Lowes Home Improvement Lowes of Kentwood Deck installation nightmare. Kentwood Michigan

I hired Lowes to replace an existing attached deck off of the second level of my condo.  I was so exicted to have this project completed and unfortunately thought because Lowes was in the Home Improvement industry, they would have access to the best of the best contractors.  I WAS SO WRONG!  Dealing with Lowes has been a complete NIGHTMARE!

Prior to the signing of the contract, I questioned the Lowes Installed Sales professional about the materials that would be used to build the deck.  He refused to give me a material list stating that it wasn't possible.  I didn't understand this because I had a previous Installed Sales person who had no problem giving me a materials listing.  I knew that it would be an estimated listing but I wanted to make sure that the builder was using the materials that I wanted to be used for the deck and make changes as necessary.  Not wanting to give me the materials list should have been my first red flag.

I soon discovered why they didn't want to give me a materials list.  When the materials were delivered, it was pretty obvious to me that more materials were needed to build a deck.  When I questioned Lowes about this, they stated that the person back in the installed sales area stated that the builder was allowed to use their own materials.  I then wanted to know why that wasn't spelled out in the contract.  I was led to belive that I was buying materials from Lowes which would be used to build my deck.  Then I finally caught on.  The builder was trying to use as little materials as possible to increase his profit margin.

That was the beginning of the nightmare.  The builder did several questionable things which led me to question Lowes about the competence of the builder before the project was even started.  The builder builder pulled flashing that stated right on the front label "Not For Use With Pressure Treated Wood".  Well, hello?  My deck was being built with pressure treated wood.The wood was also not delivered in time to be acclimated properly and no connectors, screws, concrete, or concrete tubes were included in the materials delivered.

Next I discovered that the builder had not pulled the building permit before he began tearing down my existing deck.  This was soon rectified, but then I discovered that he didn't submit the proper plans.  The builder proceeded to do everything wrong.  He dug post holes and didn't call for an inspection but tried to get permission to not build the holes to the proper depth over the phone.  He succeeded, but I contacted the State L.A.R.A. to deal with that situation as well as the head of the local building inspections.  The builder proceeded to fill the holes and build the rest of the deck before he got proper approval. He lied to me about getting permission to finish building and proceeded to build the deck.  When a deck inspector did come out on my urgent phone call, the builder was told that the footings were improper and had to be redone.  By this time the deck was pretty much complete.

I hadn't let this situation just go by without complaint to Lowes.  I contacted them before the building started and when I noticed that he didn't dig the deck footings to the proper depth.  I not only called the store, I went to the store and talked to the manager in person as well as called their corporate office customer complaint line and sent a Certified letter by mail. 

The deck builder was incompetent to say the least.  I had a ledger board that wasn't flush to the building and he tried to tell me that the wall "curved".  Funny, the original builder didn't have that problem.  He told me that the post holes couldn't be dug deeper because there was concrete underneath one of the previous posts.  Well, it could have been removed had he been using the proper equipment, and the city building inspector agreed with me.  He didn't attach the ledger board with the proper screws and didn't place them in a zig zag pattern.  He gave me a railing that had too much give when it was handled.  There was a crack in the stringer for the stairs.  The stairs were sitting 8 inches off of the concrete landing. My supporting posts were not the 6" x6" that were specified in the contract.   It was just a nightmare from beginning to end.  Even before he finished the project he sent some of his crew over to take the "excess" wood that he ordered but obviously never planned on using for my deck.

I finally had enough of this builder and called Lowes and demanded that he leave the premises.  They tried to insist that he had a right to finish the project.  I disagreed.  They did call the installer and told him to leave the premises.  Three people from Lowes did come out and review the work that the builder did. 

The deck was so poorly built that they tore the whole thing down to have it rebuilt.  But then, another nightmare started.  The builder they sent to build the deck hardly ever shows up and isn't building the deck to the dimensions that were agreed to.  So Lowes have left me with a sliding glass door to a 9ft or more drop.  A huge safety issue.   What is that sound?  A bell ringing?  I guess it's round two.