Concrete Replacement Experts Inc.

Hi Steve

Every job has its unique needs so we always try to add beneficial ideas to help the look of individual properties. The work we do is permanent so any useful tip or suggestion we can add make your property look better also helps to make our work look great and fit with your designs.

Your yard looks great before we arrived but your old driveway was an eyesore, now there's nothing taking away from the beauty of all the work you've done.

Take Care,
Wade

Hi Ray

Yes Rick is a great team leader, he keeps everybody on their toes.

In a tight residential neighbourhood we feel it's important to keep things as clean as possible. Having a great street-sweeper as one of our major tools really helps with that and only takes minutes to clean the whole street in front of your property.

I'm glad you're happy.

Regards,
Wade

Hello,
I'm very glad your driveway turned out as well as you and I expected. I know it's a great job, was done in a timely manner, and meets our high standards or better but .... unfortunately the finisher isn't consistent and has produced some less than stellar work this season and so I had to let them go.

Getting by on " Just good enough" isn't acceptable to me. I want better.

I've put a lot of time into searching for a better consistent finisher and I'm glad to say I've found him.

I'm looking forward to hearing about our new finisher & our higher standards.
:)

I accept your criticism.

Yes I admit to dropping the ball in regards to communication in the last few weeks due to being a little overwhelmed with a couple of difficult jobs, the heatwave working against our schedule and my men.

I typically don't book set dates for job completion unless specifically requested and so there was no expectation date known to me. As explained to all clients I complete jobs in groups based on region, and we were slowed down considerably by the heat wave with temperatures in the mid-high 30's.

My apologies for this and the recent lack of communication.

Hello

Thank-you for the review. As you haven't left a clue as to who you are I'm not sure which project you're referring to.

Typically we have a 4-5 day turn-around for a complete driveway replacement including stripping the forms, backfilling the areas alongside your driveway, planting grass seed, and street cleanup. I know we took a day or two longer on a couple of projects due to being short-handed for a few weeks.

I'm glad your happy with the quality of the work etc ... but yes disappointed for being critiqued so harshly for a delay of a few days...

but Thank-you for your comments either way.

Cheers
Wade
Founder & Senior Estimator

Rob

Thank-you for the kind words and detailed review of the steps we do for each of our clients.

Your project had the added twist of the City of St Albert deciding to change your water shut off valve in the middle your driveway and in the middle of our project... Thank-you for being so understanding to things being out of our control.

It was an absolute pleasure working with you and I'm glad you're happy with the results and the wonky time frame. Your patience & understanding make you shine as a client.

I'll pass along your review to everybody on my team.

Thank-you & Take Care
Wade
Founder & Senior Estimator

WOW
Jonathan,
I am simply floored by the depth of your comments, probably the most articulate & detailed review we have ever received. I'm kinda speechless with gratitude.

I'm extremely proud of how well my Crew Leader Rick completed this job from start to finish. I know you clearly understand the difference between good & bad quality etc.

I'll pass your comments on to my team:
Rick, Andy & Arja, and Bradly and also Brad the owner of the pump company we use.

Thank-you again for taking the time to express your thoughts.

Cheers,
Wade

It's truly unfortunate there are some very unprofessional general contractors out there messing with home-owners. Yes your job experienced considerable delays due to yours but I'm glad it all worked out in the end. I'm also extremely happy the gentleman we referred to you for obtaining your permit & completing your structure build was able to complete your project before winter came in too heavy.

Cheers,
Wade

PS - Now that the snow has melted I'll send the guys by for a final review of your construction site. :)

Hi Robyn,

Good luck with your basement window.
I was very happy with the quality of the work done with with my basement window concrete cutting & install.

I know it might have seemed a little weird that I wouldn't do my own window but the type of saw used for vertical work is different than flat work. So at the time it just made sense to hire it out.

I received this contractors name from another investor who had also uses him with good results.

Cheers,
Wade

When I came out to view the driveway in the following spring after the initial pour I met with the homeowners.

I looked under their bricks that are mounted on the corners of the garage and yes some joints were cracked. These decorative layers of brick are suspended by quarter inch thick pieces of angle iron. I reached under the brick to look & feel, they were completely rusted away and I could flake off inch wide pieces of rust. The inside corner of the 2 foot piece of angle iron, where the horizontal meets the vertical was completely separated for most of the length. This rust was due to the bottom of the brick sitting in water for many many years. The owner viewed the rusty broken metal.

When we took out the original driveway we found a complete swamp under the old concrete, we even had to haul out excessive amounts of mud and liquidy sand. This was pointed out to the home owner and they agreed to the extra charge for digging it out and hauling it away.

When I first quoted the owner they did not want to replace the existing sidewalk in order to save money. The existing sidewalk, at the time of quoting and the following spring, consisted of 24” paving slabs that were tilted very badly towards the garage wall, uphill from the driveway. As always I recommended they pour new concrete tight to the wall to prevent water flowing downhill and under the driveway. They didn’t want to spend the money so I highly reminded they fix the slope of the pavers and the grade around the sidewalk to prevent uphill water from flowing to the driveway and getting underneath it again. He acknowledged this at the time.

The owner did neither of these recommendations and so once again water flooded underneath their driveway. Then over the winter it froze and heaved the concrete driveway and pushing up against the 2-3” corner of brick.

Had they listened to my warnings and recommendations this would not have happened as the water would have been redirected as I instructed.

The water issue was a big deal and was discussed multiple times as there was so much of a swamp under the driveway when we removed it. The conversation of replacing the sidewalk to prevent water from getting under the driveway came up again half way thru the replacement process, they had me quote the sidewalk at this time, but again they refused and said they would deal with the sidewalk which they didn’t.

I make the same recommendations to every homeowner who has a sidewalk going uphill from the driveway, “to take it tight to the house to prevent water from getting under the driveway”.

This owner did not take that advice or repair their own sidewalk and there was an unfortunate consequence because of that.

I did say we could have lowered the corner 2” of concrete away from the brick bit tat would have looked out of place, and the owner said they would repair their sidewalk which they didn’t. Had the drainage been fixed and the angle iron not been sitting in water for so many years & rusted thru this cracked or heaved concrete would not have occurred. If water had not been directed downhill to get under the new driveway then it wouldn’t have had the ice expansion that it did.

I agreed to come back in the summer and work out some sort of arrangement and possibly add the new sidewalk if they wanted to hire us to do so. They acknowledged these items during my spring visit when I first met them to view the bricks.

It’s unfortunate but that’s why I make these recommendations.

We have dozens of ten star reviews for a reason. Every time I do a quote I go thru it in detail and discuss every point, giving a 10-15 minute lesson on concrete, the things that create issues, and the things we do to prevent them. Every client gets an in-depth assessment, education, as part of my quoting process. Even my four page flyer that I mail out covers many of these points.

This has been a learning lesson for me. For now on I will get owners to sign a waiver agreeing to the warnings and recommendations I give them that they won't listen to.

I stand behind our work but I can't be expected to replace concrete for free when the problems are the result of homeowner negligence.