Heilman Deck and Fence

Showed up on time, did the work required in the time promised. A fair price for the work done, and Andy was professional. We would hire again for sure.

They did a fantastic job. They got it all done in a day and were very reasonably priced. The quality was very good and we would definitely hire them again. They were also great in communication and we would highly recommend recommend them as well.

My very old fence basically fell apart this year. I was hoping that it would last a little longer, but such was not to be. I located Andy through Angie's List and he came out to bid on the job. He was very informative and made a really positive impression. Andy indicated that the summer schedule fills up fast, and the earliest slot was in late August. However, wind and weather being what they are, Andy was able to begin the job in late July. They demolished the old fence in a day and had the new fence and gate completed in another 2 days, and it looks beautiful. I recommend Heilman Deck and Fence, and will definitely Andy and his crew in mind for future projects. Marvelous work!

Andy was WONDERFUL in helping us figure out an oddly shaped fence line. We ended up with a couple of types of fence, some chain link and some with some 9 foot tall deer fencing that we had never gotten around to using. Andy was patient in putting up with my frequent changes to where the various gates and lines should be. His gate provider had flaked out on him, and he came and rigged temporary gates for us to be able to let our dogs out. We had an emergency situation requiring a wheelchair ramp, which he made happen in less than a week. We look forward to using his services for a new deck in the future.

unknown

.

unknown

.

Andy came out immediately to give me a quote and his guys were hard working and personable.  They had to dig out a bunch of railroad ties that were in the way and cut back some shrubs, but they didn't complain. There was an unforeseen issue when one of his guys got sick and they had to postpone the work and I needed to call and find out what was up, but I feel like those things happen in life.  The work they did was great.

Andy was very straightforward in all of our contacts. I was a bit concerned because of another review on Angie's List that was significantly bad, but after discussing the situation with Andy for some time (once we'd established that he was one of our two choices), I decided that the bad review wasn't symptomatic of a deeper problem.
I was very satisfied with the service as a whole. Andy and the crew were friendly and hard-working, and perfectly ready to discuss what they were doing and how things were progressing. A few different curves came up -- some revealed rot in the house, delayed materials, and so forth -- but nothing too unusual for such projects, and everything was handled fine.
The only reason I gave a "B" on responsiveness (instead of an "A") is that sometimes before the job actually started I had to chase Andy a bit on the phone, leaving multiple messages over a few days, although when I got him or he called back I felt satisfied. A little more unprompted communication might be nice; I'm someone who likes to be kept up to date with things. As for the punctuality, the "B" was due to a few minor delays that came up due to materials shortage and worker illness. They weren't critical delays, and I don't have any reason to believe that there's anything that Andy could have done differently, but it did mean that the project dragged out just a bit. Again, nothing really out of the ordinary, but it was worth mentioning.
I'd be happy to use Andy again.

unknown

unknown

unknown

I have to give a very mixed review.  By and large, the fence is beautiful, and although there were two minor issues that occurred during the fence construction, they were immediately addressed and I was satisfied with the result. 

However, 2 months after the fence went in we discovered a third, very serious, issue.  Unbeknownst to us, when they put in one of the posts, they appear to have severed and removed a portion of a drainage pipe running through our yard and our neighbor's yard.  The result was that two months after the fence was in, our neighbor's basement flooded. (Fortunately, our neighbor was able to prevent damage to his house).  

I am giving the mixed review because there is ample evidence that the drainage pipe was removed deliberately by the crew putting the fence in (the section was found tossed nearby, appeared cut by shovels, and the remaining section ran right up to the post).  They had to have known, and this could have cost thousands of dollars of damage.  So, F for that. 

However, I communicated with Andy Heilman, the owner, about what I found and he was prompt and professional in offering to address the issue (he offered to come out and fix it.  Because my neighbor didn't trust him anymore, we opted to do the drain repair work ourselves which turned out easy to do in the end).  Andy's communication was an A.

I won't hire them again because my trust is broken, I don't want to risk it.  Once bitten, twice shy.  That being said, maybe it was just a crew with bad judgment and if you want someone who is professional in his responses and takes responsibility for any issues, Andy may be your guy.

