Loc Tite Interlocking

This has got to have been the worst experience I've ever gone through in terms of contractors over 10 years and 2 homes.

Let me begin.

I had 4 quotes. Loc-tite was probably the second most pricey on the list. The one I wanted to go with was honest and said he couldn't get me the job done in summer, and that I'd have to wait til October. How ironic. (read on)

So Foti comes over and gives me a quote. We do the normal haggling of services and he finally reaches the agreement for services for front 'patio' (six patio stones infront of steps to house), backyard 17x27 (ish) patio, kidney shaped...plus to lock down the deal, he would get the guys to fix my garden bed (the stones I put in were sinking and uneven) while there. Done deal. Deposit paid mid may and digging expected to be done within 6 weeks.

I can't recall correctly but I'm pretty sure the digging did not happen til about 8-10 weeks out. (july) From what I was told (mother was present at digging time), the digger they brought was NOT functioning and they dug by hand. No skin off my nose, it's their time. When I get home, I look to see that the depth is about 3 inches, IF that. Foti (the salesperson) told me 6-7 inches was what they would do. When I see the depth, I immediately called Foti. After several attempts (take note of this comment) of calling, he finally gets back to me, noting that gregg, the owner, was there, and says it was done correctly, and not to worry, that it'll settle enough. I express my concern however I trusted that it would settle.

On a related note, the equipment that loctite placed on the road infront of my house has left permanent impressions on the street. Large gashes from the feet of their bin.

I've informed the town that loctite caused this damage, and made that point very clear.

Many weeks pass, with no sign of my stone, and zero contact from loctite. Yes, I called foti several times. Never picks up, and rarely calls back until much later (days/week). Whenever he does call back, it's always an excuse that he needs to check with the installer and get back to me.

Communication has been brutal since booking.

Weeks pass, and the sheeting still has not settled any further, depth is still minimal and NOT what was promised at signing.

I again, call my concerns into Foti's answering machine, again promised later that it's fine.

Stones are dropped at my house in september. (yes, I booked in may with a 6 week start time) No calls were made to me to let me know, nor was any call made to book a time. So again, I have to call to chase them down to get information. When I get a call back, i'm told it's not going to be done as the stones are not all there. Lovely.

So it sits there for a week, when the city comes knocking at my door, letting me know that I'm violating by-laws by keeping this stuff on the road, especially unmarked (no pylons). I call foti and tell him the situation, and the city rep was very nice. She notes that it needs to be marked, and moved...or else the city will confiscate it. I supplied her Foti's contact information, and notified him at the same time. She thanked me for co-operating.

She noted that the contractor should know better than to do that. I agreed.

Three days later, the city marks off the stones with pylons. A week later, no contact with loctite (surprise), and the stones are taken away by the city. I inform foti. Calls start coming into me from him and Gregg who are frantic.

Basically they have to pay a fine to get the stone out. (well, I do, but I'm withholding the fine amount from loctite, until I get billed from the city). Foti calls and says don't worry, they'll buy new stones...it's Gregg's fault.

October rolls around and finally stones arrive at my house. No calls either. Couple days later, someone shows at my house ringing the bell. No notice. Lucky I was home. He proceeds to lead off with a joke: "We've come to take your stones back. Gregg says your job isn't worth it."

You could guess my face now.

The guy starts laughing (btw, did not introduce himself at all) and asks me to open the garage to store their stuff.

Now I must admit, the installer did great (ryan), and worked with me to ensure things were done to my liking.

Problem from the moment he got there was that he had no contract so didn't know what he was doing (the front and back sizing/shape). Every other comment was "let me call gregg" or "you need to call gregg." But I digress. He did a good job while there.

Now here's where it gets interesting. When he's almost done, he notes that I need additional metal edging because the patio wasn't dug down deep enough, and that he'd be back to have to repair it in a few months. Of course I try to get them to throw the edging in, because i was assured several times that it would settle and not be a problem. So why is their installer, who is onsite looking at the actual jobsite, saying otherwise?

I end up having a call with Gregg that night. All he ever said during the job was that if I'm not happy, don't pay until I am. Seems that what I need to make me happy is going to cost me additional money, and there's no way around it. Of course, the call does not go well, and I have to say I don't enjoy being called "bro" from a company I'm paying to do a job for me. Nor do I like having conversations with companies with cursing every so often. Even less, I dislike having someone I'm paying raise their voice at me. (Further to calls, my wife had a call with him in the same fashion, where gregg ended up hanging up on her because "he was driving". Classy.) In the calls, I don't particularly care how you feel about Foti giving too much and that you're not making enough on the job. That's not my problem. I, as a consumer, should not be hearing about inter-company nonsense such as this. This is just another instance of many, how Loctite is unprofessional.

In any case, I try to pin the issue on him as I told them from the beginning that I wasn't satisfied or comfortable with the depth, and his call that the patio would be fine despite what his guys onsite say (note, gregg had mentioned earlier in the call he can't remember my property, yet he's able to override the guy who is onsite?). But he would not give me the edging to keep it together. So I'm out another 200 dollars for something that never should have been required in the first place if it was done properly and as initially promised.

