C W FENCE & DECK

Do not use this contractor under any circumstances.  Do the work yourself instead. The complaint of a previous customer of this company on BBB was confirmed by our experience.  True to form CW Fence and Deck’s owner responses have the tone that everything is the customer’s fault. CW Fence and Deck (CWFD) built about 50 feet of fence and a new deck/steps off our back door.  The fence was built quickly, though they built part of the fence right over a concrete drain under our drain pipe, leaving it wedged under the fence.  We don’t have handles on the gates either, nor is our fence treated.  CWFD told us the fence materials were hardy and could stand the weather for at least a year.  Treating the fence could wait.  They started on the deck, and there was a design issue so we decided to extend the deck with a hefty price increase.  They worked steadily and the deck (about 17 by 11 ft) including 4 steps, was built and stained in about 3 weeks using pressure treated lumber. I checked over the deck and noticed several quality issues.   Many of the boards were not cut straight, they have serious trouble cutting a straight line.  They used nails instead of deck screws.  Instead of removing some of the understructure from the first pass, they built over it, making it difficult to move under the deck so I could clear the dryer vent that runs under the house there.  And they did not build a handrail off the north side of the deck (erroneously) claiming the deck did not require a handrail with that high a deck if we put in the stone ground cover as we had suggested we might.  I did not insist, but only suggested that he correct these problems, hoping/relying on his sense of professionalism to insist himself that he would correct the poor quality components.  He made no such gesture, and to my everlasting regret, I paid him the remainder of the project cost, not wishing to have a confrontation and believing the low quality was restricted to cosmetic, superficial external look that I could correct myself.  I found out from a friend the next day that a permit is required from the City of Franklin to build a deck on a house. I immediately emailed CW Fence and Deck for a copy of the permit and he said he always asks his customers to get a permit.  We had no idea upfront that a permit was required.  CWFD never told us.  Of course the damage was done.  Knowing I was going to get the permit, CWFD knew he would have to have the pillars dug up so the inspectors could see the hole.  It turns out the holes have to be inspected before and after concrete is poured.  So CWFD came out and started to dig around these holes, dismantling some of the understructure to get at the holes. About halfway they stopped, and CWFD’s owner tried his best to talk me out of the inspection.  Feeling this is was a legal issue, we moved forward with getting the permit and inspection.  At the permit office, I confirmed with contractors there and with office personnel that the contractor gets the permit as a matter of course, though the owner can also do it.  I filled out the paper work, paid the inspection fee, and scheduled the inspection.  CWFD said they would correct whatever inspection faults were found.  The inspection stated that 1) an engineer would have to sign off on the concrete holes, 2) that the width of the steps on one section of the deck were a couple of inches too short, 3) risers with differences in height exceeding a 3/8 inch variance, 4) no handrail or guardrail (regardless of deck height, a stairs with 4 risers requires a handrail) and 5) unable to totally view framing.  I told the inspector that the deck was tied into the house.  He stated that brick is not a structural component of the house and that the deck would have to have cemented posts at proper intervals along the back of the house.  The inspector failed the deck and wrote it down as an incomplete inspection.  By the time the inspector came out, about two weeks after the deck was completed, boards had started to warp, one board has popped its nail and warped upward.  I was told that this was because CWFD applied the stain right after construction, failing to let the pressure treated lumber dry sufficiently before staining.  Though CWFD offered to correct the inspection changes, “I will put you back into the queue”, I realized we were never going to get the deck we had wanted.   We felt we had seen enough of CWFD’s (un)professional standard.  This kind of work can significantly affect property value and personal safety.  We asked CWFD if they would simply refund our money.  Their response was, “…that is never going to happen”.  Soon after that, we ended our association with CWFD.  I have since had two other contractors and a friend in the trade part time come out to give us estimates for a new deck.  Though they all hate to say bad things about other contractors, they were all stunned at the extreme low quality of the work.  We hope this helps other home-owners.

1. Initial installation required several days longer than quoted. 

• Within weeks of installation, problems developed with badly warping boards, misaligned gates, split boards, large gaps between boards, shifting posts, and mismatched/unsecured/splitting decorative top caps.  Gate hardware was never fully installed and was installed differently from gate-to-gate.  One gate had shifted so severely within a month of installation that the closure hardware had to be reinstalled in order to effectively keep the gate closed. It was necessary for the contractor to make multiple repairs/corrections to his work within 90 days of installation. 

  The most unacceptable and shocking failure, however, occurred 10 weeks after installation, when an entire side of the fence (approximately 40') began to lean over.  It was later determined that the post holes had only been dug 12" deep as opposed to the 24" - 30" recommended by other fence contractors and my insurance claim adjuster.  The contractor refused to reset the posts in deeper holes and instead offered only to add additional cement around the posts at ground level, a solution that proved to be quite temporary.  Several months thereafter the post footings in a different 30' section of fence pulled loose and the fence again leaned precariously.  Additionally, the previously repaired/re-cemented section of fence also began to lean again.
  
  
  I ultimately had to engage another fence company to take down the leaning sections of fence, dig deeper post holes, and reset the fence.  Boards continue to warp, and posts and gates still shift, but the fence is now upright and stable.