; they were installed that close to one another.

Ironically, Tru Decks recognizes itself as a “Preferred TimberTech Contractor,” but in addition to blaming the company’s decking product for their poor craftsmanship, they failed to utilize the installation tool that is recommended when installing the deck boards!


SLOPING STAIRS
While outside one evening, we noticed that the deck stairs appeared to be tilting significantly from left to right. We took out a 2-foot construction level and proceeded to lay it across several treads. We observed the top steps leaning roughly 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch over a 2-foot run, while the steps at the bottom leaned more than 1-inch. Given that the stairs are 4-foot wide, this translated into a deviation of roughly 1 and 1/2-inches near the top and 2-inches or greater at the bottom.

We called Tru Decks to voice our concern over the sloping stairs, as well as other aspects of the deck such as inconsistent gaps and spacing, and irregular cuts. Tru Decks did attempt to fix the sloping deck stairs. However, in the process of raising the one side of the stairs, five of the tread boards bowed severely on the left hand side of the deck when facing the stairs. Despite Tru Decks’ attempt to fix the stairs, they are still sloping more than an inch and we expect that we will have to remove and repair the stairs at some point this spring/summer – more expenses due to Tru Decks’ poor craftsmanship.


CODE VIOLATIONS!!!
We incurred three code violations thanks to Tru Decks, one of which was caught by the repairing contractor during their overview. As a result of this violation, we had to remove and replace 3 deck posts. The labor to do so was approximately $250. In addition, Tru Decks improperly placed the deck posts on the stairs. They placed them in the middle of the two stair treads and left NO CLEARANCE for the bottom of the deck railing. As a result, we paid to have four deck posts repositioned towards the front of the stair treads so they would clear.

Finally, Tru Decks failed to anchor the deck to the supporting structure underneath. In our opinion, this borders on negligence. Poor, awkward spacing of the deck boards and improperly positioning deck posts is one thing, but failing to anchor the deck to its structure is something completely different.

At the time Tru Decks walked off the job, they had yet to install the railing and lighting system. In terms of materials and labor we paid in excess of $2,700 just to finish the deck. This does not include the $2,500 we had to pay to have the deck repaired and fix the three code violations. Nor does it include the $1,200 we expect to pay to fix the stairs this year. Tru Decks insisted that they did all but $1,000 of the work, but REFUSED to provide a breakdown of material and labor costs – in our opinion, this is a telltale sign of a bad contractor. We are always suspicious when a contractor cannot properly account for their labor and material costs separately, or break down costs by function; most top-rated contractors we have worked with can do this. As can be deduced from the photos posted here, as well as the peer analysis described earlier, there were A LOT of problems with the deck Tru Decks created.

Thankfully the company we hired to replace Tru Decks was extremely professional, and far more adept than Tru Decks in constructing plumb, level and aesthetically pleasing decks. They offered us a number of creative options to problems Tru Decks created. In short, they do what their name implies – they build Precision Decks.

Jon's attention to detail is amazing and I know that Tru Decks built me one of the best custom decks around.