I had been considering paving my driveway for years, and when I finally built a garage and added a second driveway, I knew now was the time. I had seen signs for The Paving Company around and the work looked good, so I figured I would give them a shot. I was worried about the cost -- I had a lot of ground to cover -- but reached out and left a message on a Friday afternoon. I expected to hear back on Monday, but Alex called early Friday evening and offered to stop by 1pm on Saturday. I had 3 distinct areas that needed to be tied together -- an existing 35 yr old gravel driveway, a new 1 yr old gravel driveway, and a new "connection" between the two, to effectively make a "horseshoe" as viewed from the road. Alex did his measurements and quoted a number around 75% what I had estimated (and I always under-estimate). Based on existing work I had seen, I said "let's go for it."
On Monday I thought they were going to just drop off some equipment, but he was actually able to get started! They excavated for the new driveway connection, and finding organic material there that wouldn't make for a good base, they ended up digging down 2-3 feet. They let it dry for a day and then filled it up with quality base material. No extra charge for the extra work and fill needed, but since we were under my budget I asked if he could put down and compact item 4 gravel next to the garage as an "overflow" area, and he agreed. On Wednesday they were there to put down item 4 over the entire area, and on Thursday they paved it all in about 4 hours. I could see the effort they put in throughout the entire process, and I was able to go from phone call to paved driveway in less than a week.
I am a perfectionist (which I understand can make me difficult to work for ;-) and a DIYer for most things because my experience has been that contractors just don't always do things to my standards. But Alex and I were on the same page throughout this process, and I could see the pride in his face for the work he had done. And as I look at it now, it came out even better than I had imagined. My wife thinks I'm crazy to get so excited about a driveway, but I've literally waited 35 years for this dream garage and driveway. I'm very happy that Alex and his team were able to make it happen, I could not give a higher recommendation. Next step is landscaping, I hope I have as much success there :-) read more