Heilman Deck and Fence started the job on Mar 21.  We had agreed to pay ½ up front to cover their expenses for materials and build the fence while I was away for the weekend and our dogs were gone, too, then my neighbor would pay the other ½ upon completion of the job.   No one ever came to get the ½ upfront payment before I went out of town as we agreed.   While I was driving out of town, Andy Heilman sent me a text photo, which I couldn't look at while driving.  Andy then phoned me - my car has hands free so I was able to chat.   I offered to get off the freeway to look at the picture and he said that was not necessary.  He was asking about some problem with the dirt.  I said he was the fence contractor so I trusted that he knew what needed to be done. 
When I returned to town the fence was not done yet.  The old fence had a lot of ivy growing on it and there was quite a lot of ivy debris left in my yard.  I filled my recycling bin with ivy and my neighbor took a huge root ball of ivy out of my yard.   I also found quite a few nails left behind.  My neighbor and I both have dogs so this was a big concern that required our immediate attention to get the nails cleaned up before either dog stepped on any.  The Heilman crew finally came back to work on the fence and continued working by shop light even after it got dark, explaining they had lots of experience and only had to cut the top and put the caps on.
When my neighbor and I had a chance to look at the fence in daylight we were very unhappy.    There was a LARGE gap which either of our dogs could fit thru as well as other irregularities in the bottom boards where they were higher or lower depending
on what pile of dirt was there.  Instead of smoothing out the dirt, the boards were raised or lowered depending on where they had left the dirt after taking out the old fence and ivy.  T he fence was moved over a foot from its original location, creating a gap that resulted in additional costs of $464.28 paid to another contractor to shore up the ground and fix the gaps. 
On March 31st Andy, the owner of Heilman Deck and Fence came over to collect payment on the invoice and we again expressed our dissatisfaction with the height.  Andy said the man that built the fence had been building fences for 16 years.  He said ?what do you want me to do?  If I move the fence up to the 6 foot height, you will have nail holes at the top of the fence and a gap down at the bottom.?  We said we didn?t care about nail holes and already had several gaps at the bottom that now needed to be dealt with.  He said our idea was ridiculous so at that point, feeling bullied, we shut up.
On April 16th Andy told my neighbor he would not be able to fix the fence until July due to a big job he had coming up and that
he would talk to his fence man and get back to her that night.  He never called back and subsequent phone calls went unreturned.  On the 19th he said he would come over that day to look at the fence and talk about our concerns.  My neighbor waited all day, not leaving her house but Andy never showed up. 
Andy agreed this job was poor workmanship.  There were warped boards and boards that already had nail holes in them.  The biggest problem was that the height of the new fence was now noticeably lower than the height of the old fence.  My neighbor (who is not very tall) could now look in my kitchen window!   The fence is on the west side of my property, running north & south.  The further south it went the lower the fence got.  There is one section of the old fence that didn?t even get replaced at the most northerly end of the fence.
Andy gave us $100 discount for ?customer satisfaction? .  He referred to our expectations as ?ridiculous? and was generally intimidating and uncooperative.  He came back with the guy who put the boards over the mound of dirt, saying he wanted the guy who did the bad job to fix it. My neighbor and I talked further to Andy about what we were unhappy about regarding the height of the new part of the fence.  He offered us an additional $174.50 to cover the cost of us replacing the boards of the 7 panels that were lower than the original fence.   To accept this we would also have to sign a letter releasing Heilman Deck and Fence from any future liability on the 91 feet of fence.  So, he?d offer no warranty. 
My neighbor filed a dispute with her credit card company.  She and I agreed that I wasn?t going to file a dispute with mine because all of us being or having been small business owners, we didn?t want Andy to be out the expenses for the materials he bought while we got this worked out.  At this time, we offered to settle with him for $800.00 and to release Heilman Deck and Fence from any liability.  Shortly after that my neighbor heard from her credit card company that Heilman Deck and Fence conceded to her dispute of the credit card charges.  We thought it was a done deal and hired another contractor to replace the sections that needed replacing and fix the other parts of the fence for the cost of the $1195 received back from the credit card company.  It is now the replacement fence we wanted and looks beautiful.
On July 23, 2014 at 7:24PM I received an email from Heilman Deck and Fence invoicing me for the ½ they had conceded to my neighbor?s credit card company ($1195.57).    I replied saying their claim was not with me but with my neighbor and that they told her credit card company they conceded.  I asked for acknowledgement that my amount had been paid and said if I didn?t
receive such acknowledgment by noon the next day I would file a dispute with my credit card company.  I didn?t receive
any acknowledgment.   In reality, I waited a few days before phoning my credit card company.   I wanted to be sure my credit card company blocked Heilman from charging my credit card since I had used a credit card to pay them and they had the number of my card.  Not hearing back from Heilman Deck and Fence, I filed the dispute with my credit card company. 
I am willing to immediately cancel the dispute with my credit card company and release the $1195.57 back to Heilman, upon receipt of a signed notice from Heilman Deck and Fence that this matter is settled and they will not be sending any future invoices to me or to my neighbor.  We will also release Heilman Deck and Fence from any liability on this fence. 
I?ve had an Angie?s List membership for a number of years and part of why we selected Heilman Deck and Fence was because they were listed on Angie?s List. 

