Shitty Concrete Work!

[stealth]

So I got this guy off Kijiji to do some concrete work for me in the front of my house. He did an OK job, and I can live with it.

I get him to do my back patio under the condition that he does the work and not his workers, and this is what it turns out like...

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q578/wazaz/1338780632426.jpg

I told him twice that the grade that the forms were being built to were too great a week before the pour and he said he would take care of it. Obviously not...

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q578/wazaz/1338780653236.jpg

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q578/wazaz/1338780092041.jpg

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q578/wazaz/1338780100466.jpg

Here it is sloping towards the house and the window well. Water collects here and drains into the house / well.

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q578/wazaz/1338771555751.jpg

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q578/wazaz/20120603_210919.jpg

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q578/wazaz/20120603_210916-1.jpg

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q578/wazaz/20120603_210916.jpg

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q578/wazaz/1338780644152.jpg

Here there are chips and peeling from where he must of pressure washed or his workers had issues with the stamping.

He didn't fulfill his end of the deal by him doing the work. Instead he had his "team" do it for him. He promised me beforehand it would be excellent.

I argued with him and so far the best that I can get out of him is a $2000 refund, and he walks away, or he will cut from the left side of the window well all the way to the side where the slope is huge. Not including the steps.

He says the chips he will fix. I told him that it is a temporary fix and that it will be a hack job. I also mention how some of the stamps are not thoroughly stamped. I also notice that there are spots in the cement of a darker color. Is this spotting normal. He only has a matte finish sealer on there, and said he would return in 28 days to do a high gloss finish on it...

I told him that I want the whole job redone, as it is far from perfect. He admits that there are issues, but believes that tearing out the whole thing is unnecessary.

What should I do. I paid him $4500 upfront of the $6500 he is charging me and then $1800 when he finished and the releasing powder was on, which is a fuck up on my end... I paid $4500 of it in a bank draft with his name on it. The rest in cash.

Should I threaten him with a lawyer, even though this work I did not get written up in a contract, only through emails.

Sorry for the lack of question marks (keyboard) and better writing, I am pissed and wanted to get some quick opinions.

Thanks.

[Mar]

Don't threaten, file it with the courts, it's $200, and serve him with the papers.

[barmanjay]

That doesn't look like very good concrete work

side note: was that basement window always below grade?

I really don't like the way that looks.

[Weapon_R]

That looks awful! Who did it?

[stealth]

I am in Edmonton. Company called Concretekat Construction Ltd.

I don`t know if it will look better with the gloss, not considering the other flaws. Right now it looks like shit.

[barmanjay]

Originally posted by stealth


Here it is sloping towards the house and the window well. Water collects here and drains into the house / well.


That is a pretty serious issue

I don't think I would have ever had the concrete go up that high on the window well. They are there to keep stuff from going in there. This way it all just slopes right in.

The concrete is too high.

The ground should have bee excavated and leveled before forming.

I actually feel a little bit sick for you and i feel the stress headache you are going to have,.. sorry to see this.

[heavyfuel]

You get what you pay for. Kijiji=sub par most of the time. Maybe hire solid reputed professionals for something so important and then just maybe it will get done right the first time.

[stealth]

Originally posted by barmanjay


That is a pretty serious issue

I don't think I would have ever had the concrete go up that high on the window well. They are there to keep stuff from going in there. This way it all just slopes right in.

The concrete is too high.

The ground should have bee excavated and leveled before forming.

I actually feel a little bit sick for you and i feel the stress headache you are going to have,.. sorry to see this.

Honestly, it has been done for a few days now, and today is the only time I had to actually look at it good, and it has me stressed out like never before.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by heavyfuel
You get what you pay for. Kijiji=sub par most of the time. Maybe hire solid reputed professionals for something so important and then just maybe it will get done right the first time.
what he said.

[stealth]

The guy owns a company and did some work for me that came out decent.

[barmanjay]

Before it gets really rainy/snowy (this year)

You will have to remedy that window well problem, otherwise you risk serious water penetration issues into your basement.

[01RedDX]

.

[r3ccOs]

get that core'd and removed....

[ExtraSlow]

Originally posted by heavyfuel
You get what you pay for. Kijiji=sub par most of the time. Maybe hire solid reputed professionals for something so important and then just maybe it will get done right the first time.
also: paying up front = shitty work.

This guy has your $4500, I doubt he's going to rip this out and re-pour for a measly $2000. He'll string you along for months and hope you give up.
Either file with the courts, or just give up today and call a real concrete company.
I put your odds of getting this fixed at around 10%.

[spikerS]

There is a reason these hack job guys are on Kijiji and not busy through builders and word of mouth.

You tried to save a dime and got bit on the ass.

Next time, hire someone legit.

[colsankey]

Get your $2000 back, then look at court options.

Some monies better than no monies and all the headache.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[JRSC00LUDE]

Your first course of action should be to have a reputable company come in for a site evaluation, recommendation and estimate for repairs.

How do you expect to negotiate a settlement with no concrete information?

[sputnik]

I never pay contractors a dime upfront for a job that takes less than a couple days.

[JRSC00LUDE]

Originally posted by sputnik
I never pay contractors a dime upfront for a job that takes less than a couple days.

This.

We do multiple six figure jobs every month, we never get a dime up front. That's what progress payments are for. Yes, the scale is different but the principle is the same. If it's a week of work, why pay anything till it's finished?

If you're dealing with a guy that can't supply materials or pay his men unless you give him an advance then you're dealing with the wrong guy.

[A790]

It's not going to look any better, and high gloss sealer will only be a band-aid. It needs to come out, be re-mixed with proper color ratio, and then repoured-stamped.

Sue him and find someone else to do it.

[7thgenvic]

That work is absolutely Terrible... They really did not put valid time into those pours. The fact that it's flaking that bad in such a short period of time is bad news for that pad lasting. The grade is horrendous.... You are going to have some water issues in the near future.

[stealth]

Ya I was a royal idiot by giving him $6300. He offered to do a payment plan which I refused because I don't like owing people money.

I will call bylaw and see if they will deem it out of compliance and then sue him.

[nickyh]

When I saw the title i thought someone from my neighborhood has taken pics of my patio and posted them up.

Sorry about the situation, I can understand how stressful this is for you as I"m in a similar situation except our concrete guy said he'd do whatever we wanted him to do to fix ours.
He gave us 3 options and the only one we want is to have it ripped out and re-done.


In our case, crappy mix sent over resulting in a piss poor stamp and flaking / pits everywhere. He was hired by our landscape company so we are only paying upon job completion.