Pittsburgh Dock Repair

This was my second time using Sweet Success. When I purchased my home, a second story wood deck was unfinished. Sweet Success sanded the entire deck, replaced numerous warped and loose spindels, and painted the deck with outdoor deck & dock paint. They worked quickly, communicated when issues arose, and left the area/yard clean when they left.

Chris originally told me they would start at the end of September or beginning of October but, when there was a delay with another job, they actually started August 23. They always started at either 7 or 8 AM. There were usually five or six trucks in my driveway. I had a big project and odds and ends that took two weeks to complete. I have two decks, 18’ x 24’ and 12’ x 8’, that are about 27 years old. They were showing their age - some boards were loose, steps were no longer attached, one board was rotted, railings were loose, etc. The top layer of the pergola was in bad shape - the person who had previously power washed and stained for me just refused to get up there to do anything with it, so it was pretty black and disgusting. Chris advised that it would be a lot cheaper to just remove that layer, rather than sand it down and paint it. I didn’t need it for the shade so that’s what they did. He advised that instead of staining, to use Dock and Deck paint that should last at least 5-6 years without needing anything. They replaced deck screws, added supports (they even framed in a couple of supports on the main deck floor to make them look better), sanded all the wood and painted everything. They covered my plants while they painted. I have a plastic shed that was pretty dirty. I had tried to power wash it in the past but with poor results. Chris also tried power washing but then used his house cleaning formula and now it looks like new. They power-washed my sidewalks - what a difference! Nothing had been done with my garage since it was built in 1956. They repaired the holes in the drywall, removed old shelving, framed in the glass block window, covered an old air duct that was stuffed with bricks, installed attic stairs to provide access to the storage above the garage (until now I had to put up a ladder to a little door on the outside of the garage), added some flooring to prevent anyone from falling through, cleaned the garage floor, stained the cement block and painted the drywall. They installed new lighting, new shelving, a tool organizer, and a bumper pad. They even installed a tennis ball on a rope as a guide for parking. I’m no longer embarrassed for anyone to see the garage. My mudroom needed an overhaul. They repaired a cement step, painted the walls, ceiling, door, trim and floor. Chris was very helpful with color choice and types of paint. They removed the existing coat hooks and installed new shelving, A previous bad paint job had left white paint on red brick in several places. Chris was able to camouflage it with red paint. The doors on my shed weren't closing properly and the double door was pulling apart from the frame. Houston had to try several different things but I now have doors that open and close easily. The shed had some rot at the bottom so they put a cedar frame around the bottom - it looks like new. They hung my house number, sanded and painted the wrought iron railing, sanded and painted the front door step, and repaired a large crack in the cement that went from column to column (and did it in the original pattern). They painted the Hurricane door and steps leading to the basement. They replaced some stained ceiling tiles in my basement. I had a closet under my basement steps that had never been finished - the left side was brick and there was a post from floor to ceiling. They completely finished off the closet and even added cove molding for a better appearance. There was some very bad plasterwork at the bottom of the walls above my basement stairs. They repaired that and painted the walls a lighter color which made a big difference in the amount of brightness in the stairwell. I have a dusk to dawn light on a 14 foot pole that has been leaning at about a 10 degree angle since my daughter backed into it years ago. Chris was able to tie a rope around it and pull it with his truck to a near perfect upright position. All of the workers (Chris, Houston, Greg, Keandre, Jake, Paul, Chester) were very pleasant, respectful, answered all of my questions, and addressed my concerns. There were a couple of things that they said if they tried to fix them, they would come out worse, so they didn’t. The leftover paint was all labeled. I had a lot of sawdust and some plaster dust to contend with, but I expected that. Total cost was $24,842. It was more than what I originally envisioned for everything, but I hadn’t foreseen the need to sand down all the wood. Now my decks are like new, solid, and I’m happy with the color. Chris gave me advice on what to use to maintain the decks, instead of power washing. About 2 weeks after completion we had a heavy rain and one of the main deck floor boards popped up. Also, some lattice work became loose when I was blowing leaves. I called Chris and he came that weekend to correct both issues. It feels good to finally get a bunch of things taken off my to-do list! I had planned to attach pictures but apparently I can't do that on this site. If you want someone who’s going to show up and do what they promise, call Sweet Success Contractors.