Composite Deck(Trex) Settlement - Certified SoftWash Roof Cleaning

Hank Timmermann · Junior Member

Composite Deck(Trex) Settlement

Matt Jennemann · Junior Member

So if they are saying that the only acceptable way to clean Trex is with Oly deck cleaner does that mean we'll void the warranty using sh or ch?

Brandon Vaughn · SoftWash Systems Pro Staff

Matt Jennemann wrote:
So if they are saying that the only acceptable way to clean Trex is with Oly deck cleaner does that mean we'll void the warranty using sh or ch?

I didn't get that out of it. Here's a quote from the bulletin -

"If mold colonies appear, clean the deck with a commercial deck wash containing a detergent and sodium hypochlorite, commonly known as bleach. This chemical will remove the mold, but please be aware it will also lighten the wood on the surface. In some cases it will require several treatments with the deck wash to completely remove all mold colonies. Even if the spots are no longer visible, there may still be mold spores on the surface that could re-grow, so periodic cleaning is important"

Matt Jennemann · Junior Member

It was under the required cleaning instructions.

Brandon Vaughn · SoftWash Systems Pro Staff

Olympic Deck Cleaner is Sodium Hypochlorite.

http://win14.american.edu/safety/au/vault/000/000176.PDF

Hank Timmermann · Junior Member

At least now we have something tangible to work with. I hope Bob Riddick has an opportunity to see this. I know he was caught up in some homeowner dispute over this material.

Print this out and keep a copy in your truck with other documents.

Hank

Brandon Vaughn · SoftWash Systems Pro Staff

Amen - good find Hank.

Bob Riddick · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

Hank, would you believe we are still not resolved on my Trex Deck issue. I got my ins. co. involved, they can't get a straight answer from Trex, and so it goes.

We had pulled up all of the Trex cleaning info before we started, so we felt real confident going in. If our homeowner would just fess up to using a pressure washer on the deck, we could walk away. Sadly this customer has really dug in her heals.

I expect something to happen in the very near future. This case is in the hands of the supervisors supervisor at Trex.

More to come and thanks to everyone for the info and support.

Matt Jennemann · Junior Member

Hey Bob I hope you can convince the owner to help you , god bless and god speed...

Hank Timmermann · Junior Member

Bob,

Keep the faith brother. It will work out in your favor.

Hank

Schall Bradley · Sophmore Member

Bob you said if the home owner would fess up to pressure washing the deck. Did the home owner try to clean the deck them self unsuccessful with a pressure washer and damage it, then called you and blamed damage on you after you cleaned it ?

Alejandro Riojas · Community Member

Schall Bradley wrote:
Bob you said if the home owner would fess up to pressure washing the deck. Did the home owner try to clean the deck them self unsuccessful with a pressure washer and damage it, then called you and blamed damage on you after you cleaned it ?

That's what I was thinking!!!

Bob Riddick · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

Guys, I'm going to surmise that probably 5-6 years ago the deck was pressure washed. Remember the reason for the class action settlement was based on over abundance of fungus.

WE show up another 5 years later and the fungus stain is so thick you can't see the actual deck surface. The only reasonable conclusion to why the deck spotted when we cleaned it was that it had lost it's protective surface somewhere along the line.

I contend the protective surface was lost through pressure washing several years ago.

This is still in the hands of my insurance co. They want a Trex technician to visit the site, and will do nothing until that takes place. And so it goes.

I do appreciate the help and support from all of you.

Mark Fermoyle · Lead Tech Certified

Hi Bob,

Say, was this unfortunate issue ever resolved? How did you fare?

Mark

AC Lockyer · Administrator

Way to jump in Brandon!

AC

Bob Riddick · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

Mark, the homeowner has hired a lawyer. We received a threating letter last fall, $16,000 for a new deck or else type of letter.

Our ins. co. responded with an offer to stain the deck. Haven't heard back yet, but I have a feeling this will go to court.

Thanks for asking.

