Quaker State Construction Co

DONT USE THEM...BUYER BEWARE. We are in the process of having a deck replaced that Quaker State installed 12 years ago. The pictures speak for themselves. Used terrible materials, non pressure treated wood is completely rotted out joists and posts. Wood is completely crumbling. We are lucky this deck did not fall and no one was injured. Called several times to have someone come out and take a look but I guess they probably knew they used terrible materials and were scared to come out. I didn't want a free deck, I wanted acknowledgement of your terrible materials. We just decided to deal with it elsewhere. Contractor has told us this is the worst rot he has ever seen. WILL TELL EVERYONE WE KNOW NEVER TO USE YOU!

The design phase (in June) went well, with clear material description and task specifications. As expected, the install wasn't scheduled until late October due to Covid. However, on start date, the installer never showed up, and no one called. When we contacted Quaker State, they said the deck materials could not be found. Eventually, they re-scheduled for late November, just before Thanksgiving. After the deck was removed, they found that the wrong materials had been delivered. The installer could not finish the basic deck structure work because his truck wasn't working, and he couldn't finish that part until the day after Thanksgiving. This was the pattern for the entire project - delays because of materials, delays because the installer couldn't come, with one excuse or another, and often without advance notice. The job was finally done January 2nd, six weeks after start. The actual deck looks fine, and the railings are a nice replacement to the originals. But our entire Christmas season was spent with construction materials in our yard, and scheduling issues with the installer.

It went very well, and was done quickly.

I wanted to have a reputable company in the Pittsburgh area to add a composite second floor deck on to my home, so I called Quaker State to do the work in April 2017. Dave came out to speak with my husband and I about what materials we wanted to use and how big of a deck we wanted. We went with a basic rectangle shape 14x24 deck and we needed a separate foundation built for the hot tub we just purchased. He gave us all the information and the cost and we paid him the first deposit to start the work. I was told he had to get the permit and will be in touch with me once they received the permit and on the start date. It took about two weeks to get the permit (not Quaker's fault), but communication with the front office was horrible. I had to call in to see if the permit was in and ask about the start date on two separate occasions. The crew came out the first week in May. The crew leader was Dave. He introduced himself and we had a conversation about the design, the size of the deck, and making a foundation within the deck for the hot tub. He was never informed about the foundation for the hot tub, so it was a good thing we had a conversation before starting the project. Dave and his crew would come Monday-Friday from 9am-6pm and some Saturdays to get the deck done because the project fell two weeks behind due to rain, but Dave and his crew would still come out if it was light rain or they would sit in their trucks to wait the rain out. Dave had a crewmember show up drunk to the work site. That guy was fired and sent home. Dave was looking out for our safety so he doubled up on the wood used to make the foundation for our hot tub and extra screws. He had to change out some of the screws when the inspector came because a law was just passed that mandated that you had to use some other kind of screws. He always communicated with me what was going on with the project. When it came time to take the window out and replace it with French doors they made sure to cover the whole area with plastic, so dust would not blow throughout our home. The door was in place and the project was done! I was happy! It took five weeks (June). Then I noticed light coming through the top and side of the French doors. I called Quaker State and left a message about it - I never received a call back. Some time went past since my husband I was out of the country. When I came back there’s an invoice from QS for the obtaining of the permit (was told that all of that was included in the price of the deck - it was written on our contract) by this time it’s October 2017, so I call and I spoke with Debbie about the door and the invoice. She said that she was just clearing out old invoices and that is why we were just receiving it. I’m thinking to myself someone needs to get organized. I told her what was on the contract and she said that she would speak with Dave (salesman) and she would call me back about the door, as well. Never received a call from her, but a strange man knocks on my door one morning as I was preparing to leave saying that he was there to take a look at my door. I’m confused, so I told him that I’ll be right back, I had to get my child to school. I came back and I phone QS, speak with Debbie and ask her about why I never got a phone call back and who sent this man to my home. She said she knew nothing about it. By this time I’m not happy, so I let her know that I needed to speak with a manager. She said that she would have the president of the company call me. That was in October 2017 and it’s March 2018 and I’m still waiting for that call and my door is still not fixed. They have not sent another invoice for the permit or the door. I do not have a problem with paying for the labor of the door (I had to purchase my own door from Home Depot), but not until it’s set right. The communication with this “reputable” company is by far the worst I ever experienced. I believe when you have a customer that’s paying you $25k+ for a deck you should go above and beyond when it comes to accommodating that customer. Customer Service is EVERYTHING in my book. Even though, I have a beautiful deck I would not recommend this company based solely on their customer service (well their lack of it).

