Austex Fence & Deck — Attraction in Austin

The amount of frustration that I've experienced with this company is beyond explanation, however for the sake of helping other people make sound decisions when selecting a fencing company in the Fort Hood area, I'll power through and come up with something. The initial contact with a salesperson (Randy) was fine. He came out to see what I wanted done which was a fence extension for our backyard. Not a complicated or even laborious job. Everything was coming up roses and, according to Randy, I would, "Be so happy with my decision to go with AusTex." So I made the deposit with the request that I get on their installation schedule ASAP as I wanted the extension done prior to our new neighbors move-in. Of course, the deposit was taken and processed as fast as I could press enter. However, days went by with no word from the company. After a week, I called Randy to find out why there had been no information about my start date. He didn't answer, so I left a message on his VM. He sent a text telling me that someone would be calling me that afternoon or the next day with a start date. After waiting until close to 4:30 PM the FOLLOWING day to hear someone, I called the home office. I spoke with Felicia who told me that she had, "Just seen that the file containing my job was JUST placed on my desk this AM." I let her know how odd that was considering Randy told me someone would call me yesterday. Kind of seemed impossible if the lady who was to do the calling didn't even have the packet to call about, but I digress. Felicia told me that they would surely be contacting me MAYBE the next week with a TENTATIVE start date as, once again, she had just received the packet and needed to do some more work to be able to begin the job. I told her the fact that things were progressing so slowly, even though they were quick to take my deposit, and the fact that I specifically requested a quick start date and was told it wouldn't be an issue, caused me to doubt their ability to do the job to my satisfaction and that I wanted to cancel the job and I wanted my deposit refunded immediately. Miraculously, Felicia was able to change EVERYthing she had previously said and assure me my start date would be the Thursday coming. I told her I would give them another opportunity to make things right, but that I hoped I wouldn't regret it. Regret it I did. Thursday came and, having not heard anything the entire week like a courtesy call, I waited until 2PM to see if anyone was going to show up. I left a message for Felicia who "wasn't in the office". Five minutes (exactly) later, she called back and assured me that the installer would be there NO LATER than 4:00PM. I waited until 4:30 and called Felicia who, surprise, didn't answer. I sent an email to her and Randy both telling them I want my deposit refunded and wanted to cancel the job. I was fed up with their lack of professionalism. Lo and behold, at 5:30 PM I go downstairs to start my family's dinner and look out of my kitchen window to see my fence ripped out of the ground. The installer had come and, without letting me know that he was there, ripped out the fence. I can only assume it was because refunding my deposit and therefore losing the job was not an option for AusTex. "If we rip out the fence, she gets stuck between a rock and a hard place." I stopped the guys and asked (in Spanish, because they spoke ZERO English, good luck if you're not bilingual) who told them they could rip out my fence. They said, "we just called and they said, go ahead." There's NOTHING about AusTex I can recommend. We went ahead with the install because it was stupid for us to say, "Take two days to put BACK up or old fence." I believe AusTex used shady business practices to accomplish this. The fence installation was nothing to brag about. The aesthetics leave a lot to be desired. I'm not happy with this company at all. As a military family, I would NEVER recommend this to my military friends. I wouldn't recommend this company to anyone for...

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT contact this company to perform any work for you. Our story:

We contracted with them to build a 4' x 4' deck and 5 stairs leading from our back patio to the yard using composite material including the skirting. Remove and reinstall the current metal railing.

Everything was good until the crew showed up to begin the work. In building the new stair stringers they severely over cut each and every step and you could see where they cut the step multiple times because they didn't have the height right so there were multiple over cuts where there were not even steps. Instead of removing the concrete footing for the bottom step that was already in place they added more concrete on top of it so now the last step from the stair to the yard is almost a foot - talk about lack of common sense and a potential ankle breaker. After taking pictures and sending to the company they agreed the workmanship was poor and they would replace.

A few days later a different crew comes out, takes out the bad stringers and build new ones. At this point they go ahead and start installing the decking material - we did not see the quality of the stringers before it was covered up so we cannot comment on the second attempt. Now this is where the fun really begins.

