About Professional Grade Contractors
Where skilled craftsmanship meets professional management.
Meet the Owner of Professional Grade Contractors
Professional Grade Contractors is an outdoor living company in Rotterdam, NY, owned by Anthony Borts, serving Schenectady County and the wider Capital Region.
Twenty-one years in the trade, six of them running his own business, and more than two hundred completed projects behind him.
He is on every job site. When you call, you are talking to the person who will be standing in your backyard with a tape measure, not to a salesperson who hands you off afterward.
That is the whole idea behind the name. Skilled craftsmanship, run like a professional business.
Why I Started Professional Grade Contractors
Fifteen years ago I purchased a home in Upstate New York with a backyard that was empty, unused, and lacking purpose.
I had left city life behind for a reason. I wanted to start a family, build a better life, and spend more time outdoors with my children. As a husband and father, I understood firsthand that simply having a yard was not enough. For a family to truly enjoy the outdoors, that space needs functionality, comfort, and a thoughtful design.
Because when a space has no functionality, it rarely gets used. And when it is not used, countless opportunities for connection and memories are lost.
As I transformed my own property, I discovered how much the right outdoor space could change the way a family experiences its home. A once empty yard could become a place where children play, parents unwind, friends gather, and families celebrate life’s everyday moments together.
That realization became the foundation of Professional Grade Contractors.
What began as a passion for building grew into something much more meaningful. I fell in love with helping other families transform overlooked and underused areas into beautiful, functional outdoor living spaces where they could spend meaningful time together and create memories that last.
For us it has never been only about building decks. It is about understanding how each family wants to live and creating a space that supports it. Whether we are building a deck, a fence, a porch, a pergola, a privacy wall, or a complete outdoor living environment, every project begins with the same purpose: to make the outside of your home as welcoming, functional, and meaningful as the inside.
What sets Professional Grade Contractors apart is our commitment to craftsmanship, communication, and genuine pride in our work. We approach every property as if we were creating the space for our own family, because we understand what that space can come to mean.
We do not simply build outdoor structures. We transform unused spaces into places where families come together.
Anthony Borts Owner, Professional Grade Contractors
Skilled Craftsmanship, Professional Management
Most contractors are good at one half of this. The build or the business. Very few are good at both, and homeowners feel the difference in whichever half is missing.
The craftsmanship half is the part you can see. Footings below the frost line, stringers cut on site against your grade, gate hardware sized for the gate rather than for the panel beside it. Twenty-one years of knowing which shortcuts come back in four winters.
The management half is everything around it. A free consultation, a 3D rendering of your actual space, and material samples you can hold before anything is ordered. Permits pulled on every job that needs one. A live answer during business hours, or a call back within ten minutes.
It is also what happens at the end. The site gets cleaned, the soil raked and seeded, and everything pressure washed before we leave.
We work on every property the way we would work on our own, because we know what that space ends up meaning to a family.
- Free 3D design A rendering of your actual space, with samples in hand.
- Permits handled Pulled on every job that needs one.
- Ten minute callback Live answer during business hours, or a call back.
- Left better than we found it Soil raked and seeded, everything pressure washed.
Serving Schenectady County and the Capital Region
Rotterdam · Schenectady
Most of the work is here, and it is where the trucks are.
Niskayuna · Scotia · Glenville · Rotterdam Junction · Duanesburg · Princetown
The whole county, and a short drive from the shop.
Colonie · Latham · Albany · Clifton Park · Ballston Spa · Malta · Saratoga Springs · Guilderland · Amsterdam
Roughly thirty miles out.
If you are a little past that, call anyway. We have travelled further for the right project, and we have stayed over to finish jobs that were worth doing.
Working here has its own rules. Freeze and thaw drive every footing on every job. Snow load decides the framing on anything covered. Composite decking moves between January and July more than people expect, so gapping and fastening matter as much as the product itself. And every town in the county runs its own building department with its own timelines.
