Arcon Concrete Construction Inc

Could not be happier with finished job.

unknown

Very nice and personable when I hired.  Informed there was a guarantee of all work for one year.
Within months, the new sidewalk and patio began cracking, many cracks over 1/4" wide.  17 different segments of concrete in total cracked in less than a year.  Wouldn't return phone calls.  When finally made contact only wanted to patch the cracks.  Guaranteed their work for a year, but only wanted to patch all the cracks.  Had to take them to small claims court and the judgement was in my favor and they were forced to refund $3,000.
The only thing that has held up is the porch.

I almost hate writing this negative review because my first contact with this company was excellent. However, it's important that the public knows what type of people they are dealing with before spending money with husband and wife Jamie and Ron aka Arcon. Arcon laid the concrete for my driveway, stamp colored concrete in the backyard for my patio, and fixed a step in August 2009. Quality of work was great and beautiful. They were very personable, invited me to their home, offered me wine on the deck with their mother, and gave me a tour of their home to show off the concrete work in their basement. I recommended them to at least 3 other customers and was proud to tell everyone who had done my driveway. FAST FORWARD 5 years August 2014: One of the 5'11" X 4'9" blocks of concrete was dug up to fix a broke pipe and a clean out was installed. Instinctively I contacted Arcon and they estimated the cost to fix at $400 and an add'l $60 CASH to put the proper cap on the clean out. I thought this was a bit much but I trusted them and was willing to pay the price for quality. On Monday Arcon and I agreement that they would fix the concrete but NOT install the cap since my plumber would do it for free. At that time Arcon indicated that they would come "sometime next week" to do the work. They requested that my plumber (Cascade Plumbing, also a member of Angie's List who's very good btw) install the proper cap on the clean out prior to them doing the work. Agreed. Two days later, Wednesday at 6:47pm, I recieved a call from Jamie because Arcon "wants to come tomorrow" and wanted to know if the cap was installed yet. It was not. Since I was planning on Arcon coming next week I had scheduled my plumber to come on Saturday but I told Arcon that I'd call them back "tonight" to confirm that the cap will be installed in the morning. Walter from Cascade Plumbing indicated that he usually installs the cap after concrete is laid but he'd come in the morning to do it since Arcon insisted. Before I had a chance to call Arcon back, I received a call from Jamie at 8:49pm (still Wednesday) told her that the plumber didn't think it was necessary to do the cap ahead of time, but he would still come in the morning to install. Here is where Arcon earned a D: On that same call Jamie said, "Arcon has to do all the work (incl cap) or nothing at all since we don't trust the plumbers work b/c he thinks the cap can go on afterwards", "we won't be in the neighborhood next week so it has to be done tomorrow", "the job is too small to come back to the area next week" (as originally planned), "we're only making $60 on the job", "not worth it", "you don't understand scheduling". I can go on and on with more excuses that Jamie and Ron came up with all bc of a simple clean out cap. I reminded Jamie that she called me with less than 24 hour notice and that I was trying my best to accommodate the change in plan. FINALLY she wore me down so I agreed to have ARCON install the cap and complete all the work for $460 BUT THEN she said Ron is frustrated now, and it's really "not worth our time" so we won't be able to do the job at all!! IF THEY DIDN'T WANT TO DO THE JOB THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST SAID SO UPON INSPECTION INSTEAD OF WASTING MY TIME WITH SENSELESS EXCUSES. By the way, during the ENTIRE 15 minute call, Ron was in the background shouting about what Jamie and I were discussing, she was relaying to me everything he was ranting about but in an audible way. At one point she had to pull away from the phone tell him to calm down!! I can't believe that a business would treat their customers this way especially since the issue was a result of Arcon changing the plan last minute. Now, I have 18 days to find another concrete company to fix my driveway because I have a Labor Day party with over 100 ppl attending my home on August 31st and they were aware of my timeline! The only reason I gave these two arrogant characters a D and not an F is b/c the original work and experience was great, but they showed their true colors the second time around. They are not reliable UNLESS you are spending a lot of money so all you people who want a "small" job done, don't waste your time calling this husband and wife b/c they'll throw you under the bus!

