All-Craft Reviews (%countItem)
All-Craft Rating
Address: 302 Bluewater Road Unit 1, Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada, B4B 1J6
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All craft decks and sunrooms did a wonderful and efficient job of building a back deck for us. We were especially pleased with the quality of the materials used and the workmanship. Thank you to Brian and JR for a job well done.
Quick, professional, and lovely to deal with.
Job very well done.
We are so pleased with our new verandah and roof overhang. The team from All-Craft were courteous, efficient and put in a full days work every day to finish the project in a timely manner. They answered any questions we had and happy to recommend landscapers to finish the Job. It was really great to see that they left the site neat and clean every night before going home. We would highly recommend All-Craft and look forward to dealing with them in the future.
We hired All-Craft to carry out extensive renovations in a 2000+ sq.ft. condo. The work was completed to the highest standards of workmanship and quite frankly exceeded our expectations. The scope of work was extended after they started and Justin and his team accommodated our requests in a very professional manner. The work included updating our kitchen with new quartz countertops new lighting and painting all the cabinets and doors. Painting the entire unit and replacing the hardwood and tile flooring plus adding additional storage and cabinets. In addition we wanted a wine wall as a feature. Justin designed and built an amazing temperature controlled wine wall. There does not seem to be anything this team cannot do. The professionalism, quality of work and work ethic of All-Craft is outstanding. We would highly recommend them to anyone wanting a first class job done. They are a breath of fresh air in a profession that has more than its share of cowboys.
Jim & Barbara Reid
We had a large pool deck built. The deck looks great, however it was not built on a properly prepared surface and is shifting around every year. It has shifted up and down around the separate hot tub deck causing a tripping hazard, which the company has fixed twice now, hopefully this second fix will last, but it caused a new issue with the adjacent deck leading to our house being lifted on one side and making it sloped and the step from it to the ground not being stable and I had to put shims under it to prevent it from moving when stepped on.
The gap to the pool has never been consistent around the pool. We had pointed it out at the final inspection, but it was more acceptable at that time, and the owner noted in the Punch List "Client to contact if area between deck and pool become issue". The gap has now changed greatly over 2 years, the company had to cut the boards back twice in one spot to prevent it from damaging our pool. Now this year, in a different spot, the gap has increased to the point our dog's leg has fell into it and hurting him. Had he fell into the pool, it would possible have broken his leg. My wife's arm can fit between the pool and deck.
The deck has sunk into the ground so much that the lattice skirting on one side is being buckled outward and the low point dip in the edge of the deck is quite noticeable by eye.
The owner is now refusing to fix any of these issues, stating such things as:
"We installed a very stable base below your pool and pool deck with the surge rock, grade A gravel and crusher dust, did everything we could to reduce the possibility of the soil moving below the deck footings as it expands and settles. "
“damage caused by natural wear and tear, acts of God not covered".
"It is impossible to construct a wood deck that will not move with the changing of seasons"
He did not tell us the the last statement when we were first beginning this renovation. We were replacing our previous deck due to this shifting caused by being built on an inadequate base. He assured us this new deck would be built on a proper base to minimize any movement and that the gap between the pool and deck would be consistent around the pool.
We told him that he was correct in that there is a very well drained base of surge rock and gravel under our pool, but it is only a 24' diameter circle and the blocks further from this area are placed only on a skim of crusher dust over raw earth, which was greatly disturbed during construction. This is why our pool is very stable but the deck is not. We even sent a close up picture of a deck block showing the earth beneath it crumbling and being washed away, with one corner actually not even touching the ground. We invited him to come take a look for himself and to check other blocks but he has refused and closed his last email with, "Sorry we could not be of more help,"
The pool deck constructed for *** was built under a building permit and complies or exceeds the National Building Code of Canada regulations. The issue that is occurring with the pool deck is not covered under warranty due to it occurring as a result of the temperature changes that happen in Nova Scotia, see attached "Frost Heave and Deck Footings" article. This has been explained to *** numerous times. As sign of high customer service we have made the adjustments to the deck in previous years at no charge to ***, but we cannot continue to make the corrections each year when the circumstances that are occurring are normal with a wood constructed structure built on the surface of the soil in Nova Scotia. Both the soil and lumber expand and contract with the changing of temperatures every year. As per the e-mail from *** the movement in the height of the deck in approx. 1/2" is minimal in comparison, if our roads only moved that little due to frost heaves and sink holes are roads would be a much more level surface to drive on.
https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/frozenground/how_fg_forms.html
As per e-mail of August 22nd sent by ***:
"""In looking back at the pics, we can see in November 2016 the deck was about 1/2" higher than the pool where the stairs are now installed. In June 2018, it was flush, and now in August 2018 it is about 1/2" below the pool."""
