In a perfect world with out working for for any landscaping General Contractors and knowing that a deck was hiding under those 2x6 cedar boards. I would have included the removal in my original agreement. But this world is far from perfect. Once we discovered the mystery deck it would have been hard for me to sell the idea of me charging the landscaping General Contractor who would have to pass that on to the owner an additional cost for something that had not been a problem for over 15 years. Maybe it was the 1/2" furring sleepers that separated the two surfaces, and allowed for good damage that saved this deck from disaster. But in any case I thought it would have been useless to attempt to bill anyone for the removal. Just didn't feel that was the hill I wanted to die on. I did manage to submit a bill for installing new furring / sleeper strips and longer screws for decking.
Except for a couple of misinformed issues. Most of the time the info I get from this site is RIGHT ON RIGHT and after all, I do have an advanage. I'm the only one here that had the privilege of visiting the site to access.
Don't be so quick to to condemn maybe an Innocent man. (The world is not flat)C. Columbus