PLEHAL BLACKTOPPING LLC
About us
Proud to build the best asphalt driveways in Minnesota. Plehal has been in the asphalt paving business since 1949. We specialize in residential asphalt driveways, parking lots, tennis courts, pathways, patch repair work and sealcoating. The area we cover is a 60-mile radius from operations in Shakopee, MN.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Residential & Commercial: • Asphalt Driveways • Parking Lots • Tennis/Athletic Courts • Crack Filling • Commercial Sealcoating • Maintenance • Repair
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 77% | ||
| 12% | ||
| 4% | ||
| 1% | ||
| 6% |
I have been a homeowner for 23 years and have met many, many contractors. Most have been wonderful and I haven't hesitated to sing their praises to friends and family and neighbors, and on Angie's List. This entry is my one exception.
My asphalt driveway was 25+ years old and had more patches than my favorite jeans. I decided it was time to replace the entire thing so researched my options (blacktop, concrete, permeable pavers). I decided on blacktop and checked out a few companies. I decided on Plehal Blacktopping. I signed a contract for removal and replacement of the driveway. Nothing more. Seemed pretty straightforward and simple. What I got was a new driveway with a very noticeable grade SIDEWAYS. The driveway slants so obviously that when cars are parked there it looks like they have flat tires on one side. When people walk on it they comment on how they feel they are losing their balance. The appearance from the road is ridiculous. It was raised a few inches on one side and lowered a few inches on the other side (as evidenced by the drain spouts that now needed to be built up and dirt that needed to be added to build up the lawn on the other side). I commented to the foreman when they were finishing up the work (just as I got home from my work that day). He just shrugged. I also called the company and informed them that the workers had torn up a fourth of my large arborvitae tree and destroyed half of another 5 foot shrub. I was told someone would have to get back to me on that. No one ever did.
I called the company right away and was told someone would come out and look at the finished work, which I'm told they did but I wasn't home. Then I was told they created the slant to keep the water away from the neighbor's house. While I completely understand the need for keeping water away from their home, and my neighbors appreciated the thought, they never had problems with my driveway before and now agree that the new one does not look right. Not to mention that the new driveway was placed over a foot onto their property. So I discussed with Plehal that the driveway would need to be cut off their property immediately. Eventually that got done.
However, then I started having water in my basement for the first time in the 23 years I've lived there. A LOT of water. So I called Plehal again and said that I felt the driveway was placed TOO much at a slant. While I agree it should not slant into the neighbors, it also shouldn't slant so much as to run all the water right into the foundation of my house. It's an old City of Mpls house with a narrow driveway and not much land between the driveway and the house. And it shouldn't slant so much as to be obvious to the untrained eye. So I had someone come out again (the owner, I'm told). He immediately commented that the water in my house was certainly from the heavy rain we had had the week prior. I countered with the fact that we've had heavy rain many times in the past 23 years and it was never a problem. He measured the slant with his leveler and agreed it was very slanted. He said that it still could settle a little (especially after a full cycle of seasons and through winter) so we could try placing a asphalt curb to catch the water, or we could replace the half of the driveway that was most affected. I am all for preservation of resources, and really hate to waste. And, it really isn't fun to have the driveway dug up (I had already lived through it the first time). So I agreed to try the curb, but with the understanding that we would revisit this again if it continued to slant to badly and or if the water situation did not improve. I was given a verbal assurance that they wanted me to be happy. I also told this owner about the damage to my tree and shrub. He responded that it "sometimes happens." No apology or reimbursement for replacement. I was even going to withhold the remaining payment until I was satisfied, but was worried they might consider me delinquent and send my account to collections, so I paid it over the phone and asked the receptionist to document my reservations. She said she made a note on the payment.
The curb was then placed. It was crooked and of uneven height. I just kept feeling amazed at the quality of their work and how it was so obviously sub-par and yet acceptable to them. But by this time I was feeling like a nag and decided to see how the winter went. It didn't go well. I had a large (side to side on the driveway) skating rink in one area the entire winter, with one edge of the ice going right up to the top of the curb on the other side. When I tried to use my snow blower, I literally slid sideways across the rest of the driveway removing the snow. Fortunately I haven't had any more water in my basement, but it's been pretty dry since the curb was placed last year so we'll see how this spring goes.
I called Plehal again last month because it was obvious that the slant hadn't settled at all and wanted to share the ice problems that I hadn't had before. If anything, the slant was more obvious. After 3 calls and over a month of waiting, the owner (now retired, but I'm told kept the open cases even in his retirement) finally contacted me and we set a date for this past week. He brought with him a colleague to reassess the driveway. It started civil and disintegrated from there. From the start, I, or the driveway itself, was blamed for any and all problems:
1. The ice rink in the driveway wasn't from the slant or poor drainage. It was because I must've not cleared the snow and ice well enough and it caused a dam and the water couldn't drain.
2. The driveway is too narrow so they couldn't create a "V" drainage.
3. The driveway had no retaining walls so they couldn't increase the pitch.
4. They were doing me a favor by creating the slant so that water could drain and not pool more in the driveway.
5. My driveway was flat as a tennis court and they cannot be responsible for water that doesn't drain because I didn't pay for a regarding, only a "remove and replace."