The pool deck was constructed on pre-cast concrete deck blocks which are placed on the surface of the soil. The issue that occurs is the when the soil freezes it expands and when the frost leaves the ground it settles. This is what is making the surface of the deck move by the 1/2" indicated by ***. The above ground pool has a significantly greater weight load on the soil surface and it has a much greater area of coverage spread across the soil so it reacts less to the soil movement than the 12" square concrete deck block. Th result when having two structures (pool and pool deck) being constructed in such a close proximity with two different reactions to the frost entering and leaving the soil the ability to see a difference is greater. If a wood deck structure is built unattached to a house and built on concrete deck blocks "free standing" it will move but if it does not have an above ground pool to be compared to for movement it would never be noticed that the deck has reacted to the frost that has entered the soil below the deck blocks.
I am rejecting this response because:
Firstly, let me start off by correcting Mr Johnson's constant referral to movements of 1/2". We have had more than twice this settling in places around this deck, including around the hot tub where the entire thickness and more of a 1" deck board was exposed, causing a tripping hazard which both myself and my wife had tripped on and fell into the deck wall and hurt our toes while getting into the hot tub.The deck blocks Mr Johnson are referring to did not have any gravel for drainage beneath them to at least MINIMIZE frost effects. I have built decks in the past where I placed deck blocks directly on the ground and have had these same issues, however, I also built decks and sheds in the past where I excavated a 12" of soil below the deck blocks and then filled with clear gravel for drainage and have not had any issues with these decks. I have also been on many other decks, including pool decks where there is a pool to relate to, and have never seen this issue, if the deck blocks were set on a patio stone with a 12" base of gravel beneath them. Our original deck, built by the non-professional previous home owner, was having all these shifting issues. Upon consultation with Mr Johnson, before tearing down our original deck and starting this new construction, he stated the shifting was occurring due to the deck blocks having no proper base for drainage beneath them. He assured us that they would set the blocks on the new deck with a better base to prevent this shifting. He also stated the gap between the pool and deck would be consistent to 1/4" around the entire circumference of the pool. He has not lived up to this and built the deck no better than the previous, non professional, home owner. We were promised and expected so much more from a company that specializes in Decks and Sunrooms.Mr Johnson stated that they have "fixed" the issue of settling around the hot tub deck twice now. The first time they used shims under the posts to raise the deck, but it settled over an inch again over the next winter/spring. This year, he agreed that the first fix in summer 2017 was not going to alleviate the problem permanently, so they then removed the deck blocks around the hot tub deck and then installed 18"x 18" patio pads on a bed of clear gravel and placed the deck blocks on these pads. This shows that he does believe that placing the blocks on patio stones with a bed of gravel beneath them, will greatly help in these issues, but continues to deny that doing this for the remaining blocks will help our problems. Although this may fix our problem around the hot tub deck, it has caused issues with the platform between the pool deck and house, which he is also refusing to fix.The increasing gap between our pool and deck has also been brought the Mr Johnson's attention. The Punch List at the end of this project clearly states "Client to contact if area between deck and pool becomes issue" . We have done so, but he is refusing to do anything about this problem. The gap is so wide that our dog has had his hind leg fall into it causing him to limp for several hours. Had he fell into the pool, there was a great chance he would have broken his leg. We had to cover this gap using pool noodles to prevent our dog injuring himself badly.Mr Johnson is also refusing to come to the site to inspect all these issues in person.I have attached images showing the inadequate base beneath the deck blocks, the damage to the skirting caused by the shifting, the damage to our platform step caused by their fix to the deck around the hot tub in 2018, and the increasing gap between the pool and deck, through which my wife can fit her arm up to her forearm, and our desperate fix using pool noodles to prevent our dog from injuring himself badly by falling in this gap again. I have also attached a PDF of the Punch List, highlighting the statement about the area between the pool and deck.This is why his answer is unacceptable.