Rab M.
Rubbish customer service and installation instructions
I ordered through MGM Timber the service from them was great. I only ordered 8 off 3.6m normal boards and 1 bullnosed (solid) board for my steps 2 railings, 6 posts and 6 newels because I was replacing a small rotted wooden deck at the rear steps of the house. Only 7 boards 6 steel posts and 5 newels, 1 damaged, were delivered. I dare to think what would have happened if I had ordered a lot of stuff. I thought it would be aluminium posts so that was my fault for not checking before I ordered. But if you are installing composite you would think aluminium posts would be standard. A few days later my bullnosed board arrived. Then almost 1 week later my other board arrived. My damaged newel post was also replaced. Product quality seems ok installation of the boards is fine but fitting the railings are a nightmare. The instructions say drill a 3mm hole through the template and screw in self drilling screws. The template is cardboard does not stick on has no centre line and keeps moving about when trying to mark and drill so I stuck mine on with sellotape. I marked a centre line on mine to get the rails in the middle of the posts . So, using candle wax on the screws and slow speed on a variable speed drill 1st scew snapped. When I proceeded with the rest of the brackets I could feel the screws were going to shear. I increased the drill size to 3.5mm but still felt as if the screws were going to shear. So, reversing the drill a few times while putting the screws in and then redrilling the holes, I managed to coax them in, slowly. It took a lot longer than it should have. Instructions are rubbish, no mention of centering the template. I needed extra railing brackets as only 2 pairs are supplied with a railing kit. They did not arrive very quickly and were excessively expensive. I would definitely not purchase from Newtechwood again.