Does A Former Building Inspector Leaves His Reputation on the Floor?

Does Don Moore place his own reputation on the line by writing a recommendation letter for Deck Tech?
I think so...what's your opinion?


I got a copy of a letter of recommendation that "former building inspector" Don Moore wrote on behalf of Deck Tech.

It was written in December 2015, shortly after the Attorney General's office filed an accusation against Deck tech. Did Don bother to check their license status? Probably not, but that's an important detail, knowing that their license status has a black mark on it with an accusation. That means the State considers Deck tech a possible menace to consumers based on what evidence they have in an ongoing case. Accusations don't get made everyday Don, an important thing to know. It makes you look dumb IMO.

Speaking of the accusation, Don writes that Deck Tech would come in to obtain permits; funny, this is one of the things they have been accused of failing to do. Don also assures us that our perspective is wrong, saying "You could rest assured that he has done the best job possible no matter your perspective..." Huh? Don, ake a look at this website and you'll see lots of their failing jobs. Want to drive around with me? I'll show you.

It's my opinion that city building inspectors should not provide recommendations to contractors, whether or not they are retired or active. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth especially when Don makes statements that are unprovable, like "Ron has been able to pretty much been able to obtain being the premier deck coating contractor on the central coast."

My opinion is Don Moore threw his reputation on the floor for Deck Tech, who could believe him when the contractor he wrote this for has been accused of six violations of the Business & Professions code, has had their license suspended several times for lack of workers compensation insurance and in general Don knows nothing about? The letter almost seems written by Deck Tech and Don signed it, the writing is choppy and poor...

What is your opinion? Should building officials write recommendations or not? Let us know, Tweet to @deck_expert

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!

Decktech's Failed Granite Deck System Gets Replaced at Spyglass Condos on Solano in Shell Beach

FAILED NCS GRANITE DECK ON CARPORT ROOFING REPLACED WITH CONVENTIONAL ROOF, OCEAN SIDE DECKS ALL REDONE WITH NEW FLASHING/GRANITE DECK

MANAGER EXPRESSES EXASPERATION AFTER YEARS OF STRUGGLING TO GET DECKTECH TO BACK UP IT'S PROMISES

The Spyglass Condo's on Solano in Shell Beach recently got their decks repaired after years of chasing Decktech to back up their warranty. The HOA manager expressed her dissatisfaction with DeckTech, only saying they wouldn't be bidding other work of her clients...

No wonder, it's been only about 4 years since DeckTech applied Granite Deck on this building and the carport roof failed in short order and the decks facing the ocean had rusted flashings and failing decks. So finally in the last few months, Decktech came back out and fixed these failing NCS decks. 

IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH YOUR GRANITE DECK SYSTEM, YOU ARE URGED TO FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE CSLB FOR A POSSIBLE DEFECT CLAIM. SINCE DECKTECH SOLD THIS MATERIAL AS "UNLIKE ANY OTHER" AND HYPED THE PRODUCT, SOLD IT HARD AND HAS NOW BACKED OFF PROMOTING IT, THE QUESTION HAS BEEN RAISED...IS THAT FRAUD TO SELL SOMETHING IT'S NOT? 

LOOK AT DECKTECH'S WEBSITE, NOT A MENTION OF GRANITE DECK EXISTS ANYWHERE, NO MENTION OF NCS, NADA, ZIP ZILCH! YOU MAKE THE CONNECTION. 

Photo taken 4 18 2013 This failed NCS Granite Deck system on the carport is long gone,
replaced by a real roof system 

Screen Grab from Decktech's old website-ironically titled
"Spyglass HQ Finish" 

4 18 2013, the flashing is rusting. Failure has begun. 

 4 18 13 Closeup of roof over carport failing. 

Photo taken 9 11 14 Rusting encapsulated flashings. 

Jan 2016, new flashings and crap coatings replace the old failing crap

New coating on ocean decks

Screen Grab from Decktech's website
Haha, that's a lie...it fails in short order!

Got Problems With Your DechTech Deck? You Are Not Alone...Despite What They Say

Decktech loves to crow about their satisfied clients...pushing some it seems to write rather stilted reviews on Yelp and for their website. If you visit DeckTech.org.testimonials you'd think you found gold based on the "reviews".

Well behind every testimonial there's usually a unhappy customer or two here and there...but with Decktech...well lets just say that the "Warranty List" of DeckTech's that we got is, er how to say, rather extensive...

Every company has a few clients that needs "warranty work" but the list of 22 names we got is a lot...makes us wonder what's going on. This list of 22 names comes from a high ranking employee in the company who passed it on to us...

You may wonder too, and before you just run off and buy something because it sounds really good (remember, if it's too good to be true, it is) maybe you should review the unhappy client list of DeckTech's and talk to these clients and see if they would use them again...

