Terms and Conditions

These terms cover the use of this website and the general basis on which Professional Grade Contractors quotes and performs work. The signed contract for your specific project always comes first. Where this page and that contract disagree, the contract governs.

1. Who We Are

Professional Grade Contractors is a deck, fence, porch, and stair contractor operating in Rotterdam, New York and the surrounding area.

The business was formed as a limited liability company in April 2024. The owner has 21 years in the trade and has completed more than 200 projects.

We carry $1,000,000 in general liability insurance. A certificate is available on request.

2. Using This Website

The content on this site is provided for information. Photographs show real completed work by our crew.

Project descriptions, timelines, and material notes are general. They do not form a contract or a guarantee of what your project will involve.

The text, layout, and photographs on this site belong to Professional Grade Contractors and may not be copied or reused without permission.

3. Estimates and 3D Designs

Estimates are free. So is the 3D design that goes with them.

A 3D design is a visual representation of the proposed build. Colors, wood grain, hardware finish, and surrounding landscaping in a rendering are illustrative. The finished structure will match the dimensions, layout, and materials written into the contract, not every visual detail in the image.

Estimates are based on what we can see and what you tell us at the time. Conditions found after work begins, such as rot in an existing structure, poor soil, buried obstructions, or a footing that does not meet code, can change the price. We tell you before we proceed, never after.

An estimate is a proposal, not a booking. Your date is held once the contract is signed.

4. Scope of Work and Changes

The signed contract sets out what is included, what materials are used, and what is not covered.

Anything added after signing is a change order. Change orders are agreed in writing and priced before the work is done.

Verbal requests made on site to the crew are not authorized changes until they are in writing.

5. Payment

Payment amounts, deposit, and schedule are set out in the written contract for each project. Nothing on this website sets a price.

Work is scheduled once the deposit clears. Final payment is due on completion unless the contract says otherwise.

Materials ordered specifically for your project are not refundable once purchased.

6. Materials and Trade Pricing

We hold a Lowes ProDesk trade account. On material orders over $1,000 that account carries 15 to 20 percent off, and that saving is passed straight through to you rather than kept as margin.

Lumber and material pricing moves. A quoted material price holds for the period stated in your contract. Beyond that we requote at current cost.

Manufacturer warranties on decking, railing, fasteners, and fence material are provided by the manufacturer and pass to you. We are not the warrantor of those products.

7. Workmanship Warranty

We warrant our labor for five years. That warranty is written into your contract, not left as a verbal promise.

It covers our workmanship. If something we built fails because of how we built it, we come back and fix it.

It does not cover the following.

• Normal weathering, checking, cupping, or color change in wood
• Ground movement, frost heave, or settling outside our control
• Failure of a manufactured product, which follows that manufacturer's warranty
• Damage from misuse, neglect, storms, or impact
• Work altered, extended, or repaired by someone else
• Missed maintenance such as sealing or staining where the material calls for it

Warranty claims should come to us directly and in writing.

8. Permits, Property Lines, and Utilities

Responsibility for permits is set in your contract. Where we pull the permit, inspection scheduling follows the town's timeline and not ours.

Property lines are the homeowner's responsibility to confirm. This matters most on fence work. If a line is disputed after installation, relocating the fence is a new job at additional cost.

Homeowner association or architectural review approval, where it applies, is the homeowner's responsibility to obtain before work starts.

Underground utilities are marked through Dig Safely New York before any posts or footings go in. Private lines that are not part of that system, such as irrigation, invisible fence, or a line run to a shed, need to be pointed out to us in advance. We are not responsible for unmarked private lines.

9. Site Access and Conditions

We need clear access to the work area, and space to stage materials and park a vehicle.

Please move patio furniture, planters, vehicles, and anything fragile before the start date.

Some disturbance to lawn and landscaping near the work area is normal on this kind of build. We keep it to a minimum and clean up daily. Full lawn restoration is not included unless the contract says it is.

10. Scheduling and Weather

This is outdoor work. Rain, snow, frozen ground, and extreme heat move schedules.

We give you a start window and keep you updated. Dates given verbally are estimates and not guarantees.

Delays caused by weather, material backorder, permit review, or inspection scheduling do not put us in breach of contract.

11. Cancellation

Cancellation terms, including any right to cancel required by New York law for contracts signed at your home, are stated in your written contract.

If you cancel after materials have been ordered or work has started, you remain responsible for materials purchased and work completed to that point.

12. Photographs of Completed Work

We photograph the work we finish and use those photographs on this website, on our Google profile, and in social posts.

Photographs show the structure, not the people who live there, and we never publish an address. If you would rather we did not photograph your project, tell us and we will not.

13. Limitation of Liability

Our responsibility for any claim connected to a project is limited to the amount paid for that project.

We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost rental income or the cost of an event postponed because a build ran long.

Nothing in this section limits liability that cannot be limited under New York law.

14. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York. Any dispute is handled in the courts of New York State.

15. Changes to These Terms

We update this page as our process changes. The date at the top reflects the current version. Changes here do not alter a contract already signed.

16. Questions

Anything on this page that is unclear, ask before you sign. That is what the free estimate call is for.