COMPLAINT: Elizabeth Boulter, O'Fallon, Ill.

"I hired Artistic Decks to construct a deck. When it was completed, I walked around the deck and found damaged spindles, unsecured trim under the door and house, the old support beam not removed and the deck siding not lined up.

"There are obvious gaps on both sides of the stairs where two pieces of composite are connected. They used shims underneath the stairs, which are falling out, and I keep needing to replace them. There was so much excess cement, my husband spent three hours with hammer and chisel trying to clean it up.

"Within two weeks, the composite developed holes all over the deck. The end product was definitely not worth the $13,000 I paid."

DESIRED RESOLUTION: "I would like the holes to be filled and smoothed to match the rest of the deck so they are not so obvious, since we were told they would not be visible at all.

"I would like the sagging bottom rails fixed, the shims secured or the stairs done right so the shims aren't needed, and the composite on both sides of the stairs mated so you can not see through the gaps."

RESPONSE: Derrick Brumley, owner, Artistic Decks

"This is a very nice deck. On a rating of 1 to 10, I would give this deck a 9. The floor looks great, the railing looks great and this deck passed all code requirements.

"I have gone back at least four times in an attempt to make this client happy. Her comments are unfounded and just not true."

STATUS: Stalemate