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"New 2-story deck missed the mark across code, Trex guidelines, and aesthetics. Poor planning. Won't make it right. We lost 5 figures on a 2-man crew that lacks longevity with owner. Hire inspectors before paying final invoice. FYI “Custom Deck and Fence Austin” also has poor reviews on multiple sites noting owner Todd Louis Ratajik of "Good Day Baked Energy Snacks" (Forfeited Existence). Sites now name “Cesar” as owner. Negative reviews disappeared. AFFD has pending lawsuits with Travis County Courts. Unknown AFFD subcontractor alarmingly used my name and address in another client’s lawsuit w**! Standard: Visual consistency. AFFD: Mismatched railing. Todd’s words: "It's the same railing but pinched." (A contractor’s FB review notes lack of materials to properly complete jobs.) Std: Concrete pad supports stairs. AFFD: Stair stringers hover in air, failing to land on concrete. Todd blatantly texted that stringers would step out (not down) from deck. I refuted the abnormality. Top step was cut off; stringers don’t reach concrete. Instead of extending pad or redoing stringers, an ugly post was set. Std: Stairs treads w/o gaps. No overhangs. AFFD: Stringer cuts forgot stairs' fascia; treads weren’t 11+”. Gaps added to meet code -> stair noses >1.25", ie trip hazards. FYI Use rise-to-run guidelines. Std: 42” deck railings. 34-38” stair railings ABOVE boards. AFFD: 44” deck railings. Didn’t supply 34” stair railings; boards grossly notched to lower height, which start at 44”! Std: Posts sit on existing FINISHED concrete pads. (LOL) AFFD: Post had no contact with pad (after removing makeshift shams to hide the blunder) ie ZERO deck weight on ground. Todd asked if this was okay [to not deal with]. Post not corrected at start. Rough concrete poured atop pad to meet post. Ew. Std: 16" oc MAX joist spacing (Trex specs). AFFD: 7 of 13 spacings are >16". No blocking. Add 1 or 2 joists = ~15.5" or 14" spacings. Todd said his ways are “affordable” and “economical”. Eek. Best: Competitor contracts: "12-in joist spacings", "blocking", “glulam beam”. Std: Trex Cocktail Rail Kit (full-width support, hidden fasteners). AFFD: 5.5" wavy floor boards nailed to 1" rail. Visible screws, rough shavings, corner gaps, no support eg 2x4s to flatten board. No countersunk screws and putty to hide nails. Std: Professional aesthetics. AFFD: Not spraying railing cuts = RUST. No continuity in stairs fascia to meet deck edge. Silver bolts on black railings. Posts unequal distance from deck edges. Cedar’s shorter lifespan requires staining / maintenance < Trex’s composite fascia. Std: Disclosure of unforeseen issues. Protocols. Loyal crews. AFFD: Crew wasted a day plotting makeshift repairs after causing roof damage. Licensed roofer was furious about erroneously-cut flashing. Roofers returned after crew again made damaging cuts where told not to. Zero acknowledgement from Todd. AFFD: Crew noted holes in house’s ceiling after removing joist nails. No repairmen references. Not-our-problem mentality. AFFD: 15+ days by 2 tired guys: the hire + his actual neighbor. Ditto to reviewer compelled to supervise. Days start late, end after 7pm. My neighbors had 5 deck builders who left by 6pm still jolly. AFFD: Non-recyclables in recycling bin. Concrete and stinky liquid in trash bin. Cigarette butts, nails, and construction debris across yard. AFFD: Crew won’t tell owner about gray areas and errors in judgments. One unsure if he'd get paid wth. Std: Professionalism. AFFD: No final walkthroughs. Owner ignores items in emails. Condescending; when I climbed a ladder re an issue (that I called a roofer to fix), Todd muttered that I was “an inspector, eh”. Instead of talking measurements, Todd’s retort was “I’m the owner of a deck company”, as if titles alone grant proficiency. Labor is hired out, crew turnover is high. Workmanship depends on whoever is outsourced, who aren’t deck builders so much as guys who "have built decks before". Expect no corrections on what Todd Ratajik deems as "good enough"."

