February 2007 we met Hickory Dickory Decks at the home show and quickly inked a contract to build a deck and back fence. We were thrilled with the unique design for the deck.
One of the things that helped us with choosing Hickory Dickory Decks was that it was part of a larger organization. We were told that this allowed them to use resources in various areas should there be a need. This should have allowed them to meet their commitments.
The ground was broken April 23 and last nail went into the deck the first week of June. That was a long time for a job that was estimated to take 7 days. The carpenter would show up and work one day, or half a day, and then not show up for a week in spite of good weather. We would then call Ray Tierney of Hickory Dickory Decks Etobicoke to find out the status and when the carpenter would work on our deck. Commitments would be made and missed. No follow-up came from Ray.
Once completed we pointed out that the deck was squeaky. We were told they were investigating this with their head carpenter and they would get back to us. Many follow-up calls and notes went unanswered. We also noted that the composite deck material had bleached out in color. Luckily the decking material needed replacement from the manufacturer (because of the colour bleaching) and this led us to have the joist caps removed (which were causing the squeaking). We were later told that the two materials had not been used together before and were not used for subsequent deck purchasers. After much follow-up we finally had the decking materials replaced in November 2007.
The story does not end... in replacing the deck material they forgot to replace the material on the top of the railings, which was of the same substandard composite deck material. So back we go to the company to get this fixed. As I write this, this is the end of January 2008, almost a year from when we inked the original contract. All but one piece of the railing has now been replaced. I hope that it will get done...
The biggest frustration in dealing with Ray Tierney of Hickory Dickory Decks Etobicoke was the unresponsiveness and lack of follow-up. Commitments would be made and not kept. There were no calls made to us to let us know what was going on; we had to initiate all communication. We had to go to the head office many times to get resolution.
We would definitely not recommend this company... it was much easier to renovate our house (bathrooms, kitchen and structural changes) compared to getting a deck built by Hickory Dickory Decks Etobicoke!!!