The Original Driveway Design

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When looking for quote for a new driveway, was told by the office staff that Paul (owner) will only provide a face top face quotes.  Found Paul to straight shooter, detailed oriented, and wants  to do quality work.  From reading comments on Angie's list, multiple folks said the same thing.  After our first appointment, a had a number of concerns and Paul made a second trip out to our house to address them. In the end, I knew that I could probably find a cheaper contractor for the job, but Paul was the contractor I wanted to install our new driveway & sidewalk. The quote has everything spelled out in terms of the product specs, warranty, etc.  No high pressure sales pitch and even provide a list of current customers.
Paul's crew arrived on time for the demo & pour days.  Job was done correctly and didn't cut corners.  I could tell the crew had work together for some time and were concern about the details of the job.  During the concrete pour, each person knew his duties and didn't need to be told what to do.  Yes one of them loved to step on our shrubs a lot and I bit my tongue when he did, but other than that, it was a very low stress event.  In the end, we got a awesome looking sidewalk & driveway.  Many of our neighbors have commented as well.  Really gives our house a nice curb appeal.
Takeaways:
- don't be afraid to go with concrete over asphalt as it probably only cost us an additional $1500 - $1800
- pay attention to the base of the driveway.  Too many contractors cut corners in this area
- Paul has interesting design ideas with some curves - be open to them
- Don't forget to use the coupon on Angie's List!

Everything looks AMAZING!   Our new driveway & walkway look better than they ever have.  Randy and team took a lot of care to make sure the levelling of both the driveway and walkway were done correctly, not just replacing what was there before.  it had a dramatic effect - some parts of the driveway are 6" higher than they were before, but the water is running away from the house much more effectively than before. 
You can see the experience of the team in the way they work together.  I strongly suggest you visit the company's website to watch the videos, where you'll not only learn about a driveway installation but also get a sense of the experience Randy brings to these jobs.  And, it's clear his team has been with him a long time, too, as they work together quickly, effectively and with great passion for the work they do.

The Original Driveway was good. I liked the way he stamped the concrete.

It went really well!  This was the first time I had used them, and I would use them again in the future as well as recommend them to others.

The estimate was very reasonable. The work was not completely pristine - there were some rocks, tree roots and some debris left afterwards, however, the cost was half of my other estimate so I was very happy with the result and would use them again.

They were wonderful, they are excellent. Their product is wonderful and excellent. They do everything that they say they will do, and the neighbors have commented on their clean up. Their price was more than some of the others, but the quality was worth it. We would refer them to anybody.

We had an old patio slab removed and replaced. The patio itself looks good and we have no reason to question the quality of the work at this point. However, there were some issues with the process that we think could be helpful to others. They came to our house before the project to give us an estimate, so they saw the distance from our back driveway to the patio, and we also told them before the project began that we had an underground sprinkler system and that other vendors had driven on our lawn over boards that they provided to protect the sprinkler heads. However, when The Original Driveway Design workers did the work on our patio they used sledgehammers and saws to take out our old patio by hand. We later leaned from their supervisor that they did this because they did not have enough boards with them to get their heavy equipment to the patio site. It was a lot of extra work for the crew, they worked extremely award, and we do appreciate their hard work. But, we just had our house painted (the painters were actually still on-site when the patio work was performed), and the saws threw a tremendous amount of fine concrete dust all over the back of our house and our second story deck and deck furniture which was 20 or more feet from the patio. We found out later when having our windows cleaned that they also got actual concrete, not just dust, on the sliding glass doors by the patio, which had to be scraped off to clean the windows. The contract specifies that the homeowner is responsible for restoration (which for us meant buying dirt to fill in the 4-8 inch gap between the new slab and the lawn when the forms were removed), but they are responsible for cleaning the site, which should include cleaning up the concrete dust they created. When we asked about the concrete dust, we were told that we had to spray down all the dusty areas ourselves after the concrete cured. Although we did not like that answer, we are getting our house ready to sell so we followed their instructions, but the concrete dust is still visible. In our view, they are the experts and should have planned better for the job--either bring the boards you need to get to the site with your equipment, or if you choose to go the manual route, have a much better plan to minimize and clean up the dust. At a minimum, they should have warned us about the dust issue and let us decide how we wanted to handle it. We would also recommend asking about the timeline. We wish they would have communicated better about the timing of the job. They started our job on a Thursday, but did not finish. No one showed up the next day. We had not been told what was going on, so we called and eventually were told that the job would be finished on Saturday. It would have been nice to have had better communication on that. In fairness, they did stick to their original quote even though they found the job was more difficult than they initially anticipated.

