Professional Concrete Works

I joined Angies List this past summer to evaluate flat concrete companies before having the concrete in both my garage and driveway replaced.. I found four that were rated "A" and got estimates from each. (I thought I had done my homework.) Jesus Soto and Professional Concrete Works came in significantly less than the closest competitor which seemed great because all were rated "A". In talking with Jesus he appeared to be an honest, hard working guy who didn't have a lot of overhead (the saving for which he passed on to his customers). I was wrong. Him and his men busted up the old concrete, removed it, poured the new concrete and finished the job in a single day. They came back a day or two later to cut grooves. It looked great. Then the problems started. Because it was September, during the finishing phase, a few leaves must have fallen on the wet concrete. Rather than taking the time to remove the leaves, whomever the finisher was had smoothed over them with a thin film of concrete to try and hide them. Within the first couple weeks the gray film over the leaves began to brake away and reveal the leaves. I was disappointed. I called Jesus and made an appointment with him to fix the problem. He never showed up. Subsequent calls from me were not answered. I left messages but never heard back. Within the next few weeks I noticed hundreds of tiny holes occurring in clusters in the driveway concrete; about the size a toothpick would make. Again I tried and failed to contact Mr. Soto. I was further disappointed and wondered how such a company could be rated as an "A" by Angies List so I again read the reviews regarding Professional Concrete Works. By then their rating had dropped to a "B" because of other customers having similar contact problems and providing a rating of "F". I had another concrete guy take a look at the hundreds of tiny holes in the concrete. He told me it was a result of Mr. Soto underestimating the amount of concrete needed for the job and adding water to stretch what they had in order to finish. Between the hundreds of tiny vertical holes and the broad shallow holes left by the dead leaves, I expect that, over the next few years, the freeze/thaw cycles we experience in Colorado will allow moister into the holes, the concrete will begin to break apart or spall and, at some point, I will again need to replace a large portion of the driveway. I was duped. I should not have gone with the lowest price. I believe a "B" rating for this company is a disservice to Angies List customers. They really should be rated an overall "F" to warn potential victims away.

I called around for some quotes to put a concrete slab in our 36' X 48' Pole Barn. We bought the property a little over 4 years ago, and our barn just had a dirt floor. It was terribly dusty and dirty all the time. Just walking in and walking out created a cloud of dust that settled over everything. It was time for a real floor!

Jesus came back with the best price. Everyone was quoting the same work. It seems the standard is a 4" to 5" slab with rebar at 3' on center, but you could obviously specify anything you wanted. I ended up asking for a minimum of 5" for the slab thickness, which Jesus said he could do no problem for another $300. That was a no brainer for me, and the price was reasonable, given the size of the slab. The existing barn was built before we bought the place. I was worried about the poles and perimeter boards at grade level shifting from winds hitting the building. Also, we have sand for soil, and I didn't know how deep the poles were in the ground. For these reasons, I bought some foam type expansion joint material I wanted placed around the poles (actually reused power poles) and the 2x12 perimeter boards in case these shifted a little over time. Jesus and his team installed it for me with no problem, not asking for any additional money, even though it was not part of the original bid.

Jesus also let me use his skid steer to move some debris into a dumpster and over a truck load of dirt I had while they were not using it. He didn't ask for any extra money for that either. He just said the keys are in it, you can use it while it's here if you want. I took him up on it.

Jesus and his crew took three days start to finish for the job. Each and every day, they were either on time or early, and everything took place as scheduled. I probably called him 3 or 4 times during the entire process, including the initial call to bid the job. He answered the phone each time. He also showed up to bid the job about 15 minutes early.

I had no problems with Jesus or his crew start to finish. I will definitely use him again for other concrete work we need done in the future. In fact because of his more than fair price, always being on time, installing my expansion joint material for me, the quality of work, and allowing me to use his skid steer for a day and a half, I actually gave him a little extra as a bonus.