As always, Andy and his crew were great!  We previously used them to replace an old deteriorating fence.  Due to a scheduling issue, they has to start the project a day later than originally discussed, but they more than made up for it, even working on Memorial Day to finish the project.  There were a couple of small issues to fix after completion, but Andy quickly took care of them and all is good!  We are enjoying the new bigger deck, and look forward to many more years of use.
Andy is always prompt in responding to requests/questions, and has lots of advise when choosing materials/finishes.  We will definitely call Heilman Deck and Fence for any future needs and recommend them to friends and neighbors.

Crew showed up on time and started work right away even tho it was raining.Removed a concrete step and had most of the footings poured in one day including a pad for the hot tub we purchased.Noticed that the job was not rushed and they took there time making sure all dimensions were correct.Andy came out at the end of the day and talked to his lead to verify things were going smoothly.Highly recomend this company and will have them out for future work.

The wind storm on 1/11/2014 blew down a portion of my fencing.  After reviewing Angie's List we called several contractors.  It was a Saturday afternoon and Andy was the only one who answered my call personally.  (I was only able to leave messages with the others.)  He came to the house that evening and provided a verbal estimate which was followed up with a written/email estimate the next day.   The estimate seemed fair, and since we were anxious to have the repairs done right away, Andy and his crew were hired. 

Andy strikes me as very hard working and professional. There was a slight delay in the promised start date, but Andy was apologetic while letting me know the reason for the delay, and when work would actually start.  He delivered materials on Sunday evening during the football game between the Seahawks and SF 49ers.  He checked up on his crew (who were equally professional) before, during, and after the work was done.  The job site was left clean and free of all debris and materials.

The fence, both repairs and new construction, look beautiful.  He even set post caps where none existed before to create uniformity along the fence line.  Overall it was a great experience and I would definitely hire him again.

Andy helped us figure out what we wanted him to build, based on our needs. He has very high integrity and is very smart, flexible, and communicative.

Very good. Did the job they said they were gonna do and did it well.

The company installed a Timber Tech Dry Space system on part of our deck in order to make it more usable throughout the year.  Andy Heilman was very prompt in getting us a bid and explaining our options.  Once we decided to go with his company, the work was completed within a week as he said it would be.  Very professional throughout the process.  Even fixed a broken deck stair that he discovered at no additional cost.  Would highly recommend to others.

When Andy came to give us an estimate on our fence , I was immediately impressed with his professionalism. He was prompt and polite and communicated well throughout the process. His bid was fair and the work was completed on time (he and his crew took advantage of every minute of daylight).  We now have exactly the fence my perfectionist husband would have built if he had the time to do it himself. I don't hesitate to recommend Heilman Construction and will definitely go to them for any future projects.

The entire project went smooth. Andy worked with our scheduling from a late in the day estimate, to final project scheduling around some other work we needed done.During the estimate, Andy gave recommendations from his experience that included a lower tension wire to help with our dogs. A couple of our other estimates were hesitant to put one of our gates in a tough location. But they had no problem. They planned the install right around our other maintenance schedule. They showed up on time and got right to work. The work is great, fence looks awesome. Handled the changing terrain and elevation with great planning. 

It was a great experience – no complaints!

Experience was great. I Would recommend to anyone looking to have a deck or fence built. Very professional high quality work!