finished deck...

This is the completed (by the contractors) project.  We will still need to power wash the posts and stain them in the spring.

After much frustration and arguments negotiations, this balcony or second floor deck cost us $5300 and took 6 months, start to finish.

The final issue ~ the white aluminum siding sticking out like a sore thumb ~ was taken care of by a painter who tried to match the color of the very old, very faded, already existent aluminum siding.  We were told that he would be spray painting it, but it is clear that he used a brush.  And he was on the sloppy side; getting the paint on the decking and on the existing siding.  I would have done a much better job myself, but it's done and we were not going to keep up with the complaining.  We paid our final payment, shook his hand and left.

All in all the deck/balcony is nice and sturdy.  It is a little larger than the other balconies in the complex which didn't seem to bother the association all that much.

The contractor that we hired was Father & Son Construction.  I would give them an A+ for all the running around that they did, dealing with the Association and the Township.  I would give them a C as far as attention to detail.  They provided drawings/blueprints that didn't include things like the concrete slab or certain dimensions.  Every problem that they ran into turned into our problem that was going to cost us more money.  The project supervisor would report to us the progress without ever going to the site to lay his own eyes on the progress.  And typical of most contractors that we've dealt with, they downgrade all other work that other contractors had done and they downgrade the materials that you have picked so that they can sell you something that is more expensive.  Personally, I think paying over $5000 on a 6X9 balcony is shocking.  I would give the amount of time it took a C.  And finally, I would give the paint job a C-, as it was sloppy.