Arcon was one of several estimates we got for repair or replacement of a 5 x 7 vaulted concrete porch, as well as pouring a concrete driveway/parking slab behind our home. Ron came out to give me the initial estimate and I was immediately struck by how professional, courteous, and friendly he seemed. We walked through the project together, I gave him my ideas, he gave me his professional opinion.
We have a vaulted concrete porch that sits over a portion of our basement which had a large crack running right down the middle of it. The crack was allowing water to leak into the basement during heavy rains and with snowmelt. Ron suggested the possibility of a repair involving an epoxy injection, grinding down the surface, and applying a skim-coat. In the back parking area, I explained what I was looking for: something that would be able to support a garage in the event we decided to ever build one, something that would look good, and something that would be properly graded toward the alleyway to allow good drainage. We also had some tree roots, some old construction debris, and a few irregular shapes to contend with. Ron was very receptive to my ideas but also didn't hesitate to offer his professional advice. Ron promised a written estimate within two or three days.
I was surprised and pleased when Ron called me later that day to give me a verbal estimate. The parking slab would run $3900 for 600 square feet, and the vaulted porch $1100 to replace or $350 to repair. We elected to replace the front porch, knowing that a repair would only be kicking the can further down the road. Their estimate was exactly in line with others we'd received. Ron and his wife, Jamie, came to our house to sign the contract and accept the deposit, and said they'd be able to begin the work within a week or so.
The work was scheduled for a Monday and a Tuesday to accommodate my work schedule, just about a week after accepting the contract. The night before, we received a call from Jamie confirming that they would be there in the morning to begin what they said would be a two-day job. The crew arrived before 8:00 AM the next day and immediately set to work. Ron was there to work through the morning beside the crew, explaining the job and measuring, etc. The crew did all of the excavating of our gravel parking area, dug down to the appropriate depth, and set the forms for the next day's concrete.
When it came to demo of our existing front porch, the crew accidentally broke through the bottom of the porch leaving a hole about a foot square leading into the basement. Apparently the original porch was extremely thin and had varying thickness throughout the slab, which probably led to the crack in the first place. We discussed with Ron what was necessary now, including reinforcing the floor joists in the basement and putting down a new plywood subfloor to support the new concrete. Ron and I agreed on an additional $500 for the carpentry work and additional labor. This got us fully-doubled floor joists running the entire width and length of the front porch, from our center support beam to the foundation of the house, as well as new supports for the new subfloor.
The second day of the project, the crew again arrived bright and early and began pouring the concrete. It was fascinating to watch them work, and they had great attention to detail the whole time. They began by pouring half of the driveway, then they smoothed, troweled, and broom-finished, before moving on to finish the work in the front of the house. Then they returned to pour the second half of the driveway before laying the concrete for the new front porch.
We're left now with a brand-new, very handsome front porch, complete with new support structure and control joints, as well as a great parking area that keeps our cars up and out of the mud. Six-bag mix, five inches thick, wire-mesh and rebar reinforced, broom-finished, control joints, all the works. We're very happy with the work, and we'd absolutely hire them again.

I met with Ron on or about 9/11/2012 to discuss what I wanted done. He showed up at exactly the time he said he would and was very accommodating as to what I wanted to have done. Ron also suggested a few things as far as layout was concerned that I had not thought of. The work commenced on 9/27/2013. Ron's crew showed up at exactly the time they said they would. They were all very professional and were very accommodating whenever I had any questions. Ron stopped in numerous times during the old concrete removal and forming for the new driveway. The concrete pour went very smoothly with the concrete trucks evenly spaced out. As one truck would empty out, the next one was just pulling up. Ron was there for almost the whole pour. The cement finishers did a fantastic job and there is no ponding after it rains anywhere on the driveway or the walkway next to the garage. They did a great job on the cleanup afterward and back-filled as best they could after the forms where pulled out. I am extremely satisfied with Arcon's work and would definitely use them again!!

They were very professional, were responsive to our questions, and completed the work exactly when they said they would. We had a number of neighbors compliment the finished job and ask for Arcon's phone number. We will definitely use Arson for any future cement work we may have.