I waited a few years to post my review because I wanted to see how the job would hold up first. If…read moreI had posted right when the job was finished, it would have been based solely on the experience and I probably would've given it a two star. But after about four years, my backyard patio has held up well and there are no cracks or structural problems. However, at the time of install, the patio was poured a lot higher than the paver patio that it replaced. So high, in fact, that once winter came a few months later, the ground froze and swelled to the point that the back door would not open. The concrete was literally poured even with the door threshold rather than a little bit lower where it should have been. Greg's answer was just to see what happens in the spring and so we did. Luckily, for him, when the ground thawed, the patio did lower just enough so that the back door would open again. We held our breath all summer and fall until winter came again to see if it was rise back up. Fortunately, it didn't much, but the concrete is still right at the threshold level. My advice to anyone would be just to make sure you clarify in advance where the top level of the patio will fall. I didn't really think I needed to specify that I still wanted to be able to use my back door.
One other detail that is rather minor, but when you're paying thousands of dollars for something you kind of want it to be perfect... at least at first. Our backyard spigot is right over one of the corners of the patio and it is what they used to draw water from for the project. That part is fine but once they smoothed out the concrete, they did not make sure that the spigot was all the way off, and it dripped water on top of the new concrete, leaving a very noticeable flaw. I tried to address it with him, and I was treated like I was being unreasonable and that I shouldn't worry about it. They did a little something to patch it, but you can still see it and it's a flaw, which is a shame because of the rest of the patio looked beautiful.
I do have a very nice patio now, but something else that kept me from being totally satisfied was just his treatment of his customer. I feel like I'm a pretty reasonableperson, but I am the customer and I am paying for the job so I feel like I should have room to make some requests. We've had a lot of issues with our grass from other things, so I requested that they only walk on one side of the house, which was a little bit farther for them, but not much. I got a lot of complaining and grumbling, but he reluctantly agreed. He made it very clear to me that this was very inconvenient for him. They did put down boards as a path for the carrying of the concrete in the wheelbarrows, but they backed the cement truck up over the curb and easement and past the sidewalk which completely destroyed the grass in my easement and front of my yard. For the next year, I was finding chunks of gravel and concrete in my easement and front yard from spillage.
After having very reasonable conversations with him about being careful of the lawn and the high level of the patio and the drip flaw, he actually said to my face," boy, you are a piece of work!". I only said," well, I know what I want for my project since I'm paying for it". I didn't really want to piss him off in the middle of the project, but I was really pretty angry that sealed the deal that even if the patio turned out nice, I would never be hiring him or recommending him again. That kind of arrogant attitude is not very good customer service. I'm sure there are plenty of other concrete companies that will do as good or better a job and treat their customers with respect.
