Had ordered a custom storage shed and needed a company to do the sitework preparation and make a base for the shed. Found Fundamental Siteworks online so called and spoke with owner Dave in January. Gave him the shed dimensions and he gave me an estimate of $2175. Two months later I called him to schedule the work and he said the price is now $2507.
Found another much larger company in PA that specializes in shed site pads which would do it for less and they seemed a lot more professional. However they were a couple of months out and my custom shed was built and ready to be delivered. Reluctantly decided to go with Fundamental Siteworks because of the time issue.
The day they were supposed to come out at 8am, Dave called and said they needed to change the time. He said they had decided to do another job in Springfield before mine and would get to mine when they finished, and would be here between 10am and noon. Had already taken off work for a several hours so had to wait.
Around 11:45am his young adult son and a teenager showed up. I was expecting a crew of several men but this was all there was. His son got to work leveling the site out with an excavator. I was going inside and told him if he needed me just to call my cell.
After awhile I told him I needed to go back to work as I had initially thought they were going to arrive at 8am and had to be back at work around noon. His son asked if I was returning as he really wanted me there when they finished; which I assumed was to collect payment
As it turned out, I couldn't leave work to go back to the house and meet them. Had they arrived at the scheduled time of 8am, I would have been there when they finished. Right before I left though, the son told me that the grade of the ground slope of the site was a 23" slope.
In their estimate, they added a clause to add on more dollars. What they do is if the slope of the site pad is between 20" and 50" incline, then they add 2% for each inch. His son told me my slope was 23" and so this would add $702 to the price!
Don't see why having to grade a slope would add a whopping $702 to the price but this is their practice. Didn't think the slope was at all 23" and his son never showed me anything to prove this, I was just supposed to take his word for it. The next day I measured the slope myself and I got 17"; if the slope is between 10" and 20" they only add 1.2% per inch to the total. It should have been $511 added instead of $702.
When I arrived back home after work, I was disappointed to see that the rocks that till the site pad were not level at all and were about 3" to 4" below the tops of the timbers that framed the site pad. Had read that the rocks should be about level with the timbers when they finished because over time the rocks will settle and get lower.
Fortunately because was not home when they finished, I had not paid them yet. I called Dave and he wanted payment right then and I told him would be glad to pay them once they came back and added more rocks to make them level with the timbers. He seemed ticked off but agreed to have someone come out.
Several days later a different man came out and added more rocks and raked them out to where they were almost level with the timbers. It looked a lot better and I was pleased with his work. I went ahead and paid the total of $3210. Several days later the shed builder arrived to install the shed.
The man that delivered the shed noticed that there were no support rebar rods or "pins" on one side of the timbers and this was the side that needed them the most because the ground greatly slopped down on that side. He told me that they drill a number of two foot holes on each side of the timbers and then pound in 24" long rebar rods(pins) to give the pad support. They had not done this on this one side of the timbers.
Sent Dave an email requesting they add rebar rods to this side. He emailed back that if I wanted the rods, I would need to pay him up front for them! Told him they should have been installed when they did the site pad but he refused. Here is the last part of an email he sent me requesting this payment:
The timber that you are talking about there is screwed and nailed onto a timber that is pinned to the ground with the 24" rebar, as specified. Due to the prices of labor & fuel we will be asking for prepayment prior to making another trip out there to do additional work.
Respectfully submitted,
D.J. Stoltzfus
Work: 540.234.8026
Cell: 540.746.5096
The timber he mentions is not nailed onto another timber that is pinned to the ground. Is trying to get more money out of me after paying him $3210.
Wish I would have waited and gone with the larger company in PA. This other company's website shows a diagram of everything they do such as where the rebar stakes are installed and how many, etc.. I made a big mistake in going with Fundamental Siteworks. read more