Dertzbaugh Construction

I am another potential customer who can offer my experience in getting an «estimate» from this company. I will preface by stating that we have solicited bids from local contractors only, with (supposedly) stellar reputations for quality work and customer service. Unfortunately, I was given the name of this company by someone who thought Dertzbaugh qualified. Not the case.
I called and left a message that we needed an estimate to replace the existing Masonite siding on our home, and we are cash customers who are ready to have it done NOW. I was told that «no one was in who could help, and to leave a message». Over a week passes, and no contact from them. So I call back, and ask when I might expect a call. Frank himself then calls, says he’ll «get back to me». Nothing. No one met with us, no one asked specific questions on the phone, or via email, to ascertain our concerns or needs. No one even told us when or if they were coming to our home to measure. Then, without any other contact, I receive an estimate via email. Wow, talk about impersonal and apparently not taking us as serious customers, which we ARE. I might add that all potential customers should be treated as serious customers in any business, but I digress.
So we get this short, impersonal, «bid» via email instructing us to «sign and return one copy along with the deposit. Please respond back to this estimate in a week or less.» this is funny, no one responded to me in a week or less! No one ever told me they were even coming to our house… if they ever did!
To make matters more insulting, their bid (which was thousands higher than any other) included an option of leaving the existing Masonite siding on the home and siding over it! Yes, this is fine for existing vinyl or aluminum siding, but not for a product that is now infamous for rotting and collecting MOLD. For anyone not familiar with Masonite, please Google it, and you will see the multitude of problems and the resulting lawsuits and settlements. NO REPUTABLE CONTRACTOR WOULD EVER EVEN SUGGEST THIS AS AN OPTION. PERIOD.
Great that the guy started the business in the 70’s and may have done great work then, not so great that now he’s advertising on the radio that they’re a «family business who cares…», when nothing could be further from the truth.
Don’t waste your time, and apparently their’s.

Let me start by saying that this review is not about the quality of Dertzbaugh Construction’s work, but about my interaction with them regarding an estimate for a deck. We have an existing deck that is over 20 years old, and want to replace it with a larger deck.
When the estimator from Dertzbaugh arrived, I told him 3 times that we would be removing the existing deck and starting from scratch. He evidently didn’t listen to me the first 2 times, as he kept talking about how they could reuse the existing structure. He also suggested that we didn’t need to get permits, and that if we did it would be an additional cost and that we could run into a few issues. HUGE RED FLAG! At that point I’d decided we would not be using them for our deck, as I’m a firm believer in doing things by the book and in a safe manner rather than dealing with potential problems after the fact.
About a week later I received a call with verbal estimate, and although I’d already decided to use a different company, I asked if they could send me a written proposal. This seemed to confuse the estimator, so I asked again if he could just e-​mail me something in writing. During this conversation, the estimator asked if we (my husband and I) were going to obtain the permits… from what I understand, in Frederick County the builder is required to obtain the permits, NOT the homeowner.
A week later I finally received the written proposal. it was $ 2000 more than what I had been quoted on the phone, and the measurements they used for the square footage were over 100 square feet larger than what we had discussed. We met with 6 builders for our deck project, and Dertzbaugh was by far the least professional of them all. Their pricing was also almost double what the other builders quoted us, but that was not why we didn’t choose Dertzbaugh. First impressions are so important, and there’s was the worst.