Capital District Contractors & Decks Inc

CDC&D built a beautiful porch unfortunately they do not warrant that the work will meet current building or zoning codes. I am now out over $3,700. four years later as a fireplace vent needs to be rerouted through the porch roof to comply with town code!!

The owner Mr. Bernacki came to my home to discuss my porch project.  Upon leaving, he offered to get back to me with references of similar porch work done in the region by his company, and to also add a price of what it would cost him to purchase and install a front door.  However, this was the last useful interaction he provided. 

Despite following up in several emails and a few phone calls over a several week period, the only respond provided was a brief email that read, "Got your emails".  He did not attempt to answer any questions including a simple one about the possibility of financing my project with a credit card.  No references or door quote was provided as promised.  He just left me in the dark with no apparent intent of providing the inputs he promised.  This is not professional and as such I moved on to reputable contractors who were interested in building for me.  If I had read the Angie's List reviews on Capital District Contractors first, I would have learned 1 in about 4 people (~24%) were giving this company F's for similar reasons.

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Overall the work went well.  The sun room turned out great and I'm very happy with the end product.  The demo, framing, insulation, trim, siding and window installation were all done very well with a minimal amount of issues or corrections necessary.  The foundations however did have several issues the two outside foundations needed to be moved because they were installed in the wrong place.  They were moved on a day when I was not there and they ended up being in a location where the existing footers were not used.  This caused the outside foundations to heave over the winter.  I have since corrected the issue myself because I wanted to make sure that issue never happens again.

Had them replace the front porch. Work was done on schedule and on budget. Only delay was waiting for the building inspectors to inspect and approve the depth of the support column concert pour holes. Totally out of the builders control. The workers were very professional and accommodating. Contract was very clear and concise. All my questions and concerns were addressed quickly. I?m planning on putting a deck on the back of the house in the future and I would welcome them back to do the job. Two big thumbs up.

Contacted about 2 porch replacements. No response. I consider that highly unprofessional. If your not interested in a job how much effort does it take to respond.

Read the above.

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Prior to contracting with Dave I spoke with several previous clients.  EVERYONE was TOTALLY PLEASED with their final results.....even the two clients who had difficulties during their construction process.  My project required a variance and Dave referred me to a draftsman who drew the plans and guided me through this process without one delay or problem.  My initial plan was to do a screened porch.  After framing was complete I decide that I wanted to a sunroom instead.  Dave was very accommodating and adapted my plans to create a beautiful sunroom.   Throughout the process he answered all my questions and addressed every one of my concerns.   Follow up phone calls were typically returned the same day.  The project manager was on site almost daily checking to make sure things were going well and  also clarified all of my questions/concerns.  His crews were professional, courteous and knowledgeable.  I was also  pleased with the quality of his subcontractors who always came on the day and time that Dave said they would.  During construction materials were always neat and there was rarely any debris left at the end of the day.   It is obvious that  Dave cares about his clients.  He and his team are dedicated to reaching their goal of having clients thrilled with the quality and  look of their completed project.

I found Dave and his staff to be very accommodating.  They are a busy company, handling many projects and somehow manages to keep them all on schedule!  Dave  and his project manager handle the scheduling, ordering and book keeping themselves - not through a central office.  I imagine this helps keep costs down with less overhead, but also requires the home owner to stay on top of expenses.
 I did not encounter any major problems during my project.  I utilized Dave's architect for plans and they required a few revisions which is to be expected but it was quick turnaround time.  Dave made great suggestions along the way and helped us to create a vision for what we wanted.  We did not have all the details in our mind worked out and we relied heavily on Dave's experience.
Dave was accommodating to changes we wanted to make along the way such as adding the roof, adding additional electrical service etc.  This project was scheduled to be completed in time for the holidays and I was often impatient.  Dave however, maintained his professionalism and worked to keep things on track.  He was patient with us when we were stressed, as it is never easy having your house torn up!  He walked us through the process of what to expect and reassured us along the way personally returning texts or messages.
The company utilizes licensed professionals i.e. master carpenter and licensed electricians etc.  (the last project we did the company we used did not we later learned.)  All of the tradesmen we encountered work directly for him (carpenter, sheetrocker, electrician and finisher for trim etc).  The only things subbed out were painter and tile work - both of whom have long history with Dave and did excellent work.  I was very comfortable with all of the workers at my house and found them to be polite and courteous. I also have a large dog who is very curious and all were patient with him following them around etc. at times!
All in all I would not have done anything differently.  I felt confident in Dave's ability to ensure the project was completed in a quality manner and they corrected any details along the way with professionalism.  I was impressed that he sent a cleaning crew over to help me get the house cleaned up for the holidays and even sent a few guys over to help move furniture out when we decided to include refinishing the floors (another suggestion that I was not planning on but glad I took his advice and did it.)
It cam out beautiful and is everything I wanted.  Granted we spent more than we originally planned, but this is due to our add-ons not up-charges from company.  I feel that our house is so much more modern now and we our no longer nervous about our electric.  We hope to have them back to do the screened in  patio room at some point!

