Mardeck's Professional SVC

I contracted Mardeck's on June 11, 2014 to power-wash and stain both the upper and lower level decks on my townhouse.  Communication was mostly done via email to set up the appointment.  I communicated with Mario & Maricela and worked out the details of the contract and price.  They were helpful and I looked forward to having them preform the services for me.  I didn't have the time to do the work myself, my wife was pregnant and we were holding a baby shower in a month, so we needed the job done before then.  

Weather & scheduling kept pushing the dates back, but they were finally able to come out during the week of June 23rd, 2014.  They made two trips.  During the first trip, they treated and power-washed the deck.  They did a good job treating the mildew off of the decking.  However, and as somewhat expected, there was some splintering of the wood from the high pressure, commercial power-washer.  Not a big deal, but wasn't ideal considering the decks were only 4 years old at the time and still in good shape other than the dirt & mildew buildup. Now they were a little rough, especially along the hand railings.

They returned on June 26th, 2014 to stain the deck.  I remember it well because it was the same day that the US played Germany in the 2014 world cup.  AND, from this point on I had problems with the quality of services received.  The deck staining crew did not arrive until between 4:30 - 5:00 pm.  The agreement & contract stated that "two coats on flat area and one coat on vertical area" would be applied.  I also had a slightly unusual request that the Underneath of the top deck also be stained.  I paid extra for it and had it written into the contract.  HOWEVER, Unless this was the fastest drying stain ever, the so called "two coats" were sloppily applied in the 2 - 2.5 hours they were there.  I wasn't watching over the crew like a hawk and it was also an 88 degree day with 80% humidity. SO needless to say, the job didn't come out looking as professionally as I had expected.  I called Mario the following Monday after the stain had ample time to dry.  I questioned the application of the second coat.  He assured me over the phone that two coats were applied.  This may have been true, but in my experience, you need to allow the first coat to fully dry before slopping on a second coat.  The deck looked OKAY and I didn't have time to nit-pick over what I thought was a rushed stain job, so I didn't complain any further.

NOW, Fast forward to summer of 2015.  Some of the mildew had returned in certain areas and MOST of the stain was still holding except for a few minor spots (90% of approx. 650 sq.ft. of decking was looking okay).

NOW, it is present day in spring of 2016 and the deck looks terrible.  Spotty looking areas, some with stain and others without stain.  Mildew covering big areas of the lower deck and small areas of the upper deck.

The Behr deck stain that they used was suppose to last 5 years!  This should be warrantied but I don't know what channels to go through to find any of this out.

So I would take this as a warning to any future deck staining projects you might be thinking of.  I felt Mario's crew rushed this job and I didn't speak up at the time.  I trusted the professional and his crew.  At the time, Mario's business location was less than 2 miles away from my house and he never came out and even looked at the project to ensure a quality service was provided. 

Now, I am in the process of power-washing and treating the deck myself.  I wish I had documented and pictured everything. I am regretful I paid so much money for the stain to last less than 2 years.   I would NEVER use Mardeck's again in the future unless they want to Warranty their services or help remedy the problems I am facing now.

I was able to reach them with no problem and they were very responsive. I dealt with both Guillarmo (sp?) and Mario. They set up an appointment and they were able to quickly suggest what needed to be done to address the issues I brought up, and they provided an estimate on the spot. After getting a couple of estimates, I realized they offered the best service and price. They worked with me to start the job on a day of my choosing. After the job was completed and fully dried, they came over to ensure that everything was to my liking. The deck and fence look great and it took hardly any time to get it done. I would highly recommend them!!

Very responsive on estimate (email) - very prompt with starting work (a little rain delay but came right away when subsided) - responded right away to questions (text and email) - no additional fees at the end of the job.   Was a big job - previous stain was oil based - everything needed power-sanding.  Great work, highly recommended.

The provider arrived within a few days of us requesting a quote.  We knew this work needed to be done, as the deck was basically unusable.  The services were provided as agreed to (power-washing, deck repair, sanding, and Deck Over application).  When rain was forecast on the day they were to start, they took the initiative to contact us and arrange acceptable back up plans.  All the work that was requested, was completed to our satisfaction.  Although I am not anticipating needing these folks to do deck work for us again, I would definitely call them for other services.  We were very happy with the entire experience - from planning through completion.  By the way, their office staff was always easy to contact and very helpful also!

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 We previously gave Mardeck's a low review due to poor workmanship and sloppy work.  When the owner read the review he was unhappy with the review on Angie's List and personally came to our home to see the work himself.  He agreed that the work was not done properly and he would re-do the work at no expense to us.  On 7/24/14, Mario and another worker came to our home, moved all of the deck furniture and put another coating of Sikken's finish on the deck.  It now looks beautiful.  He actually came back out to our home today to be sure the finish dried properly and check it out.  The deck looks great.  My husband and I are so impressed by Mario's professionalism and his promise to do whatever needed to be done to make us happy.  We are very impressed.  Mario stuck to his word and saw to it the deck was done to our satisfaction.  We cannot thank him enough.  The original workers had even broken a wall clock on our porch while they were working on the floor and Mario saw to it the clock was replaced with an exact replacement.  We will definitely use Mardeck's again and are very impressed with Mario, the owner.  He keeps his word and  saw to it the job was not only done, but done correctly and beautifully.  The deck now looks wonderful.

