IS IT FRAUD? North County Property Owner Feels Stuck in Granite Deck Hell

The owner of a property in the North County has told us of his problems with the Granite Deck system he bought from DeckTech Inc. apx five years ago. The owner, who prefers to remain anonymous, related his issues with the Granite Deck system, which continue to mount despite paying an exorbitant amount for the original job and then on the yearly on DeckTechs "Annual Deck Maintenance Agreement" fee.

A few of the issues he described-
1. Sees no value in the ADMA and has lost his faith in Decktech and knows the Granite Deck System life span is very limited.

2. Cracks/splits  every year on nearly every plywood seam, despite numerous warranty repairs.

3. Extremely difficult to clean.

4. Faded in the hot sun after one year.

5. "Warranty" repairs don't come close to matching existing work.

6. With each call to Decktech, DeckTech's response time to inspect and repair the NCS coating gets longer and longer.

Dead Granite Deck system on a roof in Cayucos 

lasted apx 1 year before splitting at the seams. 

Now ask yourself, how is your Granite Deck system holding up? If you have problems similar to the one described, it's time to start looking at options.

One question to consider is, are you the victim of consumer fraud? 

Well, lets look at the definition of Consumer Fraud then; "The defrauding of a consumer of various products and services which do not perform as advertised, or overcharging and levying hidden charges through deceptive business practices.

Well, this is an excellent question isn't it? If the advertised product doesn't perform as advertised...hmmm. Deceptive Business Practices-could be under this too, after all, the ADMA is supposed to make this crap last and it's not working...Decktech knows this and is hiding the fact the system is a disaster and needs to be resealed yearly to reduce UV damage. If it's not, it's gonna fail! Even if it is, it's gonna fail IMO.

Some possible options for you are-

File a claim with the CSLB for construction defects. There's a 10 year statute of limitations for "latent" defects in construction, that is, a defect not readily observable to the eye. If your deck is suffering from splits and cracks and fading, those are probably latent defects in the application of the system. File a complaint today!

File a claim with the Attorney General's office for fraudulent claims-Decktech said this coating was like no other and only select contractors could apply it and it was the answer to every other deck coating manufacturer's "problems". Obviously it's not and if it's failing now, it's going to continue to fail. Act accordingly.

Sue in Superior Court.

Write Yelp reviews telling the world what is wrong with your DeckTech deck.

What ever you do, don't wait, it's just going to get worse.

Call us for an evaluation of your DeckTech Granite Deck job, I've assisted and am assisting other Decktech clients who have had enough. Call me, Bill Leys at 801-2380 or email SLODeckInpsector@gmail.com

Groan...This is Good For a Cheap Laugh at Least! Memo to DT-Use Spellcheck!

"At DeckTech, Inc., we have built our reputation on detail-oriented work."

But on detail oriented writing, well, forget it...how long has Ron lived here in San Luis Obispo County and he can't get this right on his company Facebook page? Click here to view it and laugh with us at DT's FB page (til Ron can figure it out and get someone to spell check for him)

Good God, is there no one looking out for Ron to
prevent him from looking dumb?

Well, actually this blog pretty much dispels a lot of DeckTech's claims about detail oriented work doesn't it now? 

Avila Beach Client of DeckTech Says G'Bye to Granite Deck and Buries It Under a Tested & Proven Coating System

In September I inspected a large roof deck in Avila Beach for some possible maintenance work. It had Decktech's Granite Deck system on it, along with a "Annual Deck Maintenance Agreement" cost that was in the owners estimation, high in cost and low in value.

I found a Granite Deck system that was rapidly in decline-it got a lot of UV exposure up on a roof and it got a lot of use from guests and residents of the property.

                                                        Failing Granite Deck system

                                 Hard to clean and impossible to clean are two repeated complaints

Life Deck Al covers stairs of property

My discussion with the owner was to either maintain what you have until failure really sets in or consider an alternative. The owner set about calculating costs-Decktech's maintenance costs, doing it himself using Life Deck clear sealers bought at Miners Ace like Decktech does, or having the failing Granite Deck system buried (encapsulated, haha, away from the deleterious effects of the environment) under a new decking system.

After making those calculations, including costs of possible loss of use, rent, time etc, this owner quashed his Granite Deck costs by using another contractor besides Decktech to install a Life Deck AL system over the existing system. The Life Deck AL and other systems like it are good alternatives to the Granite Deck, being able to be stapled right through the thin Granite Deck membrane and the polymer concrete adheres well to the Granite Deck.

Once all the applications of Life Deck AL's system are down, the result is a concrete based system that resists UV far batter than Granite Deck ever hoped it could, is actually really fire resistant unlike DeckTech advertised Granite Deck is and has FAR LOWER costs to maintain than Granite Deck costs. Actually, the owner can easily CLEAN the Life Deck AL surface with nothing more than a broom, some Simple Green and warm water.

Life Deck AL, Westcoat ALX, Pli-Deck Fire system, Desert Crete etc are all concrete based systems that attach mechanically to the deck via stapling metal lath and then acrylic cements are troweled down. They are tested and evaluated pedestrian traffic coating systems, with ICC-ES reports behind them proving they are what they say they are. See if you can find any reports for Granite Deck, I can't! I will pay $100 to the first person who can produce a report on Granite Deck showing it is Class A ASTM E-108.

Corners are especially vulnerable to wear and damage, unlike real deck systems. 

Owners stuck with Granite Deck should start making their own calculations-like what happens when/if DeckTech's license is suspended or revoked? Who will maintain my DeckTech warranty then? If I'm paying $650 a year for an ADMA agreement like Doug Snyder is or $385 a year like Robert Miles is, both in Oceano, that's the cost of a new deck over 10 years time, $6,500 for Snyder...actually they should call this plan the Annual Sucker Agreement, because that is what you are when you pay an annual fee to them for them to "maintain" a piece of crap deck system.

Slowly but surely owners are coming to the round to accepting that they need to replace their Granite Deck system, either due to continued failures (or warranty repairs per DT) at seams in particular and that their ADMA is a costly luxury that would be better invested into a long term solution rather than keeping a dead deck system on Life Support.

Your turn to decide is coming soon!