All in all it was a great job. The final results pleased everyone and achieved original goal. Most works were executed in quality and professional manner. The owner is flexible to negotiate if there are issues arise during the process (there always are problems with a project of this scale). One of our big issues, for example, was that we realized that the cedar shingle we wanted had not been listed in contract, which stated using vinyls shingles. In the end Dave agreed to accommodate. It took a bit longer but the cedar shingle was beautifully installed. This company does provide quality work. That being said, however, I do have some advice for prospective homeowner. 1. You must be very clear about what you want at contract signing. The more precise the better. 2. Examine the architectural drawings and final contract very very carefully. 3. if you find it confusing, it's not a bad idea to hire yourself an architect who works for you and go through many details of construction on your behalf. you might save yourself much headache. 4. Find a mutually acceptable range of finish dates. if possible specify finish dates on each big step (eg. foundation work, framing, sheet rocking , etc. ) 5. finally let me reiterate. The owner will deliver quality job and just keep communication as frequent as you can.

The work that was supposed to take 4-6 weeks for the sunroom and 5-7 business days for the kitchen took 4 months all together.
Workers showed up unexpectedly and irregularly.  They worked one day and then took 4 days off.  No one told me when I needed to purchase items, or I was told to get something and the directions were totally wrong.  I had to go to Home Depot 3 times to get countertops and had to settle for stock items rather than getting the countertop I wanted.
Now I have two cabinet drawers in the kitchen that are crooked and a door that doesn't open properly.  The back door to the sunroom already sticks.  There is a spot in the floor tile in front of the sink that is irregular and does not cover completely.  They say the quality of the work will convince you to love it in the end, but the quality is not there in my project.
Everything was done haphazardly.  They painted the walls of the half bath AFTER they had put in all the fixtures.  Nobody told the painter he had to paint the ceiling until I did.  The only reason everything was finished was because after 3.5 months I wrote a scathing letter to the BBB.
These people are not professional.  The owner is a great salesman, but if you don't stay on top of things, they let you drift.  My definition of a professional is someone who does his job without me looking over his shoulder and telling him what, when, and how to do something.
Don't go with this company!  Unless you're prepared for the delays or going to press them constantly to get things done and to do it right, you will be mistreated, and then they will blame you for the delays and lack of quality.

I couldn't be more pleased with the process and the outcome of this project.  Joe worked with me from beginning to end on what was a complicated retrofit of a deck that had multiple, oddly shaped angles.   He also built an extra set of stairs from the top deck to the side yard.  The deck was especially difficult to demo and build as it is surrounded by ponds.  He met me at the supplier's store twice to go over product and color choices.  He and his staff always cleaned up at the end of the day and took extra care not to contaminate the ponds with construction debris.   He saw issues with electrical outlets that were not to his liking around the ponds and fixed them of his own accord. 
This company was one of three estimates I obtained.  The first guy ran for the hills given the size and complexity of the job.  The second estimate was thousands above what Joe quoted. 
Joe and his staff always showed up when they said they would and on time... which I have found to be an increasingly rare commodity among contractors these days.  It was refreshing and appreciated. 
Joe is an absolute professional and a great guy.  He aims for excellence and it shows.  I would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone who is considering a deck.  As they told me in the store where I picked out my products, "he is the best."
I plan to use him for any and all exterior work I have in the future.  In fact he will be installing a sliding glass door for me in a few weeks.    
If you want a deck, this is your man.

Excellent job. Created per my design. Included a family room/ home theater, bedroom, and bathroom. Installed a grinder pump for the full bath. Very good quality work.