VERY IMPRESSIVE!  Thank you so much!

Both sets of guys were very professional and efficient.  The Mardeck office emailed us the day before the guys were coming each time to let us know.  However, there was no contact without prompting after each session to let us know the next step in the process.  This would have been helpful instead of just waiting for the next email.  When we emailed the office, they were, however, very responsive, which we appreciated.

It took 3 days total:  1 day to prep the deck and 2 days to stain it.  The deck turned out great!

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Mardecks has recently completed refinishing all of my hardwood floors and my wife and I are extremely pleased with the results! Our home looks 40 years younger! The pricing was well within our budget and the crews were very hardworking, pleasant on time and completed the project ahead of schedule! They also installed new hardwood in our family room and were able to perfectly match our existing floors! We strongly recommend Mardecks and will be telling all our friends to use Mardecks!

I had a new 6' wood fence installed this summer which made my existing wood structures show their age and dirt.  I contacted multiple companies I found on Angies List.  Mario was the only one to actually came out for an estimate since all the other companies either never answered the phone or returned my call.  The estimate was well below my assumption.
Mario came out promptly and gave me my original estimate and even a discount.  After a few delays on the original start date, another man with MarDecks came out and  power washed the deck and 4' fence one day and returned a few days later to apply the clear coat and repair a few damaged boards.  I expected the clear coat to have some shine to it but this just soaked it and did not leave a top coat appearance to it.  
My deck had years of mildew and mold and it was remarkable how clean the power washing made it.  The deck and 4' fence I had washed looks just like my new 6' wood fence now.

It went well at the end of the day. The first time they came out, they rushed it a little bit because a storm was coming in. They cut some corners. They came out and stained it. We didn't like it so they came back out, stripped it, and restained it at no additional cost. The second time around was great. They're lovely people and did a good job. We will use them again. It's a good value for the money.

There was some issues at first and they had to come back 2 times. They actualy caused damage to the floors in our home. They made good on only part of the job of resealing the flooring. I have used them multiple times before but this specific time was a disaster. I will not use them again unless I know that the crew who has a done a good job for me in the past will be the one who shows up.

I had over 1,150-sf of old hardwood floor which Mardecks have to remove all and install the new hardwood floor, and 02 Staircases with old rotten steps. Therefore, I meet with Mr. Gomez and He suggests that I have to use unfinished material because it was an old house and the trusses were not level. Mr. Gomez suggests that is the best way to do this kind work; I trust him from the beginning to the end.
Mardecks Professional Services was excellent to work with especially with Mr. Mario Gomez and their crew. They were always available to answer my questions. The crew that installed our floors did and exceptional job and cleaned up the work areas at the end. The work they did on our upper and lower staircase is more than excellent. Other thing that I like from Mr. Gomez is that he is very detail oriented. People who have seen the work say the stairs look like they were well done.
I cannot thank enough Mardecks and Mr. Gomez for the amazing work he did in my house; definitely I will use him again and recommend him.

I needed my deck to be stained quickly so I could place my house on the market.  Mardeck's was able to do the work within a week, which made me very happy.  They did a great job as they stained the accessible underside of the deck too.  The deck looks great now. 
On the down side, the price was quite high (4and they oversprayed in one area. 

No problems. We had a very good experience.

We have used Mardeck's more than once before and continue to do so.  They do a comprehensive and conscientious job.  And this year we needed extra flexibility in our timing; they worked with us most graciously.

