A-DIYReviews of a-diy.com

I’m a DIY creator with a background in construction, and I paid full price for this deck kit with no partnership or discount. I was excited about the concept of a deck that ships to your door, but my experience fell well short of what’s advertised. Delivery: The driver went to the wrong location first, then wasn’t equipped to unload the pallet. He asked us to help move a roughly 1,200 lb pallet off the truck and push it up the street on a dolly, and even flagged down a passerby to help. That’s a safety and liability issue, and not what I expected from a company that advertises full-service delivery. Product quality: Five boards arrived split and damaged. Once I started installing the deck planks, I found that a majority had pink marks from packaging tape and green paint splatters. The company first told me this was a “treatment” that would fade, even though my photos clearly showed otherwise. They later acknowledged the pink marks came from their packaging tape, and then described the green paint as “deeper, greenish knots” rather than what my photos showed. Kit and instructions: Many pieces were unlabeled, mislabeled, or labeled differently than the key in the instructions. The instructions don’t mention pre-drilling, don’t cover preparing a base for the Tuff Blocks, and the ground-prep measurements don’t match where the blocks end up, so we had to re-dig and re-level. Joist tape isn’t included, so I bought my own. Customer service: The company advertises excellent customer service, but I had to follow up on every issue. My original feedback sat “under review” with a designated team and was never answered. I asked for a discount in place of replacement boards, and instead was offered replacements for a problem I hadn’t described. I sent a detailed follow-up laying out each issue and requesting a resolution. As of this review, I haven’t received a response. Bottom line: The concept is great, but between the quality control problems, the delivery experience, and the lack of follow-through, I can’t recommend this kit at this price. I would gladly update this review if the company resolves these issues.

Estes shipping did not have correct phone number, which caused an unnecessary one week delay. Overall time from order to actual delivery was 6 weeks. Shipment was missing the main structural support beams and due to time constraints caused by late shipment it was necessary to purchase pressure treated 4x6 lumber to build up beams. According to instructions, angle bracket hardware for joists should have been mounted to joists. Instead it was completely missing. I'm still waiting on a supposed refund for 4x6 and hardware purchase which if I ever recieve it, by no means justifies the units price. Originally ordered kit early in 3rd week of June. Kit wasn't at my residence until late July. This whole debacle was actually a shame. This idea of shipping a fully engineered deck design, complete with ALL hardware is novel and should be capable of success if and only if the product surpasses expectations. It obviously failed miserably on that account.

Bad materials quality - no matching the instructions - deck is slightly smaller than I bought - wood pieces do not match the assembly, i had to improvise some pieces - screws bending so easily. Not worth the price.

The instructions were not accurate and were all based on a wood deck not a composite deck. The deck is designed and the instructions are for a deck placed out in an open space not up against another structure. The composite deck boards did not fit in the wood structure so the deck boards had to be cut. The deck clips were not the correct size to enable the deck boards to fit in the structure so we had to buy other deck clips. The delivery of the deck took way more time than what they tell you when you purchase the deck. The deck boards materials are good quality and the concept of having the wood structure already cut was a good concept. Overall I would not recommend this product to others.

The kit was not as easy as advertised. The directions are not accurate. Had to email, text and call for assistance over 15 times. Some wood pieces were bent and did not fit properly. Planks did not line up, I sent multiple pictures showing all the issues. I am not satisfied with the product, but it would be to much to return so I guess 6,000 dollars was wasted. we now hope my deck is secure because the planks would not fit correctly no matter all the different ways they suggest we place them.eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The customer service is excellent. The product is probably really good in any region that has high humidity. I live in Colorado and our humidity on a humid day is 16%. My boards were delivered and it was about 2 weeks they sat out before i was able to get to the building stage. The deck i ordered was extremely large, 12’x56’. The beams are huge. Probably 6”x6” square. And the joists are 2x8s. Our deck required a total of 21 beams and 98 joists. At least 6 of the beams became extremely twisted and approximately 12-14 joists had to be shimmed to bring it to level before the flooring could be laid. Their method of treating the lumber only works in a higher humidity environment. Their decks are not recommended for anyone that lives in an area of 25% humidity or less.