The whole experience was a nightmare. It was less then a year later and the brand new roof leaked. Dave tried to tell us it was because of a bad winter. However our old roof didn't leak. I would never recommend them to anyone. The majority of the work was good, but I feel like if the work is less than a year old they should fix it.

porch frame was rotten and I wanted to see if anyone would work with the footprint and rebuild the frame. The representative pointed out that the structure was positioned incorrectly and therefor was not structurally sound within the footprint. They would not be able to do anything but knock it down entirely and rebuild properly. The representative also pointed out that the frame was not positioned over any supporting walls beneath it.  This was something everyone else missed.

It is a beautiful deck.  Everything from beginning to end went smoothly.   Would definitely recommend this company

It went very well. They're very good and very reliable. Their prices were very competitive.

I called Capital District Contractors and Decks for a quote for 13 deck footings for a deck which I was installing.  On the initial call, I left a message, which was promptly returned.  I explained the work which I wanted done, and he ballparked a quote of around $1,000, subject to a site review.  Mr. Bernacki stated that his company doesn't normally do deck footings alone, however he had an employee who 'loved to dig holes', and he's been in this business for a long time, and helping out on a project (such as this one) would give his company positive feedback and would enable his customers to use Capital District Contractors and Decks again.  I informed Mr. Bernacki that I was still working with the local building department on obtaining a building permit, and would get back with him as soon as I worked out the permit issue.
Once the permit was obtained (approximately 30 days after first contact), I reached out to Mr. Bernacki to schedule the service.  He didn't remember the original conversation (which I wasn't too surprised about), and I asked him the best way to send my footings diagram to him.  He said to send it to his email, and would get back to me as soon as possible.  Needless to say, he never did.  I left numerous voicemail messages on his cell phone, as well as with the answering service through Capital District Contractors and Decks main website, without success.  After trying to reach Mr. Bernacki for almost 10 days, I decided to use a different vendor to complete the needs for my project.
Upon first contact with Mr. Bernacki, I was very impressed.  It soon became apparent Mr. Bernacki is not someone I would want to work with in completing a residential project.  All Mr. Bernacki had to say in the beginning (when I first reached out to him) was that his company didn't do the project I wanted him to do - rather than lead me down a path and abandon the project he said he would complete.  The lack of professionalism (and the inability to return a simple phone call or email message) will prevent me from using or recommending Capital District Contractors and Decks in the future.

Owner reviewed days events /game plan with homeowner and project manager. Forecasted for materials delivery when asked for timeline/dates. Project manager was well informed, stopped in for notes. Attention to details. Fast, knowledgeable workers arrived early each day (on time) 7:30 and put a full days work in. Full crew sent demo was quick. Three days in, still a full crew. Same crew sent daily was nice, they knew the job/their work, we knew them. Cleaned up daily. The reuse of many materials needed care in preventing damage, they were on top of it. Sent electrician out on a Saturday to work. Pleasant surprise. Best response is via text, if busy may take to the end of the day to reply. Pricing is very fair, no gouging. Only negative: very busy contractor with many jobs at one time. Weather plays a factor (delays) in scheduling start dates and where crews can be sent depending on jobs to be completed (decks/stairs) versus inside job. If you're not in a hurry, can book early and project a later start date, then I would highly recommend.

Took more than a week to get a return call, This went on for two or three calls with a week between calls.   He never called back the last time  that I left a message.  I am glad for him that he has so much work that he can afford to be unresponsive.. However, I  will save my $20,000 plus job, for someone who is more interested in getting back to me within a reasonable time.

Originally, it seemed liked the process was going smoothly.  We sent them a check on July 9 for $250 for the engineers stamp and building permits.  Once the permit was obtained, Capital District stated that they would start the work on our deck within 1-2 weeks, weather permitting. After two weeks had passed, we didn't hear from the service provider, and we started reaching out to Capital District to find out what was going on.  We had made many phones calls, and had emailed him twice to try and get ahold of them.  We did not hear anything from the service provider from for months while we were trying to contact him.  We eventually ran into Capital District's owner at the grocery store in January.  He just laughed our concerns off, and stated that he had been really busy.  He did not assure us that that work was going to be completed.  Since then, we have not heard anything from him, and we were forced to hire another service provider to finish our deck.  Luckily, we had only invested $250 into this project, and did not give him more of a down payment.  Due to the experience I have had, I would never recommend Capital District Contractors & Decks to anyone looking to do any deck or home project.

The contractor has finally has offered to begin work in July.
We are going on faith and  trust that our job will be completed in a timely fashion with good results.

unknown

The gentleman who came out seemed very professional. He gave us a lot of information and answered all our questions. We are now just waiting to see if the project is in our budget.