I am extremely impressed by the professionalism of Mardeck's and its owner, Mario, who not only provided good services but went the extra mile to make his customer happy after a miscommunication occurred.
Based on Angie's List reviews, I hired Mardeck's to clean and stain my deck, which probably hadn't been taken care of in several years.  Mardeck's provided an estimate over the phone based on my measurements and description of the deck, and the price quoted was extremely reasonable compared to the other companies I called.  I chose them based on the price and the fact that they could come out right away.  I explained to the receptionist, Karen, that I wanted to choose the stain color, and she said that I could call her back after looking at the stain colors at Home Depot.  I paid half of the price upfront, and the other half was due upon completion of the job.
The workmen came out the next day to clean the deck, and I went to Home Depot to select a color.  The cleaning seemed to go well and the deck already looked much better than it did before.  When I called Karen back to tell her my choice of color, though, she told me that the workers had already gone to Home Depot with a color sample from the deck and had it matched; they had already purchased the stain, so it was too late to choose a different color.  I was very disappointed because I did not like the existing stain color, which was chosen by a previous owner and remained in patches on the deck, but it seemed that nothing could be done about it at that point.  I crossed my fingers and hoped that the color would look better than I expected when the job was done.  The workmen came back to apply the stain and did a thorough job, covering my windows and siding to protect them, applying the stain to the whole deck evenly.  My reaction was mixed when the job was finished because, while the workers seemed to have done a good job, my deck was pinkish.  When Karen called to collect the second half of my payment, I told her that I was unhappy with the result, although it had nothing to do with the quality of the staining.  She had me talk to Mario, the owner.  After I explained the situation to Mario, he offered to have his workers apply another coat of the right color of stain, but I would have to buy the stain itself.  I thought that this was fair since the company did do the work in the first place, and while they made a mistake on the color, perhaps if I had asked to talk to the owner before the stain was initially applied, we could have straightened out the problem.   I appreciate small businesses, especially small business owners who try to make the customer happy so I met them halfway.
It took about a month after speaking with Mario for the workers to return to apply the second coat of stain, but I think that the delay was mostly due to the wet weather.  Finally, the workers returned, recovered my windows and siding with plastic, and finished the job with the stain I had bought from Home Depot.  Again, they did a thorough job, even protecting the new post caps I had installed and hand-applying paint where touch-ups were needed.  Now, I am pleased with the appearance of the deck.
Having spoken and worked with several contractors since buying our home last year, I have learned that many of them will do the bare minimum to get paid, without any regard to the customer's happiness.  The fact that Mardeck's worked with me to achieve a satisfactory result means more to me than if there had been no miscommunication at all.  Crossed signals and mistakes happen, and what matters is how the contractor deals with those problems.  Mardeck's came through!

I've always been satisfied with Mardeck's work with my deck, have been using them for many years, this was before Angieslist came into existance,   they usually send a reminder card every few years, I call and schedule the work, they also write up an estimate, job is done in two segments, first powerwashing which takes several hours,  then they return for sealing and staining work, also several hours work.their workers are very professional, hardworking and polite, clean up before leaving, the deck looks great and I am very pleased to their work ethicsalso Karen the contact lady was very helpful and friendly to set up the work,etc

It continued for about 3 to 4 days.  Overall they were quite good.  The price was a little high, but they did a good job.  I got them from Angies List, so I anticipated them to be high.  The quality was good and heir responsiveness was quite good.  Punctuality was a little bit off, but I don’t grudge them for it.  I will use them again in the future.

power wash sides of house and restore deck in one day.  returned 2 days later and applied 2 coats seal.  another seal coat was required so they came back to apply 3rd coat, for which they charged $150.  supervisor came by to inspect and ask how I liked the job.

I got four estimates for powerwashing and restaining my deck and Mardeck's was the lowest ($680 for the deck).  I also had them powerwash the exterior of my house ($300).  The stain job on the deck was very well done.  We have a pergola over the deck, so there was a fair amount of difficult vertical and overhead work.  They did an excellent job of applying the stain on all surfaces, including difficult to reach places.  I believe that they used a sprayer (the job was done when we were not at home).  If so, they did a great job of covering the brick and other exterior surface adjoining the deck, as there was no stain on the house.  My only complaint was that there were a few light shoeprints that were visible on the deck floor.  After I told them about this they came out the next day and gave the floor another coat.  I was very pleased with their responsiveness.  I was so happy with their work that I also asked them to wash and stain a section of my fence, which they did for $400.  Again, it was an excellent job -- great coverage, with no overspray on the house, the heat pump, or anything else in the area.

They were very good with the quality of work as well as punctuality. I would recommend to others to others as well as use them again in the future.

In the past I have been pleased with their service but this year I had a hard time getting a straight answer from them about the charges. On alternate years they were supposed to do all the surfaces instead of just the exposed-to-the-elements surfaces of our screened porch and deck. I got confused about which year this was and they were not helpful. But our porch and deck have held up well (they have done the maintenance only, they did not build the porch and deck) and the workmen who have come have been thorough and careful.

The deck cleaning was fine. The floor finishing left a lot to be desired. When they were done and gone, I am not sure whether it was the stain they applied or the clear coat afterward, but I noticed that it left streaks on the floor. It was like when you mop a floor with a squeegee mop and if you are not careful every place where you push the mop and stop and pull back leaves a line left with the mop. That is what was on my floor. I didn't contact them because I didn't want to go through that again. We taped the house all up to keep the dust out of the other parts. It's a rental and I apologize to the people living in but they got it and they are stuck with it. I definitely would not hire the company again. The price was fine. It was in the middle of the bids I got. They were very responsive. I wouldn't use them again. I am beyond those things now. When those problems happen you got to move on. It would take me longer to resolve any issue like that than it would take to just move on. It is fine because it is a rental property. It will wear off and then we will do it again and get somebody else to do it.

A few finishing touches were left undone, but there was the extenuating circumstance of an unexpected facade paint job by our adjacent row house neighbor. This caused delays and a work crew departure that was just a little bit hurried. Overall, we were very satisfied.