Mark Fermoyle · Lead Tech Certified

Dang! I'm sorry to hear that, Bob.

If you don't mind me asking, are you a Born-Again Believer?

Jesse Bracken · Junior Member

As always great info to be found here.

Bob Riddick · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

For all that have been following my woes with this Trex deck issue, it got a little more real today when the sherriff's dept. dropped by the office with a summons.

My ins. adjuster has retired, so I'll be starting fresh with a new adjuster tomorrow.

The reason that lawyers like to drag these cases out as long as the law will allow is so that witnesses, employees, ins. adjusters, etc. that were once involved but have since moved on, can't be found and called to testify.

Fortunately I still have the same employees, the adjuster told me he would come back from Tim Buk Too to testify on this case, and I still feel my company and myself are in the right.

I will keep you posted as this moves forward.

Steve Mazzuca · SoftWash Systems Authorized Professional

That completely sucks Bob. Since I'm a newbie here I just read through this. Being a roofer, I suspect you have been down this road before. If not, feel free to call me directly (805)-797-3634. I had my fill of this kind of thing as a roofing contractor too and this was a major factor in my decision to exit the business after 20+ years. I have said often that as my company grew I spent more time being a lawyer than a contractor. Good or bad, I have a wealth of experience in all sides of this nonsense and consult many even today. YUK! Brings back such bad memories and now i want to go take a shower. Call me anytime.

Mark Fermoyle · Lead Tech Certified

Bob,

I speak blessings over you, your crews, your business, your insurance adjuster(s), and the court system - that every aspect of your business in this situation would find favor in the LORD's eyes and favor with the courts. I am believing for complete victory over this for y'all and am looking forward to hearing an awesome report from you in the near future!!

TRUST HIM!!

Bob Riddick · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

Mark, Thanks for your prayers.

Steve, would you believe that this is the first time EVER that I have been sued. And I've been doing this for 40 years!

AC Lockyer · Administrator

Bob,

The world is round and they will see a harvest ten fold for their fraud and deception. I am not sure if it is the harvest they are hoping for though.

AC

Steve Mazzuca · SoftWash Systems Authorized Professional

Well Bob, I can almost predict the result because you have turned it over to your insurance company, which is exactly what your customers attorney hoped you would do. Lawyers on both sides will rattle cages for many months, threaten all kinds of crazy stuff, both lawyers will hire "experts" that will testify and write reports with exactly opposite conclusions. Expect repair/replacement estimates from your customers attorney to be 3-4 times the cost any contractor could do it for. Both attorneys will churn as much in fees as they know will pass the courts scrutiny. You may even have a court ordered arbitration hearing (more $ for the lawyers). Finally, and usually not long before your trial date, your insurance company will settle (without your input on the amount by the way). The amount will be WAY more than you would expect. The good news is you should only be responsible for the deductible. The bad news is you will now have to explain "the claim" and its amount for several years when you renew your policy. This is the game. I've witnessed it many times over. A few times we were responsible, most other times we weren't. It truly is legal extortion in most cases and it sucks-especially your first time. Maybe knowing this now will help you i hope, and maybe your case ends up somehow different. My roofing company was about 23 yrs old when I got out, but we were doing approximately $8,000,0000 per year with over 100 employees. Lots of jobs, lots of risk. No mas! : )

Ask me some time about my Bob Vila lawsuit.........or near the end...... where I was served with a class action lawsuit along with EVERY roofer, asphalt paving company and every car dealership in the entire state of California because we all emitted asphalt fumes into the atmosphere. Yup, can't make this up.

Bob Riddick · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

Wow is all I can say, Steve! 100 employees would cause some sleepless nights I would think.

My insurance company put a $10,000 cap on this claim. It will be interesting, no doubt, to see where the final figure comes in.

I'm sure their attorney is aware of our $1,000,000 umbrella.

Thanks again to everyone with all of the good responses and prayers. It's much appreciated.