It was a roller coaster drive. Only two people sent to do the work. They could not interpret the drawings and had to re do many things. I had hired the Architect to make sure they followed the drawings and he almost went mad, dealing with them. It said in the contract that they would take two weeks to do the job. They had other jobs going on so they never worked a full week. The last days they were trying to rush things to finish up. They had three people trying to finish up and build a gate. As usual, they did not follow the drawing and the gate is incomplete. Now I have to hire someone to fix the gate and finish what they did not do.

Great job, good quality, prompt, easy to work with.

they cashed tdhe check in 20 min. after it was given the owner

Quaker State is aggravation TL;DR: Worst customer service in the business. A fantastic contractor recommended Quaker State. At this point, I have no idea why. Deception aside, Quaker State's sales guy is the best. He responds to calls and emails in minutes. He's the only one at Quaker State that does. He promptly set us up with a quote for exactly what we wanted for a price that was just over half the other quote I had gotten. He told us they have their own construction teams. One for the deck supports and another for roofing. He led us to believe the work would be done by Quaker State employees. Turns out, when they finally started, the lead guy says to me, "I'm not supposed to tell you this but I'm a subcontractor." Foreshadowing? Awesome. The agreed start date was sometime in the second week of August and it was supposed to take 2 weeks. The first time they came out was September 1st and that was just a material delivery. Work didn't start in earnest until September 9th. About a month late. Work was mostly finished about a week later. Aside from some wire routing that clearly had no thought behind it and a few nit picks about really stupid but minor things, the work was acceptable. Unfortunately, it wasn't until October 27th that they completed the job by hanging the doors. So they started a month late and finished 2 and a half months late. And if that all sounds annoying, here's where it gets really fun. Let's talk about these doors. Per the contract, they should be aluminum screened, latch when closed and one should have a kickplate. What we got was nylon screened, had only a simple hook and no kickplates. TWO DAYS after the doors were hung, portions of the screen splines on both doors FELL OUT on their own. One completely, the other, mostly. I sent pictures to my job contact at Quaker State on Oct 29th. He replied, "... I will call you on Monday morning." He didn't. Foreshadowing? I called my contact at Quaker State 12 times over 10 weeks. This guy only called me once after 8 weeks and what he promised didn't happen. Each time I called, I was told repeatedly that they would come fix the doors. Sometimes, supposedly, that very day! Eventually I gave up on this guy and started calling the owner. He fed me the same story. If the owner doesn't care about customer service, who does? On Jan 6th they came and got the doors. On Jan 11th, they returned them with aluminum screens. I believe that part of the problem is that they subcontracted my job and that guy refused to fix his crappy work. Eventually they gave up on him but they just didn't give a **** about doing a good job. I suggest you check out Quaker State on the BBB. You'll find similar stories. And if you still hire Quaker State, when the final check comes due, make them ask for it 12 times over 10 weeks before giving it to them. Good luck!

It took them six months to realize they made a mistake on putting lights under the deck to no avail no phone calls are returned and the work and still isn't complete we have gone to the magistrate to settle this issue I do not recommend Quaker State construction for anything

We had Quaker State come to our home and provide an estimate to place a Roof over our deck. 

 The Designer  was very knowledge answered questions gave suggestions and had many pictures to see different styles.  He provide us a price and when the project was completed the price was what he stated. 

Our installation guys were great they even had guys that dropped off materials and cleaned up through out the project.

 Our new roof will increase our spring, summer and fall living space and make a great place to entertain guests and family.  With the added roof it won't matter what the weather I can still use my deck.

unknown

It went horrible! They didn't show up until late morning. One worker had his pants hanging half off his butt. One worker couldn't
'
figure out how many screws he needed to put up the shutters (8 shutters, 2 screws per shutter = 16) I had to tell him. Wood trim was torn off my house and not replaced. There are to many bad things to list them all. Bottom line, DO NOT HIRE THEM FOR ANYTHING!!!

unknown

They did a really good job. Somebody on the crew got sick and they sent out another crew. They were much faster than the first crew but they did a terrible job. The first crew came out and saw the work of the second crew. They actually ripped it all out and redid it all. Other than a little bit of aggravation, they didn't even question doing that. It wasn't perfect but at the end of the day, they really came through. They made sure that everything was done to my satisfaction.

We needed to replace a small deck in keeping with our local homeowner's association requirements. There were specific structural details as well as just a basic deck. We called several companies and Quaker State was the only company that followed through with several options for us. They called about a week before we were scheduled to see if they could start the project early! They worked quickly and replaced the existing deck with a much better-constructed one. They also left everything spotless in our backyard--carrying all the waste to the front and hauling it away. Their office called me several times during the job to make sure that I was satisfied with their contractors and that work was progressing as necessary. I am not easily impressed but I was with them. For a contractor to start a job early, finish it on schedule, and stay within budget while making sure I was satisfied is really remarkable.

The workers were fine, but the office staff was not. The construction was solid and it looks nice, but the finishing of the woodwork could have been a lot better.