WARRANTY LIST

1.) Bonnie Mello 290 5th Street Grover Beach.
2.) Steve Freyaldenhoven 5896 Birkdale Lane SLO
3.) Jerry & Kim Scott 1110 Button Sage way Arroyo Grande
4.) Christa Lowry 542 Via La Barranca Arroyo Grande
5.) Janene Cooper 3560 Studio Drive Cayucos
6.)
7.) Arlene Stone 1320 Pineridge Morro Bay  New overlay on decks coming
8.)
9.)                       1380 Foxenwoods
10.) Gary Beatson 539 Palos Seco Arroyo Grande Had warranty work done in 2014, needs more in 2015
11.) Maggie Woodward Avila Beach
12.) Sherri & Bob Ruiz 1192 San Sebastian Court Grover Beach  Job notes show Sherri is a pain in the ass.
13.) Lynn Bjoklund 1893 Laurel Place Cambria
14.) Robert & Lauri Davis 6480 Rocky Canyon Atascadero
15.) Steve Guichard 8555 Corriente Road Atascadero
16.) Bob Cochran 285 Lawrence San Luis Obispo
17.) Candy Davis 40 St Mary Street Cayucos
18.) IFixIt 1330 Monterey St San Luis Obispo
19.) Connie Main 1239 Aberdeen Grover Beach
20.)
21.) Randy Voss    Christine Way Pismo Beach

Read the Suit Against DeckTech Inc Here

The suit filed against DeckTech Inc has been served on September 23rd and the full document is now available here at this link
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t1hmhml1lfyyhnx/full%20lawsuit%20filing.pdf?dl=0

Read the whole suit at the link above. 

You can open and read it or download a copy for yourself free.

No reply to the suit has been filed yet, check back on a later date, probably after October 23rd is when a response will be made.

CSLB has also separately referred this complaint to the Attorney General's office for prosecution of DeckTech's license to be suspended or revoked.
7124.6. (a) The registrar shall make available to members of the
public the date, nature, and status of all complaints on file against
a licensee that do either of the following:
(1) Have been referred for accusation.
(2) Have been referred for investigation after a determination by
board enforcement staff that a probable violation has occurred, and
have been reviewed by a supervisor, and regard allegations that if
proven would present a risk of harm to the public and would be
appropriate for suspension or revocation of the contractor's license
or criminal prosecution.

We got some pictures of the job, tell us what you think...

Large gap, tile high on one side, poor detailing.

Poor job covering back of tile

Not enough mud to bond tile.

Demo'd area 

Thin membrane appears to be less than the minimum required by the
manufacturer's own written specifications. 

A second place demo'd reveals the same issue, not enough coating applied. 

Shell Beach Tile Deck Failure

We looked at a job done by DeckTech in Shell Beach CA. Similar story to the others, only a year or two old and already major issues on this high end home. Owner reports they filed a complaint with CSLB.

 Gray area is a "repair" DeckTech made to the previously applied and failing

Granite Deck Under Tile Membrane. They used plain old urethane and tried tying 

into the polyurea materials. What a joke...

 Yellowish material is Granite Deck material and you can see it peeling back. 

 Here is a close up of the peeling material

 Water intruded at the door area and you can see the result-RUSTED flashing

 I can pop the crap right of with a fingernail under an edge. 

 Large numbers of splits in the Granite Deck membrane are clearly marked. 

Tile over Deck Tech's membrane popped off with very little effort. 

Almost all of the grout came off too, stuck to the tile.  

Decktech's Granite Deck Failures at Pismo Beach Medical Center

Just a few years old, the building owned by Coastal Community Builders at 2 James Way in Pismo Beach has walkways and a lobby coated with Decktech's Granite Deck system...and it's already had major repairs done!

DeckTech appears to have made some  repairs to the job, but they don't match and the repairs look terrible! As this is a medical building, we'd call this terminal!

Check out the pics we took a couple weeks ago of the repaired areas. DeckTech says their stuff will last years or "even decades", but we're betting it lasts less than that judging from it's performance so far. Is this an example of what you can expect from Granite Deck and Decktech's work? Maybe you better think about using other products and companies?

Go check it out for yourself if you are in the area.

 Seam showing signs of failure. 

 I don't even wanna know what this is called as a repair

 Lobby area on second floor with large area of repairs

 Lousy match

DeckTech's "Granite Deck" - The Truth About Their NCS/Nevada Coating System

DeckTech likes to brag about the NCS Granite Deck System, short for Nevada Coatings System ( http://www.nevadacoatings.com/), talking about it's elongation properties and how they are only one of a few applicators in the state of CA approved to install this material.

Well they are only one of a few applicators, the other applicator being the company owned by the owner of Nevada Coatings System, David Krubinski aka David Mazor. Mazor secretly owns WICR Inc (see wicrleaks.com). No one else wants to put this crap on your deck.

Most applicators of decking products install ICC-ES tested and evaluated systems such as Mer-Kote, Desert Brand, Life Deck, Westcoat, Pli-Dek, Excellent Coatings Duradek etc. This link tales you to ICC' website where bonafide decking systems are listed http://www.icc-es.org/Reports/index.cfm?csi_id=301&view_details You'll note that Nevada Coatings System is not listed here, for good reason...

 Sample of Granite Deck by Decktech.

Bucket of Carboline as found on a jobsite. 

The Nevada Coatings System Granite Deck material is actually manufactured by Carboline under Reactamine. It is a two part polyurea designed for steel and concrete, not plywood. The Carboline people say it could go on wood, but they don't have a specification for that. IT IS not tested or evaluated as a decking product, it is not listed as a Class A roof coating, it does not have any UL or ICC-ES evaluations for use as a decking product.

Polyurea is used in lining tanks, pipes, even in a different variant for truck beds. It can be very tough, when applied in a minimum thickness of 1/8"+ or more. When applied like what we find on Decktech jobs, it's usually failing. It is UV resistant but yellows when exposed to sun. That's why Decktech wants to reseal your deck every year, so it won't yellow.

The product will also burn when exposed to open flame. Toxic fumes are emitted when it burns, requiring firefighters to wear self contained breathing apparatus.

Supporting open flame with no combustible materials. 

With so many better and bonafide decking systems to choose from, we recommend that you pass on Granite Deck from Decktech.