It's been a month since I had Sam's asphalt, or Sam's Sealcoating, or whatever this group is…read morecalling themselves, resurface my 15,000 square foot parking lot with millings. I prefer to give glaring reviews. On the contrary, I thought about writing this review for a couple of weeks beyond the time I needed to digest just what I got for my $14000.00 bucks.
I found "Sam's asphalt" on Facebook Marketplace. I was told if I did it "tomorrow", due to a job having cancelled, the price would be 14,000 bucks for grading and putting down "3" of millings on my parking lot. The quote was based entirely on google earth pictures and my description, as nobody came out to view and then quote the job. I feel I accurately described the state of the lot, as it was, truly in poor appearance and very grey and rough. I explained that I wanted a fresher look that would be durable and hard. Having read a fair amount regarding the use of millings, i was still unsure how it would adhere together. I was told after it was compacted and after about two weeks it would harden, but before then, I shouldn't drive a tractor over it. It was clear based on the description that as the sun beat down on it, the millings would soften and stick together.
When the crew arrived on Friday, in fairly reasonable time, the representative and apparent partner, "Sam", remarked he didn't realize this was a paved parking lot. I was taken aback, as this was pretty clear from our conversation, but maybe not so much from Google Earth images. They graded as promised, because I had put several tons of road base over the lot to try to level it. The graded lot looked very good after about three hours of what seemed to be very efficient and well executed grading using a bobcat type of machine. I wasnt particularily happy that they placed the 15 or so existing concrete curbs on the side covered by all of the lime road base they grade of to level it. This could have been avoided by a detailed question and answer conversation ahead of time, so the crew would have been prepared to deal with this.
They were unable to finish the job in one day, on Friday. I had been told they would, but it didn't work out that way. I found it unprofessional that Sam asked me for partial payment late in the afternoon on Friday, when he realized they weren't going to finish. The fact that he said he preferred cash, made me very uneasy, having not been prepped for this and also having been in business for 30 years myself. I willingly, went along with part of the partial payment, feeling a bit sympathetic to a small business, that was leaving expensive equipment on my lot over the weekend. It didn't hit me right and things were just not feeling terribly comfortable, by this point. I commented that the amount of millings were no where near 3", to whch Sam replied, they're compressed (with a roller). Aren't all parking lot depths the end result, compressed, I thought? The appearance was a great improvement, so I didn't press an issue that I felt less than comfident to argue.
The crew showed up a bit late (understanable), on Monday to resume, as only just over half of the lot was covered. They finished perhaps 6 or 7 hours later, but I felt even more convined they were skimping on the amount of millings. That is my biggest complaint, in fact. I had previously been told by an old timer at PAW materials, that 3-4" of millings would be the right amount to overcoat a lot, due to the strength of adhesion of more than just a thinner amount, which would be more prone to breaking up, over time, even as it hardened. I'm not expert, for sure, but feel pretty certain when you're told youre getting 3" of coverage and only get an average depth of perhaps 1.5 and maybe just a little more in some areas, someone is skimping to conserve high margin, at the cost of an inferior job.
I realize I would have paid 4 or 5 times more for hot asphalt. However, that doesn't mean that I got my full investment's worth on what I was offered. I now see that the inner portion of the lot, that was done on Monday, following the first and outer portion of the lot on the prior Friday, has hardened better. that is to say that the outer portion is in my opinion a more oxidized milling batch. In other words, the quality control is to mind lacking and that is a dissapointment. Sam told me that the millings PAW materials sells is "shit" and way to large. Now, I am questioning the voracity and truth of that critical comment, having put my own eyes on that material.
I'm not stating that these guys are total scam, but feel that that I should have shopped a little more and not been so eager to accept a deal based on a job cancellation, supposedly. Sam had promised to give me a quote on sealcoating this job of theirs. The fact that he didn't come through with that also make me believe that they or he had prior knowledge that once they were paid, they were gone.