"Express did an outstanding job! They constructed a covered patio with two screen walls and motorized screens, and I couldn't be more impressed. They provided affordable payment options and didn't charge me anything until the job was finished. They also handled my HOA engineer's report and the city permit for the project, which is known to be one of the most challenging permits to obtain."

"Fence gate needed to be replaced. They did an excellent job."

"Great experience, this company met all expectations. Good communication with the front office and team on the job. Finished my job early and on budget. I will use them again."

"Scott was awesome! There were a couple of tricky design issues that Scott dealt with that was such a relief to us! On time, tidy, respectful and dependable! We love our deck! We’ll be using Birdseye again early next month!"

"My husband and I could not have been more pleased with Integrated Outdoor Designs. We felt going in that we had found the right company to build our deck and install the railing. They did not disappoint. Our deck is one of the most prominent features of our house so we wanted to hire people who truly knew what they were doing. We think it all turned out beautifully and we are completely happy with the result. Highly recommend."

"Personable and professional.... While other contractors wanted to totally remove and rebuild the railings on our multi-level deck, Gio had the vision to repair/refurbish the railings. He retained the original deck concept we loved and literally made it "look better than new"...and at significantly lower cost than other estimates. Thanks again Gio."

"Outstanding job! Thanks guys"

"Think twice before hiring this company. This review is based on how we were treated by the owner Donnie Ferguson. We hired Diamond Decks to install a patio cover in our backyard. The cover is beautiful. The material matches the house and the craftmanship of the fireplace, roof and woodwork are exactly what we wanted. Here’s where it all went wrong. The last job was to stain the concrete both existing and the new walkway we had them install. The crew did not power wash the 10-year-old concrete before staining. We contacted the project manager right away and asked why they were not power washing and he said the crew didn’t think it needed power washed. Ten years of dirt and they didn’t think it needed power washed? Prior to staining, the crew put samples of the color on the concrete and asked for approval of the color. They didn’t wait for the stain to dry but had us sign off on the color while it was wet. The certificate we signed says “Do not sign this certificate until all services have been satisfactorily performed and material supplied or goods received and found satisfactory.” Despite this warning they had us sign the certificate prior to the stain and seal being applied. Let me also point out that no one asked us what we wanted the stain to look like or guided us in any way to get the look we wanted. The stain looked nothing like we wanted so they came back and applied another color and seal and made it worse. We reached out to Donnie and let him know we were not happy with the stain. His resolution was to charge us another $10,000 to do an overlay on the two patios and then apply another stain. Donnie believed it was the old concrete that was the problem and thought we needed an overlay. We received quotes from two other companies to fix the stain. Neither company thought we needed an overlay. Instead they would remove the seal and stain and reapply the color we wanted. We again reached out to Donnie and respectfully asked for a reduction in our final payment of $7500 to fix the concrete stain. This was his reply: Absolutely not. We are experts and what we do and the color selection you picked does not need multiple coats. I do not care who you are getting your false information from. And you cannot remove foot print and terrible texture work that is in the concrete work we did not pour. The imperfections would be difficult for anyone to see because they are enhanced once the color and sealer are applied. This has one of the best sealer you can use and this is specifically why the form says DO NOT SIGN THIS FORM Unless you approve the color. It’s not an easy product to strip off hence the reason it last much longer and that’s why we use it. The balance owed is now past due $41628. I will need payment in full by the end of day or I will need to notify the attorneys that the contract breach is made. You’ve signed all the paperwork we asked of you and now you wanna insult us by telling us you want us to refund money cause you don’t like what you selected. This is the owner of the company, threatening, insulting and hostile. We of course were not in breach of contract and he knew it. They had just completed the work seven days ago. Again, think twice about hiring this company. They showed a total lack of concern about our dissatisfaction and blaming us for the results of the concrete stain. I will say that Casey, the project manager, was always professional and showed empathy for our concerns."

"very well done"