Texas Decks & Docks

I was not very happy with the experience. building our deck. They did not build the steps like I requested. They had to come back several times to correct errors. At least they did come back, however it has been a month and you can see where it has buckled a little in the middle, hope it does not get worse.

Unreliable contractor with no receipts or invoices. We had them build a deck in our backyard which is about 10ft-12ft off the ground. The timeline of the project has been a disaster. Even after a month of our original agreed completion date even the basic deck is still incomplete. We believed that they would do it the right way.. But this whole project was grossly mishandled right from the beginning. Any reasonable contractor would first ensure that proper permits are drawn before starting a project. Forget about permits, they did not even call 811 to have the utilities marked before digging. There was no planning/process, no designs no material selections, no timelines, no receipts & no permits. Even after us providing them 3D design of the deck they screwed it up. Their labor often complained about lack of drawings/blueprints and had to just go by what the contractor told them verbally. We proceeded with the project because the contractor guaranteed, promised us to finish it on time and quality. We trusted him.. And agreed to pay a higher price than quoted by most other contractors believing that these guys will do a more professional job but boy we were wrong. November 1st was the completion date for the whole project! We hoped to at least get a usable deck by Nov 3rd or 4th or 5th or even 6th. But that did not happen. We started on October 11th with my first payment to their supplier and paid them all along as asked. We allowed 2 extra weeks to complete the job. They had plenty time to get this done & get it done right. Instead we got a yard full of mess, house fencing left open, hazardous sharp objects, rocks, concrete, pipes fallen all around the yard. We had to clean up the yard ourselves and close the fence with wires and twines. Not just that but the quality of the deck itself is questionable. Seems like they used the cheapest lowest costing bare minimum material for the decking structure. The decking is not level and is wavy - the joust tops should have been ensured level before putting on the decking and even the spacing between the joists is at bare minimum. Given this height of the deck any decent designer would have opted for stronger design. Plus many joists are without proper joist hangers which are supposed to be resting on the beams but they are not. Which is a structural hazard waiting to happen. The deck has a bouncy feel and creaks. The decking boards are not screwed tight. Had to redo the railings because they had spaced the posts too far apart & were not sturdy or according to code. There are still many missing welding spots on the railings. The list goes on and on... I am no expert on decks but I thought these guys were. I had to learn abt these things to really understand the quality of work being done here which I suppose was the job of the contractor. Instead the contractor showed up probably for 15 mins once in morning to tell laborers what to do. What kind of quality would you expect with that kind of supervision? When you are spending close to 50K of hard earned money you expect certain discipline, quality and attention to project. After 15-20 days of completion date & project still incomplete we held off the rest of the payment and offered to pay them if they finish/fix/remedy the job properly with proper permits and inspections and in a timely manner with proper contracts and receipts. But they did not agree to that resolution and instead they just wanted their money to walk away. And are threatening to come tear down the deck and put a lien on our house. This is how they show their professionalism. Do yourself a favor and stay away from TEXAS DECKS AND DOCKS!