Took out old asphalt driveway and put in new expanded asphalt driveway.  I went very well and smoothely

Randy Johnson the sales rep met with us at first to listen to our needs and suggest possible design solutions.  Once a design had been approved [by us], we got on the schedule for work (we didn't wait that long).  All the workers were on time and professional. When the guides for the cement stairs were in place, Randy double checked that all was as we envisioned (same for the driveway).  The work was done quickly and professionally and it looks great.  After each step Randy stopped by to check the work and to make sure we were satisfied with everything.

Arrived on time.  The demo work was completed before arrival of cement truck.  Before pouring the concrete a good aggregate layer was installed for proper installation.   (1) worker stayed until the concrete dried adequately to accommodate proper leveled finish - we have leaky gutters that kept dripping on the wet concrete per the rain received the night prior.  He then properly sealed the concrete.
everyone was friendly, answered wife's and my questions.  The project looks great!  Would recommend to anyone.

Driveway Design did a wonderful job on our business' parking lot. They dug out and repaved with thicker asphalt a problem area of the parking lot that other companies wanted to do major reconstruction on at a much higher cost. Randy Johnson came out and measured the grade and said it just needed thicker asphalt to withstand the trucks at the dock. They were timely and professional, finished the job in the time and for the cost stated without overruns of cost. They were tidy and left the lot as clean as they found it. The owner oversaw the entire job personally. We would definitely use them again.

I chose 3 companies to interview and provide estimates on the work we needed done.  The Original Driveway Design's owner, Randy Johnson, arrived at my door with helpful information about asphalt and cement, suggestions on how to resolve water issues and an unmistakable pride in his work and the people who work for him. I prefer using locally owned and family companies and I was impressed with what Randy had to offer.
I received calls from the office telling me when the guys were on their way.  They arrived on time and on schedule.  The guys were employed by The Original Driveway Design; they were not subcontractors. They arrived in trucks displaying the company logo so I knew who they were before I opened the door.  They were all polite, respectful and willing to answer questions. I took pictures and video though out the process. I am sure I made them crazy but they did not say a word.  One of them even turned around and smiled for me.
They were careful not to disturb our landscaping. They asked me to check the framing for out sidewalk to be sure it was exactly what I wanted.  Then they changed it for me. They worked together like a choreographed ballet, each knowing what to do next without having to talk with one another. The same guys showed up for all the different stages; to rip out the old driveway, to pour the new asphalt, to pour the cement and then again for the seal coating.  I began to recognize and trust them.  Randy, the owner, showed up to personally do the grading work and came back to work with his guys to lay the driveway.  They worked hard together and laughed a little.  They all seemed to have the same sense of pride that I saw in Randy that first day I met him.  
I would recommend The Original Driveway Design to my friends and family.  Actually, I already have!

I logged into Angie's list to get a number of providers for replacing my aging driveway. I was selling my house in Crystal and needed to get the job completed in a very short period of time to satisfy the maintenance codes in the city of Crystal.
I had a total of five vendors come out and give me quotes. By far Randy from Driveway Design led the group. He was able to assess and quote me on the day I called. I learned he was originally from the area and that his company had recently completed another driveway a few blocks from my house. He did not oversell but just explained what needed to be done and his estimate was very fair. He provided a binder full of previous jobs he had completed and useful information that helped me make my decision to chose Driveway Design.
Within a week he had removed the old driveway and graded it appropriately. He understood my timelines as I was literally closing on my house within 3 weeks and wanted the buyer to be able to drive up to their new house and be able to move in furniture and their belongings. With an 18% up front payment and final payment on the date the driveways was poured was acceptable. I would not hesitate to utilize this company again. They really came through for me and contacted the city to ensure the lien was removed in time for the city inspection and in time for my closing. The driveway looked great and was exactly what we had agreed to. Thanks for your attention.

