DECKED OUT

Decked Out was efficient and built a quality deck. We were very happy with their work. We just hired Decked Out for a second project. Can't wait to start after the winter passes.

The process started with Scott - who handles the sales process and the initial design and estimating. This process took a bit of time because Scott had various vacations scheduled. They build one deck at a time so scheduling our job took a while. Once they were ready to work on our job, they began work shortly after the call notifying us that they would be starting - i.e. not much lead time after a multi-week waiting period to get scheduled. Once they were ready to start, we met with Jim Mealey who runs the crew that actually builds the deck. He visited our house and put together the final estimate. Turns out that the sales side (Scott) and the construction side (Jim) are two separate outfits - and you will wind up writing separate checks to each (Scott gets a flat fee and Jim gets paid for hours worked). You as the customer pay the lumber yard directly for the construction materials ordered by Jim (this has the advantage that you know exactly what the material costs you but it does mean you get more involved in the details of the job). Jim works off a written estimate that you sign - rather than a contract. Jim gave us the choice of getting a building permit or not (we did) and he did have us listed as an additional insured on his insurance policy. Once the project started it went reasonably well. Demolition was quick and neat - and the debris was removed quickly. Some parts of the frame were rotted (probably due to a shoddy expansion by the previous owner) and had to be replaced - which lengthened the project time and caused the original estimate to be exceeded. The project also took longer - a total of 4 weeks - due to bad weather and Jim's crew was short-handed. Jim is a master craftsman and he and his crew did an excellent job on our new deck which turned out really nice! He cares about his product and was very committed to doing the job right. He also did his best to manage the cost of the project - and returned materials that were not used to the lumber yard for credits that were issued to our credit card. He and his crew were a pleasure to work with! Bottomline: we got a really nice deck for a price about $5,000 less than another major firm had quoted. The workmanship was excellent but it did take longer than expected and the contracting arrangements are rather casual. I would certainly recommend Decked Out's work - just be aware that you may wind up getting more involved in the project than you expect.

Amazing. Finally! A company that actually does what they are say they are going to do. Jimmy and his crew worked 12 days in a row (including Saturday and Sunday AND Memorial Day) to get my time sensitive job done. They showed up everyday on time, were professional and courteous. They were here over 9 hours a day. I have never in my adult life had a company show such work ethic in my life. This is the best decision I have ever made. Not to mention, my deck looks like it should be on the cover of. Magazine. Top notch people. Reliable company. Highly recommend!

Beautiful all the way around and Jim Mealey is very easy to work with highly recommend these guys for your deck or stairs project.

I met first with Scott to explain what I wanted and to get estimates. Then Jim, the master deck maker, took over the actual work. I found both men to be professional, easy to talk with, good listeners, and flexible with my unique situation. I love that Jim doesn't jump between multiple jobs but starts and finishes one job at a time, so I'm not left with something half done wondering when he'll be back. Jim is a perfectionist and takes great pride in his work, and rightly so. Really, he IS a perfectionist. My deck is not the most "upscale" version they can do, yet I've received compliments from others who stain decks for a living (Jim does not stain decks). Jim went the extra mile for us when we really wanted cable railings but had a limited budget. He found a rail system we could afford. When it turned out that the hardware was very fussy and time-consuming to install he kept at it until it was right while keeping to the budget. We asked for a gate with ballusters instead of cable railing to save a little money. But Jim found a way to do it with the cables, knowing the gate would not otherwise look right. Our perfectionist was so right about that; and the collars at the bottom of the posts and the mitered corners of the stairs, and hand selection of the individual boards, and the railings, and the copper flashing, all add up to a deck built with care and pride, by Jim and by his loyal crew. I could not be happier!