Bill Zinnert founded Diamond Decks on a simple principle: a homeowner investing in a custom deck deserves to know that the owner of the company will be involved on every project, that the materials will exceed production-grade specs, and that the crew will not disappear after the contract is signed. Three decades and 2,500+ projects later, the principle has not moved.
In 1993, Bill looked at how most deck contractors ran their operations and decided he wanted no part of it. Cheap framing lumber. Crews, the homeowner had never met. Owners who showed up to sign the contract and then vanished. Schedules slipped two weeks because the company had bid on five other jobs the same week.
So he built the alternative. One project at a time. Higher-grade lumber than anyone else was using. The owner is personally managing every project. Communication every few days, not radio silence followed by surprise invoices.
The model survived the 2008 recession, the pandemic, and three decades of cycles in between. Best of the Best has named Diamond Decks a winner every year since 2018. Fiberon picked Bill as one of a small group of Ambassadors nationally. The work referred itself, neighbor to neighbor, until the calendar filled itself.
“I started the company because I was tired of watching contractors cut corners on lumber and disappear when something went wrong. We do it differently. One job, one site, one owner on it.”
Bill Zinnert, Owner
The company runs on three core ideas. Not posters in the office. Not lines in a contract. Operating principles.
Homeowners hear from us before, during, and after the build. Expectations get set early. Updates land every few days. Nothing important is left for the homeowner to ask about twice.
The estimate matches the contract. The contract matches the build. If something on-site needs to change, the homeowner hears about it from Bill in person before any change happens.
From the first phone call to the final walkthrough, the standard does not move. The smoothest, most professional construction project the homeowner has ever been part of, that is the bar.
Diamond Decks runs lean by design. Two specialized crews, four people you will actually deal with, no rotating cast of subcontractors.
Owner & President
Bill founded Diamond Decks in 1993 and has not stepped back from the day-to-day since. A Master Deck Professional, Fiberon Ambassador, and NADRA member, he is involved with every job from the pre-construction meeting through the final walkthrough. If something is not right, he is the one fixing it. If it goes perfectly, he is the one shaking your hand at the end.
Vice President of Sales
Buddy runs the front end. He takes the first call, qualifies the project, walks the property with you, and turns your ideas into the 3D model you will review before construction starts. Buddy has been doing the design conversations long enough to know what works in a Bethesda backyard versus an Annapolis waterfront lot, and he will tell you which materials make sense for your site, not just the ones with the best margin.
Crew Leads
Isidro runs the deck crew. Min Sik runs the porch crew. Each crew does one thing, all the time. The specialization is what makes a 1-week average build time possible without sacrificing the picture-frame inlay, the lighting placement, or the railing details that separate a Diamond Decks build from a production job.
Most “what makes us different” lists are interchangeable across contractors. Here is the version that is not:
