Austin, TX experiences many wonderful days to be outside in fall, winter, spring and even summer. Unfortunately at least half of the year, mosquitos chase us back indoors. This was the problem my family faced at our home.
After years of un-use, we decided to tear down our second story deck and replace it with a screened-in porch. After reviewing Southern Outdoor Appeal's prior projects as well as getting their drafted design ideas, we decided to hire them for the job. We are overjoyed with the result.
Our process started by meeting with Sunnie and Matt to talk about what we wanted and to walk the area. They agreed that this was a project that Southern Outdoor Appeal could knock out of the park, and they also agreed to show us rendered images of the final design provided we paid for this service. We were happy with what we saw, so on to the next steps...
If you live in Austin, expect permitting to take FOREVER. Not Southern Outdoor's fault, blame goes to plan reviewers and the building code. Sunnie made this as painless as possible though. She also handled our HOA approvals. Awesome!
While waiting for approvals, we had to do some of our own homework in the form of choosing a window, door, and ceiling fan. Matt made recommendations of where to find these. Once we chose the door and window, Matt offered to pick them up as I did not have a way to get them home.
Once work was started, things progressed in spurts of activity. Demolition was fast. Patching up afterwards was fast and well done. I was impressed with quality of the work - the workers had confidence, you could tell they were experienced. We had the option to reclaim our wood deck; some of it is now a planter box.
Next was framing and roofing, which went up quickly as well. Then I remember there was inspections. This seemed to be routine - build, inspect, build, inspect...
Along the way whenever my family or Southern Outdoor Appeal had questions, we would immediately contact/text each other to ensure that the route taken satisfied everyone.
This same procedure was used with their subcontractors too. I did not meet all of the subcontractors as some came in and completed their work in a day. However if there was not a problem or concern, we were good.
Not everything turned out ok on the first try, we did have a couple snafus. Matt personally came over and fixed one of our issues. The other issue required the electrician to come back. Both of these concerns were handled promptly and the issues were resolved.
Again we're very happy with the screened in porch - I would not hesitate to hire Southern Outdoor Appeal again and would quickly recommend them.