Gave them a call. The owner came out to look at my deck and gave me an estimate on wood or composite. I chose the wood decking and they scheduled an appointment with me to begin the work. Came to my house and completed the updates in one day. Beautiful job!

The work was done very poorly. They told us several of the workers were licensed in their fields but they were not. There were many issues with the work. I tried taking pictures of the work and they got mad. He had kids working for him. Several times they never showed up. When they do show up, they would work half a day then leave. They also would leave messes in the yard. The elevator they put in for my disable veteran husband has had so many problems. They broke the handicapped toilet we had. The toilet they bought to replace it was not handicapped friendly. They also just put the new deck over the old one rather than take it out and replaced it.They took advantage of us. They were very unprofessional.

We thought that Quaker State Construction did a great job and we would have them back to do more work for us again anytime!!!

This was a project that I was told (I have in writting) would take 4-5 wks to complete. The project started 9/2012 and was completed one wk ago and todays date is 8/27/2012. They NEVER showed up when they said they would. Never called to say that they would not be coming! There was always an excuse. They sub-contract all their work. Always a new crew and they were not aware what the other crew did. Something I was so excieted to begin turned into a nightmare, I requested the company to start the project only when they could show up everyday to do the work with the same crew.--Never Happened.
Weather was not a factor. Not for 10 months. In the begining they did not start the project in the wk that we were told they would. Had the supplies delivered through my yd which they did make an effort to repair, but if will never look like it did before they started.
The workers could not have been nicer. They all were very helpful and professional.
It is the owner and our salesman (never heard from him after we signed the contract) who I hold responsible for this project. It was clear to us that they just didn't care.

They did very good work. They weren't very responsive or punctual. I would use the again in the future.

The estimator came to the house, drew up somepreliminary designs and they started work withiun a week.All work for both projects was completed within a week with no "kiting".Thw work areas were cleaned every night so our home didn't look like an artillery practice range.When I had a question the owner showed up within minutes (literally) to discuss my concerns and the discrepancy was resolved to my satisfaction by the time I returnd home from work the next day.

Addition wasn't started until late September. Laid block and waterproofing in November and backfilled foundation. Foundation was taking in water. Ceiling had to be replaced because of mold. QS periodically tried for 4 years to remediate so they wouldn't have to re-dig to find the problem. Finally we contracted a waterproofing co. to detect the problem which were multiple: 1) failure of QS to properly install the waterproofing barrier - they did not cover the last 18" of the foundation before they backfilled. 2) placed the french drain 2' above the ground line. 3) Backfilling caused a rock to break the french drain causing a large hole in the drain. QS agreed to reimburse us for our financial outlay to the remediating company; however, to date we have only received half of the payment promised. This has been one year since the remediation. The front porch materials are lifing and bowing. It is composite decking; however, it is thin and not the proper density for the use of the project. Sides are separating from the porch. The roof of the porch that was put on wasn't flashed properly and water was getting in behind the cedar siding.

The over all job, for lack of a better word SUCKS!!! It took the first crew over one month to finish the job. When I went over the house, there were so many places that were done just to finish the job, I couldn't believe these were professionals. since january, 2011, I have had someone , Mr. Dickson, out to my house looking at the so called finished job. Everytime he's here, I find something that wasn't done. For example, I have 14 windows in my house. One window is on the screened in porch. The window wasn't caulked. When the crew member came out to caulk the window, I asked him why it wasn't caulked. His answer was that since the window was on the porch and not out in weather, he didn't think it needed to be caulked. Really? Since when has that been a reason for not to caulk? Or how about how on one side of my house the siding bowed inward. The same crew member told me it bowed inward because that was where all of my plumbing was for the kitchen and sometimes the siding will go inward because of the plumbing. I made them remove about 4 feet of the siding. It was hammered too tight and over 8 inched of siding was overlapped. It was put up incorrectly. Plumbing had nothing to do with the bowing. Even now, there are four screws missing in the shutters which were to have been corrected two weeks ago. My mistake then was that I didn't follow the crew around to make sure they were doing the job. In short, this is NOT the company to hire unless you enjoy throwing your money away. In Mr. Dickson's defence, he has come out everytime I call and has been willing to make all of the corrections. But, for the price I paid and for the size of the job, this should not be dragging into the Fall (almost one year) just to finish this job. His crews have no professionalism, no pride in what they do. Quaker State does not deserve an "A" rating from the BBB. Mr. Dickson needs to rethink who he hires to represent his company.

They work was fine but they were slow. They were suppose to do it he end of August and didn't end up doing it until thanksgiving .They said the reason they were backed up because of rain, but there was no rain in August. It was a very dry month. They use sub contractors and they were fine and did good work. There was never any foreman on the job site at all though.