Professional Grade Contractors Credentials and Coverage
- 21 years in the trade Six of them running his own business, LLC registered in New York.
- 200+ completed projects Counted from signed contracts, not estimated.
- $1 million general liability Certificate available on request, on every job.
- 5 year labor warranty On workmanship, written into your contract.
- Manufacturer warranties Trex composite from 25 years up to 50 on higher tier product.
- Lowes ProDesk trade account 15 to 20 percent off material, passed to the homeowner.
Permits are pulled on every job that requires one, and inspections happen before anything gets closed up.
What We Build Across Schenectady County
Four things, done properly, rather than a list of everything a truck can carry.
- Custom deck design and construction The bulk of the work, in composite and pressure treated. See more →
- Wood and vinyl fencing Privacy runs, picket, and gates that stay square. See more →
- Stair and railing work From a single failing staircase to a full replacement. See more →
- Covered and open porches New builds, and rebuilds of the ones that did not make it. See more →
Who We Are Not a Fit For
We do not negotiate on a quote. The number is the number, and it is built from measurements rather than from what someone is hoping to spend.
We are not the right call for someone still deciding whether they want a project at all. The design consultation is for people who are ready to build.
We do not skip permits or work around inspections.
Outdoor kitchens get subcontracted rather than self performed, and we do not do commercial concrete, driveways, or foundations.
Let’s Talk About Your Space
Tell us how your family wants to use the space and we will come look at it. You get a 3D rendering, samples to compare, and a written estimate.
No charge and no pressure.
We answer live during business hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Owns Professional Grade Contractors?
Anthony Borts owns and runs it.
He is on every job site rather than behind a desk, which means the person who measures your property is the person who builds on it. There is no sales team and no handoff. When you call the number on this site during business hours, you are talking to him.
How Long Has Professional Grade Contractors Been in Business?
Six years as a business, and twenty-one years in the trade.
Those are two different numbers and we keep them separate on purpose. The LLC is registered in New York and is six years old. The experience behind it goes back twenty-one years, across more than two hundred completed projects.
Are You Licensed and Insured?
Insured, yes. Licensed is a more honest answer than most contractors give you.
New York State does not require a contractor license for this trade, and we do not hold one. Plenty of companies around here advertise that they are licensed anyway. It is worth asking any of them which license they mean.
What we do carry is a million dollars in general liability coverage, and the certificate is available on request before any work starts. We also pull the permit on every job that needs one and build to code, which is the part an inspector actually signs off on.
What Areas Does Professional Grade Contractors Serve?
Rotterdam and Schenectady are home base, and most of the work happens there.
From there it runs across Schenectady County, including Niskayuna, Scotia, Glenville, Rotterdam Junction, Duanesburg and Princetown, and out roughly thirty miles into the wider Capital Region. If you are a little past that, call anyway. We have travelled further for the right project.
What Warranty Do You Offer?
Five years on labor, written into your contract rather than promised verbally.
That covers workmanship. Materials carry their own manufacturer warranties on top of it, and on Trex composite those run from twenty-five years up to fifty on the higher tier products. We tell you which applies to what you picked before you sign anything.
Do You Charge for Estimates or 3D Designs?
No. Both are free and there is no obligation attached to either.
We come out, measure, and talk about how you actually want to use the space. Then you get a 3D rendering of the project on your own property, material samples you can hold, and a written estimate. Changes at the rendering stage are free, which is exactly when they should happen.
Who Actually Does the Work on My Property?
Our own crew, on everything we build.
Decks, fences, stairs, railings and porches are all self performed. The one exception is outdoor kitchens, which get subcontracted to people who do that work all day, and we tell you that up front rather than after the fact.
How Do I Get Started?
Call or send the form and we set a time to come look at the space, usually the same day or the next.
There is no charge for that visit and no pressure at the end of it. If it turns out the project is smaller than you thought, or that it should wait a season, we will say so.