Steve Mazzuca · SoftWash Systems Authorized Professional

Good luck Bob. Definitely don't lose sleep over it and my advice now would be let your insurance company and lawyer do most of the work now. Our inclination is always to spend countless hours defending ourselves and our reputations- while the opponents will do everything they can to make you feel like a complete con man or criminal. That's the game, don't fall for it.

Also, this is one of the reasons (among many) I decided to go down the SWS path. AC has experienced the pitfalls of owning and running a large company with lots of employees. His methods and training here are geared for the exact opposite. If we all try our best to keep it simple, it becomes duplicatable and more easily manageable.

Bob Riddick · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

I sleep very well at night, Steve. There are several reasons SWS was such a perfect fit for my roofing company, one of the main ones being AC and I share many of the same philosophies and beliefs.

Probably the key reason I've never been sued is due to my integrity in business and as a person. If I'm in the wrong, I take responsibility.

In this case I feel my customer started out thinking she could take advantage of the manufacturer, and when that failed something in her wouldn't allow her to listen to reason. I guess it was at that point she thought she could take advantage of my good nature.

As AC said, she will reap her harvest, just doubt she'll be happy with it.

Thanks for your feedback. The support is comforting.

Chad Eneix · SoftWash Systems Authorized Professional

Bob,

I'm not sure how far into this you are, but I experienced a frivolous lawsuit as well. Just hearing about yours gives me that sick, angry feeling I had when going through mine. It was a personal injury lawsuit for a woman who said she had tripped over a crack in a sidewalk we had cleaned. The law firm was the biggest ambulance chasing firm in the state, who hires William Shatner as it's spokesperson.

Obviously, we did not cause the crack, but she was fishing. She attempted to sue the city, the business adjacent, and me. My lawyer found out that this woman actually works for an insurance company, and has filed at least 20 personal injury complaints in Wisconsin.

The plan was to counter sue for damaging our reputation and business. It never went that far, and my lawyer thought that maybe the threat of this counter suit helped make it go away. I hated the idea of playing this game, but what are you going to do? If you feel this might legitimately damage your reputation, it could be an option. Once the homeowner realizes that they have something to lose as well, maybe they will back off. It's one thing to think your going to get a new deck for free, and maybe some cash, it's quite another to realize you might get nothing AND have to pay for your fraudulent claims.

The worst part is all we did was put money in a couple lawyer's pockets.

Mark Fermoyle · Lead Tech Certified

I'm wondering... If she has paid in full, can you still place a mechanic's lean on her home or perhaps something akin to it until the case is resolved? Like Chad stated, if she stands something to lose, i.e., not being able to sell or use the equity in her home for any other projects, she may start to wonder if this is all worth it and back off.

Either way, AC is right. The LORD will deal "harshly" with the treacherous!!

Bob Riddick · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

I have hired my personal attorney to look into a liable suit, among other things.

The attorney for my insurance company is coming to meet me on Monday morning. We had a very good conversation yesterday evening.

I'm feeling better, but we have a ways to go.

Steve Mazzuca · SoftWash Systems Authorized Professional

This is why the U.S. needs a "loser pays" legal system like Europe.

AC Lockyer · Administrator

Bob,

The hardest part is us not being able to participate in her hardships that will come from her dishonesty. Sometimes I want to just slap some of our customers into reality. Unfortunately I have to be patient and allow the situation to work its way through without my Type A directions...lol

AC

Bob Riddick · SoftWash Systems 5-Star Professional

I have a question that has yet to be covered on this thread. We are all aware of the circumstances leading to the class action lawsuit, the quick buildup of mold and fungus combined with a lack of resistance to UV rays.

If this Accent Style of Trex decking had NEVER been cleaned in ten and a half years, under normal conditions of shade and sun, what would you expect the surface of this deck to look like?

Has anyone ever come across a composite deck so covered in fungus it was unsafe and unwalkable?

That my customer is claiming their deck has never been cleaned or power washed, I'm very curious what I should have seen when first looking at their deck, vs. the conditions I did see.

Any pictures would be more than awesome!