To deck or not to deck...eh, screened in porch

Remember that lovely deck from the tour, looked safe and sound right? Oh yeah, that deck was awesome! Except, well it wasn't, in fact it was crappy. We found that the darn thing wasn't even bolted to the house, oh those benches? Also not attached. Those benches also served as the step from the upper level to lower, which was a hell of a step if you weren't watching. We were surprised it even passed the VA home inspection.

We searched the internet on how to do this ourselves, first we thought of just another deck, then decided because we live in the woods and near the water, a screened in porch served our needs better. Which meant that it was definitely beyond our experience. So that meant, hiring a contractor, which is a scary thing. Watching enough Holmes on Holmes has proved that.

We did our research and had a few contractors come out to give us quotes, living in Northern Virginia the prices will wildly vary. The contractor we chose had a spiffy salesman come out and put together a great package for us. Which included the screened in porch, some Trex decking material for the rails, deck mount lights around the porch and along the steps. It even included a fan installation. This package cost us $14k, it was the best bang for our buck compared to other contractors. In doing our background on the company, the had decent reviews. 

To save money, we did our own removal of the old deck, saving $500. Bought our own screen door, saving us $100. Then bought our own outdoor fan, saving us even more. 

Make sure you inspect and check everything they do. We even recommend, if you can, being on site the whole time. The workers broke our sliding glass door which was completely their fault, the contractor said they would replace the door at no cost to us. Until they the found out the door "was improperly installed" and "recommended" a replacement at our cost. So we paid $400 extra for the exact same door that is installed the same exact way the old one was.

We felt suckered into paying extra the money and were able to reach a deal for reimbursement for it, after the porch failed county inspection two times, first for the stairs not being flush and the second time due to improper mounting to the house. Also the roof leaked during a a storm. 

We fought with the company over the crappy craftsmanship, ended up getting our money back for the door and an apology from the owner of the company. We recommend doing more research and watching like a hawk when they do their work. 

In the end though, we absolutely love the porch.