The following is in regards to my dispute with Nu-Again Deck and Fence Remewal co.
We paid them $1250 and 8 months later we needed to have the job totally redone and it may cost up to double because the first job needs to be stripped and then redone.
Summary of issues:
Work took 6 weeks. Took most of the summer, lost use of the deck.
Preparation and application was not done correctly.
Stain paint began bubbling within 4 weeks of the last application
Stain paint not sufficiently hard enough and easily scratches when walked on.
Deck surface has 4 areas peeling after first warm weekend at end of March (8 months later).
Obtained another contractors opinion in October confirming issue with scratching and peeling.
Nu-AGAIN president, Nathan Rothlisberger has denied any responsibility for poor preparation and stain paint hardness resulting in scratching and bubbling.
Mr. Rothlisberger will not return our phone calls.
Summary of Proposal & Dispute
Contractor guaranteed 3yr finish. Deck is pealing, scratching and scuffing from inadequate preparation and defective materials. Surrounding windows, house siding, landscaping, and landscape boulder have overspray. Contractor has refused to follow through on guarantee and has not corrected damage by overspray.
Proposal - Estimate Sheet and Bid Proposal and Brochure outlined the following work to be completed
3yr Warranty any color Premium Service
o Cleaning
o Surface Prep
Sanding-Light Sanding of affected areas
Protect & cover work area
o Flood Solid Stain applied
o We Guarantee improved appearance & durability of your exterior surfaces for years to come.
O Price for services was $1250,50% down payment
Dispute
3yr Warranty any color Premium Service
o Cleaning
Surface was wet when stain was applied due to rain. Contractor did not wait for surface to dry after rain.
O Surface preparation
Light sanding of affected areas was expected. Brochure states this and contractor verbally communicated it would be done. Work was not completed due to workers not having proper tools. One worker had a piece of sandpaper and wood block. Worker communicated that their power tools were broken. They spent a couple of hours hand sanding. The deck is about 400 square feet and entire surface was not lightly sanded. When discussed with contractor he told us it is not necessary to sand all areas. This was different than what was communicated in bid.
Brochure shows picture of power sanding.
Contractor crew power sander broken and not available.
Surface had thick white residue from stain separation after application due to wet surface and additional rain. Residue was a white powder.
Protect and cover work area Significant overspray on house, windows, surrounding plants, and landscape boulder. Contactor repainted affected areas of house but windows and boulder area still have stain overspray. The boulder was white and now it is brown.
O Flood Stain Applied - Finished product is not durable and is pealing after one month.
3 applications were made due to inability of contractor to achieve quality finish.
Issues with applications include:
Stain separation due to moisture
Stain separation left white powder residue. Contractor made additional application over residue.
Finish was not hard enough to prevent reasonable scratching and scuffing. Finish looks 5 years old after one month. Contractor stain supplier representative was sent out to investigate because contractor could not explain or correct issue.
Finish scratches and scuffs with finger, shoes, etc.
Finish is bubbling and pealing
o "We Guarantee improved appearance & durability of your exterior surfaces for years to come."
Contractor has refused to do any more work and is fulfilling guarantee.
Contractor will not correct oversprayed areas.
O Price for services was $1250,50% down payment
We would like to revoke payment of the down payment of $625.
Evaluation by third party confirms quality is poor and deck needs to be redone. Quote is for $595 to refinish scratching and pealing areas. (See quote from Haugland Bros Carpet & Wood Care)
More serious of issue is that the deck really needs to be stripped and refinished completely because it is expected that after winter the surface will peel in sheet and this requires a complete sanding to bare wood to prepare it properly.
Bottom line is that this contractors work has caused damage to the deck that may ultimately cost us more to repair than the his bill.
Steve Chandler Page 2
853 Huntleigh Dr.
Naperville, IL 60540
Additional Background information:
Nu-Again Deck Refinishers issue
Scope: $1250 3 year guaranteed deck refinishing.
6/29/06 Contracted with down payment of $625.00.
First coat
About 7/07/06 Crew spent 2 hours with hand sand blocks preparing. Then applied half the paint due to supplier not having enough. Did not remove sanding debrie
About 7/10/06 Crew applied new coat of paint that was wrong color. Spoke with Nate (owner) who assured me everything is being done perfectly.
Second Coat
About 7/21/06 Second full coat that was rained on resulting in white powder covering the entire surface. The boulder was completely oversprayed, there was deck paint on house siding. Spoke to Nate who again assured me there are not problems and work is at standard.
Third Coat
07/28/06 Crew applied coat without preparing and removing white suffactant. Resulted in surface that easily scratches (white). Surface looked years old after one week.
8/08/06 Called Nate to ask what the status of the project was. He told me he thought they were done and it was a surprise they weren't. Discussed the scratching situation and asked him to look at deck. Nate reviewed it and agreed that there was an issue and he had never seen it before. He would follow-up with his supplier. I inquired about why the furniture and other items had not been returned to deck if he thought they finished. He said that they do not normally return furniture and other items to deck except in special circumstances when a client requests it. I asked him to return all items and consider it special then and he agreed.
Fourth Coat
8/14/06 Nate called to tell me he determined the scratching problem was the base used in mixing the paint and that he could not come out that day because they needed time to mix new color. I asked him if the bases of number 3,2, and 1 were all the same. Nate confirmed they were. I asked why coats number one and two did not scratch since if the base was the issue? Nate said he could not answer that.
8/15/06 Fourth coat applied and crew told my wife that they were the A team to fix problems. They also told my wife that the owner Nate had created a bonus system that incented previous crews to increase production and that was why the previous crew did not do a good job.
8/25/06 Issues that remain:
Overspray on windows, siding, landscape plants and boulder.
Surface pealing, bubbling, scratching and scuffing.in 1 week deck looks a year old.
6/24/08 Issues that remain:
Nathan has not returned my calls since August
Deck is peeling and rotting due to water under peeling stain paint
Nathan's crew did not return wood cover for hose storage taken to match color originally.
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