I picked Mike based on these reviews and the fact that he's one of only a handful of guys who have an active concrete license, bond and insurance with a clean BBB rating. Mike is an "old school" concrete guy. He's got decades of practical experience and is as crusty as his product. He won't sugar-coat it if you try to get him to do something impractical. However, if you respect his craft, he's really pleasant to work with. I'm an OCD engineer who added a 2 page detailed addendum to his basic contract proposal and I still didn't crack his composure!-)
Mike was very responsive throughout the bidding process and his project delivery was very expedient - 3 days start to finish. He did a great job at projecting my property and was respectful of both street access for my neighbors and the plantings out side my fence. So why not a 5th star?
I made 3 mistakes in drafting the contract and monitoring this job. First, I let him talk me out of using dobbies to support the rebar to keep it in the middle of the slab. They're a pain to set up and step over and he said that "pulling up" the rebar with a hook during the poor would work just as well. I watched this process and it flat out does not work in an enclosed patio. As you can see from the photo, there's a crowd of guys in there standing on the rebar. As fast as one guy would pull it up, another guy would step on it as he was maneuvering the concrete hose. As a result, my rebar is in the bottom inch of my 4" slab. It probably won't be an issue for such a lightly loaded area, but I'd be a little concerned about a driveway or garage floor.
Second, as his guys were struggling to chalk the grading lines along my foundation and fence walls, he repeatedly told them not to bother with the laser level. They also did all of the grading work from just these chalk lines - which unsurprisingly were soon covered by concrete. As a result, my patio drains diagonally and towards one wall of the house rather flowing uniformly from the house to the fence. The only saving grace is that the water ends up at the patio gate and flows outside before it has a chance to pool much against the wall. The lack of reference lines was also visible in the control joints that are almost, but not quite straight.
Third, even though the main support post penetrated the soil, one of Mike's crew decided to create a fake footer form around its base so that it would look like the 3 small posts that were already set on piers above grade. It was an ugly tripping hazard, but Mike was exasperated by being so close to the finish line and not wanting to delay the final day with rework. It was my mistake to acquiesce as I ultimately had to pay him extra to come out a week later and remove it (which eliminated tripping, but looks rushed and rough).
I do want to say that this was a VERY difficult job as a small enclosed space with 4 support posts to work around. Mike's crew had serious clearance challenges in using the screed boards to create an even grade and smooth finish. If this were a driveway or even a garage, I think they'd have produced a more uniform result. Finally, you get out of a project what you put into it. Do your homework, put everything in writing and communicate continuously throughout the process. Project issues are the homeowner's fault rather than the contractor's 80% of the time. read more