I had two concrete finishes installed by Zona as part of one project. The first was exposed aggregate (driveway and two walkways). The second was a sand finish (patio, stoop, and two walkways). Both were colored concrete. I am very pleased with the driveway - the installation seems to be high quality, with plenty of expansion joints, a neat junction with the asphalt road, a good slope, and embedded wire mesh for strength. There seems to be faint variations in color under the aggregate, but it is barely noticeable - the reason for my mentioning this will become evident in a bit. The exposed aggregate walkways are fine, too, though the curves and bends in one of the walkways did not end up being the same as Mac (owner) and I had spent 15 minutes laying out in spray paint before demolition and I greatly preferred the initial layout to the final product. [Lesson learned: don't be shy about asking concrete companies to redo the forms if you don't get just what you asked for, even if the owner of the company pushes back when you mention it!]
The sand finish areas are very disappointing. On the patio, the finish is very rough in one area, with the effect that it looks pitted and old. Initially, there was even a divot in it but the crew filled it in on the next day fresh concrete was delivered and it did blend in well. Another major problem is that after all the areas were acid washed ~1 month after being poured, an obvious patchiness in the color was revealed (see photos), corresponding to areas where efflorescence had occurred soon after the concrete was poured. I mentioned this to Mac and he came out to repeat the acid wash, with the assurance that the second wash would even out the color. However, it did not, or did only slightly, and Mac didn't check back in to see if I was satisfied (I am not). Two problems there - it is not a high-quality look and there was not much concern about customer satisfaction once all was paid for.
Another annoyance: while Mac assured me more than once that his crew would install "lots of" irrigation sleeves under the walkways, as far as I (and the landscapers) can tell, only one of the three walkways that should have sleeves does. Before the job was finished, I asked Mac where the sleeve was for one of the walkways and he said he would have his crew dig out the ends for me, but this wasn't done (presumably because the sleeve is not there!).
In short, this job was a big expense for me and I didn't get the quality I was expecting based on the amount of money I spent, the photos I was shown, or the sales pitch that promised high quality because Mac himself would be on site every day. If you're looking for an exposed aggregate driveway, then Zona might work out for you, but I cannot recommend them for other types of installations. read more