At the end of the job, the installer becomes more friendly and actually tells me his name. That was just before he asked for a big tip. Excuse me? Tip is based on experience. I told him to 'talk to gregg'. That turned me off entirely.

Also, the additional stones, which probably equalled about 60 bricks or so, were taken back quickly. Apparently even though I bought them, the additional are not mine. Again, an arguement with Gregg.. By the way, the additional stones that he notes they SHOULD have left me, which he promised he would drop off two weekends ago, still have not found their way to my house.

Wow, gregg didn't deliver on his word...again.

So now, it's october. Patio is done. I had to pay for additional sand to sweep into the many gaps between the stones. I had to pay for additional metal edging...and I also had to pay for additional soil because of the 3 inches OVER the grade of my lawn the patio has been set.

I don't believe this was done properly. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't give me any issues. If it does, you can be damn sure I'll be paying another company to fix it. Guarantee or not, I'm not letting loctite anywhere on my property again. I'd rather pay someone to do the job than get it free from Gregg.

You can be sure that I will never allow anyone I know to book or even entertain loctite services.

The communcation is terrible. The attitudes are terrible. The promises are flimsy. Confidence on the durability of the patio is moderate only because Ryan suggested the metal edging as necessary.

Find someone else, other than loctite, at all costs.

You would figure for the service I got, it was the cheapest option, but I'll guarantee you, this simply was not the case.

EDIT:
I stand by my comments above. To say there was miscommunication on MY side is outrageous. It was all poor communication on the part of loctite and loctite only.
Given the comments of the poor impressions you've left with many clients, I'm sure it's not difficult for any future readers to believe my posting about the mismanagement of a project by loctite.
The fact you have to beg people to alter their reviews of your poor past service is testament of the poor impression you've left on people after they have time to review the experience.
And I especially love the comments of "please call me" in almost every reply you've given to everyone. Everyone that has dealt with you probably can attest to my comments that communication is virtually non existant with loctite once they get your money.
I have zero desire to reconcile anything with loctite and as i've said before, there will be no need for warranty coverage, as I forbid loctite from setting foot on my property ever again.

EDIT - Nov 19/2010
After all the above was expressed by me, Gregg still had the intent to come and try to make things right in person. While I was a bit disinterested once finding out who was at my door, I was still open to listening. Reason being, it says a lot about a person who will still try to make amends.

Gregg took some time to actually show me details as to what was done and why. This is one of the reasons why it is necessary for a knowledgable 'leader' to be onsite during the construction. The workers don't know how to explain why it is what it is, and just pass the buck onto someone who's not even onsite.

While onsite, Gregg noticed the crooked and narrow step on his own, and make note that he'll have someone come out to fix the step to what it should be - Straight and as wide as the door.

So in the end, Gregg is indeed a good guy, and my experience would have been less frustrating had he been onsite during the job itself. Much of the lead-in events to the actual stone laying needs improvement, but in terms of character, Gregg definitely earned some good points.

Coles notes: communication between the sales and contruction teams need definite improvement, and timelines need to be followed more closely while keeping the homewoner in the loop.
Salesperson needs to be more knowledgable on site assessments before saying 'what you need'.

We signed up with Loc-Tite mid spring and had to wait all summer before the work was done. During that period, we were quite anxious and at times frustrated by the wait. Gregg and his crew finally showed up on Sept 22nd and within 3.5 days, they did a complete make over of our landscape. We could not be any happier with the work done. It was well worth the wait and the price.

There were a few reasons why we signed up with Loc-Tite. Scott was our salesrep and he was very easy going and very willing to budge on the price. Then knowing that they own all their equipment is reassuring. They've also done lots of work in our neighbourhood all have been impressive.

When we saw Gregg working, we knew he was a perfectionist and it seems nothing can get by him. He and his crew are extremely hard working – they show up at 7am and work pass sunset. While the work is in progress, it may seem overwhelming with all the machines and trucks around your home. But after the project is complete, they’ll clean up all the mess and leave you with something to be proud off. All our neighbours and passersby now complimented on our landscape and we're very delighted with the result.

Looking back, I guess we can't expect Gregg to be at 40 different places at the same time, right? So if you have the time and patience, I highly recommend using Loc-Tite. I also recommend signing up before spring (unlike us) so you’re ahead in the queue ;-)

I'd like to share my experience with having Loctite to complete driveway / walkway interlocking and porch copping. The project was completed 1 week ago and in it is now in the phase of addressing several issues.
I will simply list what I liked and disliked:
What I like:
- Reasonable price if you manage to negotiate
- The owner (Greg)did accommodate my request to change the stone as it was not ordered yet.
- Loctite comes back and addresses immediate issues which I wish not have to begin with (moving copping step stones, shifting stones, joint sand is washing out).
- I wasn't asked for all these multiple payments upon excavation, upon stones delivery etc. I paid the balance after the job completed + tips (even with the issues which I discovered later)