Instead of using fascia board as we agreed upon for the stair risers, top and bottom edges of skirting, and obviously the side of the outside stair stringer they used decking boards. We now have what looks like a kindergarten class built with gaps in material, cut decking boards with the inside material exposed, an inch plus of overhang at the bottom, areas on the decking which will retain water/dirt (the decking boards have channels on the sides), unfinished parts of the skirting, decking boards where fascia board should be, etc. No railing installed, 4+ foot drop to the ground if someone makes a mis-step or the dogs forget to go down the steps...

We again reached out to the company, sent multiple pictures and detailed out all of the problems. We were told that their vendor was out of the fascia board and would not have any for a month and they would come out and fix everything but they wanted to at least build us steps so we could use in the interim. This is a lie as I saw the packing material for what was ordered and no fascia board was ordered AND the crew said they were told to build it without fascia board and like they did. Talk about misleading and lying to their customers. With Covid a delay in materials may have occurred but I doubt it as if it were true then you would have thought the company would not have started a project they could not complete, waste money on material that would have to be scrapped later AND would have told us upfront. A month passed and no communication from the company so we reach out to them. Miraculously everything is in stock and they will be out in three days (Friday before July 4th holiday) to correct everything once and for all. Multiple emails were sent between myself and the sales person and their residential coordinator detailing what needed to be done and twice we received confirmation from them that we were all on the same page and in agreement.

Well, material gets dropped off today and no fascia boards. The crew arrives and when I ask them what they were instructed to do they said to remove what we have and put the new decking boards on EXACTLY the same way. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I told them no, they needed to call the office and figure this out. As this is a Friday before the holiday there is no one at the office...So after starting this entire process in May we are now into July with no resolution. Multiple emails and phone calls were sent today and nothing. If we don't have a call from the owner with a resolution Monday we will be filing a complaint with the BBB and filing action to recoup the 1/2...

I seriously can't say enough good things about Austex Fence and Deck. We just moved into our first home, and the fence they built for us has quickly become one of my favorite things we've ever bought. I was super nervous going into it—partly because fences are expensive, and partly because I usually get buyer’s remorse on big purchases. But with this fence, it’s been the complete opposite. Every time I look at it, I feel happy. It completely transformed our yard. It’s beautiful, it feels secure, and honestly, it’s one of the best-looking fences I’ve ever seen..

After it was installed, I’d literally wake up in the middle of the night, nudge my wife, and we’d go out just to admire it. Sounds crazy, but it’s that gorgeous. The cedar they used is stunning—super high quality—and the craftsmanship just can’t be overstated.

The build quality is top-tier. The fence line is laser-straight, the gate is rock solid, and you can tell every detail was done right. Since we’ve had it installed, we’ve had people from the nearby park stop by to compliment it. Neighbors down the street have come up just to ask who did it, and even a few construction workers working on nearby city plumbing took a minute to come over and say how impressive it looked. It really stands out in the best way.

Now, just to be totally honest, there was a bit of a hiccup. I paid for the optional water-line insurance and even had the city come out twice to mark the lines. But apparently, they don’t mark the main water lines—and unfortunately, the crew hit my neighbor’s main water line. That was super stressful for both of us. I found out the insurance I bought only covers irrigation, not the main line, so technically, it would’ve been on me to fix.

Here’s where Austex really impressed me, though. I called my sales rep, Daniel, and he was incredible—patient, responsive (even late at night), and he helped keep me calm through the whole thing. The owners of the company actually came out themselves, apologized to my neighbor face-to-face, and had a plumber out the next day to get it fixed. Everyone else we called was booked for weeks. And they ended up covering the bill themselves. Total class act.

Speaking of Daniel—he deserves a shoutout all on his own. I actually missed our first appointment, but he still managed to walk me through everything over the phone and made the whole process super easy. He checked in throughout the project, answered every question I had, and honestly made me feel confident the whole time.

At this point, we love the fence so much that my wife and I are already saving up to fence in the rest of the property. We’re even thinking about adding a big deck and patio next. No question—we’re calling Austex again when we’re ready.

If you're on the fence (pun intended) about hiring them—just do it. These guys are...