Hi Jake. Thank you for making the time to leave us a review. We apologize for not chairing the rebar at the time of pour. It was a mistake that we have since made part of our pre pour checklist. Because of your feedback we were able to catch a possible deficiency and improve our work.
As to the thickness we used a concrete saw to cut the depth of the area in question and measured it with you. It was found to be 4"+ consistently. The reason there was a concern was because the vehicle would bottom out as there was a steep slope from the roadway to the driveway. We also provided the readymix suppliers ticket showing the volume used; proving the material went in at 4.5-5". As well as using height pegs and grading the subgrade well.
As to the cracking it is understood all concrete cracks, and we use ever tool in our arsenal to make it crack in our control joints. Because that is not always possible we install rebar, using the metal reinforcement to add strength and reduce the size of cracks where they happen. If you had not asked us to saw cut through the metal reinforcement, reducing it's effectiveness we would have possibly had a different outcome.
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After a few years the difficulty of dealing with this gentleman Nd the loss we took still stings. If you took the time to read the review it is likely you will read the response as to what happened:
- The homeowner chose a brown from a colour palette that uses cured pieces of concrete, it is supplied to us from the concrete manufacturer. When the homeowners saw the cured colour after it was poured they immediately regretted their choice and likened it to "human skin", not red. We disagreed with their assessment and arranged for the quality control from the readymix supplier (Lafarge) to test and verify quality and colour of the concrete. The Lafarge rep examined and tested the concrete and found that it was an exact match to the colour chosen by the client. The client was still very unhappy so we recoloured and antiqued the concrete at an extreme expense. After doing this he was very pleased but continued to bully us to do extra work not in the original scope at no cost with the promise of paying the $20,000 remaining. The metal chairs and table we asked to put protective feet on as to not scratch the protective sealant which we explained needed to be resealed every 2 years.
- The gas fitter was ticketed and certified owner operator. Our carpenter does not know how or want to install a gas line. In fact the gas fitter had to show his licensing and insurance to get a permit from the city to upgrade the house gasline and installed the size as requested by the homeowner.
- The light transformer works great. We hooked the lights up to a gps timer that automatically turns the lights on at dusk and off after a few hours. The clients demanded that a light switch be installed later, when switched off it cut power to the gps timer. This meant we had to recalibrate at our expense and he would continually disrupt the power by mistake using the light switch we advised against, disrupting the power and shutting off the timer.
- After understanding the client was upset we cleaned and sealed at our expense the existing concrete on the property as value added. Even going as far as installing the metal railings not in our scope. The client expressed his willingness to pay and arranged for us to fix the gps timer one last time, saying he had the payment ready. After fixing the timer we knocked on the door and he sent a text message saying we were "fired"; this is after completing the project to his satisfaction at our expense. He refused to answer his door and stole $20,000. Being a lawyer he ignored our payment demands and disregarded the lien.
He is right; we did learn a lot. There are some people you will never make happy no matter the lengths you are willing to go.
Have clear contracts and get payment draws. When some people have the power to break the law with no consequences they will manufacture excuses in order to do so.
Tony thank you for believing in us to do you project. We appreciate the referrals.
Thank you Giles. Helping you with your mancave was quick and easy. It was great working with you.
Thanks for the interesting project Courtney! We had fun getting your store ready for opening.
Thanks for the review Don. I drove by your driveway recently and it is still looking great!
We believe that each concrete project must be prepared and completed to the highest standards. Built off of three generations of experience we stick out from the competition with our professional work ethic. Along with our dedication to providing excellence and customer service, High Definition Concrete is a leader in the decorative concrete industry.