What I disliked:
- Waited almost 2 month from the time I have signed the contract where was specified that job must be completed by July 1st, it was completed near 4 weeks later.
- Waited 3 weeks between my paving was taken off until interlocking job completed.
- Had to manage / oversee the project coming home early or during the launch, otherwise I would get not exactly what I asked ((placement of grey and beige stones).
- I was expecting that stones will be installed with one of 3 patterns suggested by manufacturer, I was flexible with which pattern they do it and didn't put in the contract and I was WRONG. Loctite installed the stones randomly. Why is it bad? Because now I have many random places where joint line between breaks goes continuously straight along 5-7 bricks and this becomes a small "river" when raining and washes joint sand out. In fact, I came home during the launch and have asked to use a pattern but was not able to get one as it was not in the contract. More then that, a crew member who did placed the stone on the driveway doesn't know any pattern and told me that I'm first customer who wants a pattern. Nice.
- Several issues immediately after job "done":
1. 2 copping stones on the top step (porch level) were not glued well and where shifting. Ryan (lead of the crew) fixed this, in fact, he was very responsive to come and address the issue.
2. About 8-10 stones where shifting on the porch - Ryan came and quickly re-packed most of them. 1 or 2 still moving.
3. Border stones (about 10) in a curved area of my walkway before steps are moving when you stay on them. - Promised that it will be fixed by installing a retainer. – this has been fixed by now.
4. Jointing sand that was used to fill joints between the stones is washing out. I just learned that Polymeric sand needs to be used, which hardens after wetting, and stays much longer. Called the owner (Greg) about this issue, he told me that I didn't pay for polymeric sand. Excuse me? I was never told that there are different types.

- Salesman (Scott) is a friendly guy and he will tell you several time that he will take care of you, but you likely will never see or hear him again after you paid commissions. He spend just 20 minutes with me, did beat other estimates, signed me and that was all (this was a reason that I had to change stone type, and some design, we never discussed patterns, we never discussed polymeric sand, etc). Just before the excavation task to begin, I have decided to do interlocking of the entire driveway (not just walkway as originally), was making an arrangement on additional cost with Greg, and it was higher than estimates given by the salesman originally. I just agreed to pay more, whatever Greg asked. What do you think next? The salesman shows up the next day to get his 10% commissions. Question is what for? OK - I have paid.

The job is done; minor issues with border stones and washing sand have been addressed and solved by Loctite.
Tips:
Learn best practices for interlocking jobs; be informative about how it supposed to be done. Include everything in the contract, take your time and don't rush, let the salesman spend time with you and earn his commission:
Specify pattern, what stone type and color, specify on the drawing where is a brick of different color, specify how deep excavation is (inspect it), specify how many inches gravel (inspect it) and amount of screening sand, write that polymeric sand must be used, specify deadline date when the project should be completed and what happens if it is delayed. Read on the back of the contract (if you can :-) )

I thank you for reading my review and hope it will help you to make informative decision when you hire a contractor to make interlocking for you.

UPDATE: Loctite did address outstanding issues. I have agreed to pay $0.50 per sq. feet to re-sand the driveway with polymeric sand.

Overall: I'm satisfied with the end result. Important is that Loctite (even after they get paid) does all possible to fix outstanding issues and keep their customer happy. This builds a confidence that with Loctite you will get repairs done during the warranty period.
Thank you, Greg!

Loc Tite sales person Foti was very professional and very easy to work with. Gregg and his crew were excellent and did exactly what we had asked. The job was completed in December 2008 and in the spring of 2009 certain areas had sunk. I called and called and called and left a dozen + messages for Loc Tite to came and fix the areas that had sunk through the winter months. Finally 2 1/2 months later they came to fix my interlock and it took about 1 hour to complete but it took me almost 3 months for them to come out. They do a great job but it;s like pulling teeth for them to come out and fix the problem they created. I will not recommand or ever use Loc Tite again.....
TO MANY HEADACHES. There's lots of other interloc company's out there......VERY DISPOINTING !!

I am shocked to hear some of these reviews about how the work and crew were not exceptional. I have seen them work my entire street with care and accomadation to everyone involved. They are skilled and believe in doing the job right! I did notice that in some cases, customers can be diffuclt. Maybe its the customer and not the company.

I am using them again for another home because truthfully, they actually have a passion for what they do and work extremely hard to get the job done to the customer's liking. With every project, you should research your contractors. That's what we did, and we continue to be pleased!

We first used Loc-Tite 10 years ago and over the years had him back 3 times expanding our interlocking needs. We have recommended him to family and friends and everyone is very satisfied and have beautiful landscapes to enjoy for many years. Gregg and his crew are friendly, dedicated, and artistic in their work. Imagine being able to call a company after 10 years for a repair of sloping steps; having the repair done quickly and with care and when asked the cost of the repair having the owner Gregg extent his hand for a handshake and a smile and his words, "call me if you need anything else". Amazing!!!! Guarantee Plus. Loc-Tite is A+ for sure.