I originally selected Montell Construction to do our deck based on the recommendation of a cousin. Things he pointed out that he loved about how his lovely multi-level deck was done:
• Very careful attention to how the deck fit against the house and the neat fit against the siding and doors opening onto the deck
• Placing the decking bark side up to minimize the possibility of cupping
• Carefully setting the screws just below the surface of the boards, not deeply countersinking them into the wood
• High quality wood that was stain ready when installed, and 6 months later had no signs of cracking
• Placement of an outlet on the side of the deck, and having put the cable in a conduit attached to the underside of the deck joists; Montell handled the electrical work
• How they removed and cleaned the river rock under the deck, and put it back into place after setting the posts
• Perfectly resetting the paving stones and brick edging around the steps
• Having a trailer for debris on-site every day that was hauled away each evening
Now that you know what I expected, I’m sorry to report that NONE of these is the case with our deck installation.
Other items that need to be re-worked:
• The edges of the siding are totally messed up in places.
• In addition to not managing the electrical work, one of the outlet boxes and its connecting cable were buried under the step at the east end of the deck.
• The carefully placed trim around the base of the roof awning support posts was torn out and apparently discarded and not replaced.
• After discussing this with 2 different materials engineers, the standard seems to be that southern yellow pine should only be used if well dried (as determined by weight). Using it un-dried guarantees shrinking that will cause severe splitting, and breaking of screws.