We had an existing concrete pad roughly 20' x 30' with an old loose basketball goal on one end on our 20+ year old house. Randy was very knowledgeable and straightforward during the entire process.  We are very pleased with the overall timeliness and professionalism of his entire crew.  They removed a small section of old concrete during the process so the finished section would be more aesthetically pleasing.  The crew was very speedy yet meticulous as this was near the house and a transition area to a long asphalt driveway.  It was easy to see their professionalism in other areas as well when the original form and leveling strings were either bumped or not put back quite right after the excavation, the project was purposely halted, and almost completely redone to ensure it was correct.  This was  unnoticed by me, but I was impressed with their explanation and willingness to not just "get it done" with a quick band aid type solution.  They actually switched between their form and excavation crew that day to redo some of the work, and although it may have slowed up the actual pour by a couple days, I was very pleased to have it done the right way.  I highly recommend The Original Driveway Design team.
One additional note was a comment one of my neighbors made regarding their clean and well maintained trucks and equipment.  I also believe as my neighbor pointed out, "...that says a lot about their business and attention to detail."

Randy Johnson was the most knowledgeable blacktop representative of three contractors asked to bid a project for myself and my neighbors on either side of me.  All of us had collapsing driveways that just kept sinking further over a 20-year period.  Randy talked about important aspects of the job that the others did not mention.  One of the most important aspects was digging out the underlying clay and laying in a deep base.  It was clear that the base would form a solid base for our asphalt the first day it was in.  While we driving on that base and allowing it to settle in, the concrete work was completed and it turned out great.  One of the workers for my siding contractor commented on how great the concrete work turned out.  He said that they didn't often see such meticulously-completed work.  I agree.  Now that the blacktop and concrete work are done, my neighbors and I know that we picked the right company to do our work.  It was more expensive than either of the other two bids by a fair amount, but we know why now that we've experienced the great work that Randy's crews did for us.  Everything was left neat and clean - not even a spot of tar on the new garage apron.  This work was done by competent and caring professionals.  I am very impressed.

All the work is complete and done well.  Everything looks great.  The new drains work, The concrete work looks good, the driveway grading looks perfect.  The asphalt is now installed and it looks very good as well.
Some decorative concrete was inadvertently damaged during removal of  other concrete.  This was completely replaced (at not cost to the homeowner), and some additional decorative work was also done.
The entire project took several weeks, about 2 weeks longer than expected.  This was due to homeowner scheduling and weather delays.
The work crews were top notch.  Everyone knew what to do without being told.
The owner personally supervise and actually did some of the most exacting work.
Overall, I am very pleased.

Very satisfying process. The company is responsive and professional. The work is first rate. They were not the cheapest bid, but the work is thorough and they communicate effectively.

a little slow to get bid back, but once that was received, work was done immediately and much better than I expected.  Looks great!

They were very good and excellent.  They were professional.  They sloped our driveway correctly so we don't have piling problems anymore.

I used their services just this last fall. In fact they have to come out in the spring yet and seal the driveway still, because it was too cold at the end of the year here. We actually are widening our driveway. They did a good job. We also paid to have it sealed and when I called later in the year, I said you guys are supposed to seal the driveway still and they said yes we know. They said that it got too cold at the end of the year here, we still plan on coming out in the spring and I said okay. They said that they had about a dozen other people that are waiting to get their driveway sealed too. There was a guy, a salesman, he came out and listened to what we wanted and then he took the measurements, took the bid, completely professional and basically that was it. My sister-in-law had a stamped driveway put in by them and I think they did my father-in-law's driveway too. So we actually got the name from them, although we do use Angie's list a lot. I do not know if that is how she got the name, so we got it from her and then we have used them too. We are very happy as long as they can come out now in the spring and finish sealing the driveway. They work very quickly and efficiently.

Our experience with The Original Driveway Design was fantastic.  The price was fairly comparable to other estimates that we got.  Randy is obviously very knowledgeable and experienced and takes great pride in the work that they do. The  crew arrived on time and worked efficiently and professionally.  In the end, we were very pleased with the quality of the work and our new driveway.  I would use this company again and recommend them to anyone looking to replace an asphalt driveway.

Rondy was a complete professional.  He met with us to discuss job, sent a reasonable bid, and followed through exactly as he promised, and I highly recommended driveway design.

Great company to work with and quality job that well satisfied with

Mr. Randy was very helpful explaining their process.  There was some ambiguity about the timing, but I know it was a small job.