I was also presented with the owner's presumptions: that the old driveway was porous and the water drained through (therefore didn't pool), and that if the new driveway was flat the water would pool worse than it is with the current driveway. It is possible that these two statements are true, but as I said, they are presumptions. I discussed with the two gentlemen that I'm only working in fact right now: that I'm having water and ice problems I didn't have before, and I did not get what I paid for.
I was then asked what I would like to do at this point. I stated that I felt the driveway (at least the part most affected by the large sideways slant) should be replaced. The response I got was so volatile and unprofessional that not only was I startled but my neighbors, who were in their home and had their windows open, almost came out to offer witness and support to me. The retired owner (the same one that assessed my concerns last fall) literally shouted "well that's not going to happen!" He shook my contract in my face and reiterated that they can't be responsible for drainage on such a flat driveway and that I only paid for a removal and replacement, not a regrading. He also accused me of being contradictory, stating that they did me a favor by creating the grade, and the extra curb (for "free"), but now I'm complaining about the water pooling. I tried to be as calm as possible, despite feeling quite shaken, and reminded him that all I was asking
Though intended for Plehal Blacktopping, this recommendation applies; to three companies that did excellent work for us but, especially with each other, in coordinating competing projects: Andy Pietig Concrete, Plehal Blacktop and Rain-Man Irrigation.
The job was very complex for Plehal Blacktop: to install an asphalt driveway to match paver-borders where each project needed to be done ?before the other because ? it also needed a ?Gap? cut into the new asphalt for a paver-sidewalk that separated the replaced driveway and a new asphalt section called a ?Patio?, where matching 'before and after' elevations, between pavers and compacted asphalt, was no small trick.
We are on a circle, which makes driveway edges, curves or bends meet other sections at odd angles that must both do the job and look like it was 'done on purpose'..
I?d planned to personally instal 1000 pavers but then, I was struck ill and limited to ?doing nothing? for about 3 weeks and had to call in Andy Pietig Concrete, that had done excellent concrete and paver work for us about 2 years ago, installing a paver patio + concrete pad.
Andy (who was extremely busy at the time) worked us into his schedule and coordinated with Plehal Blacktop regarding the interlocking sequences for installing pavers and blacktop and then later cutting a ?paver? gap into the new asphalt extension. Plehall did the excavation and Class V fill, which Andy?s guys then shaved to 'paver-height' for sand-fill plus snap-edge on inner and outer faces.
They VERY CAREFULLY LAID CORNERS WERE CUT EXACTLY AS PLANNED. We have received numerous compliments from neighbors and even passersby, stopping on our circle to ask who?d done the work. I?ll take credit for layout and paver-pattern designs but not for the excellent execution by Pietig and Plehal.
Plehal's asphalt work was PERFECTLY ROLLED to meet the paver-heights -- and pitched for good drainage in three directions.
Andy?s team was expert at matching block patterns around bends and corners and at meeting points with a garage sidewalk and the ?Gap?, a 15? ?sidewalk? separating a new extension from the replaced driveway.
Without our mention, they replaced a handful of damaged or imperfectly cut blocks, even returning more than once to clean up details that only they had noticed.
Special mention goes to Andrew, Andy?s Team Leader, an extremely conscientious expert, whose detail work, experience and artistic eye showed everywhere. He returned more that once to finish or touch up details.
So, in a difficult period, when we really needed help, to get a long-planned job finally done, Plehal was extremely patient with our plans and delays and Pietig stepped up politely and frequently to get everything accomplished.
Their final product looks excellent. As it turned out, one of my neighbors had used Plehal, commercially, many times and was quite pleased with our choice.
Merged into all of this was a previously planned IRRIGATION PROJECT that impacted every edge, which required burying PVC pipe deep under the fill base, to carry irrigation tube, phone and cable lines. Again, the layout was mine and their execution was better.
Irrigation work (including a clever and complex design) was accomplished by Luke, Shane, et.al. from Mr. Rain Irrigation. They worked smoothly around the congested ?work area? and came back several times, to adjust sprinkler locations and head-heights after the pavers and sod were installed. Again, they were at least as responsive, thorough and cooperative as Plehal and Pietig and their quite varied layout and design had to solve a dozen, problematic, narrow, triangular or sloping-wedge areas.
We have long considered, planned and designed this year?s work and, to finally get this all done, with this high level of service and finished quality, we could not have chosen three companies better equipped, skilled and managed!
Bill D.
.I finally called again and was told it would be put in the mail yet I waited another week to get it. When the job was completed, I called to say that I was concerned the cracks had not been filled. The excuse was that it hadn't been specified. I asked how I would know to specify that when "filling the cracks" wasn't one of the listed items to choose from in the estimate. I assumed that i the term "seaalcoating
included filling a somewhat large crack and several small ones. The person answering the phone said "Paul" would call me regarding the cracks but I never heard from him or anyone else. The driveway looks okay - just too bad that it still has the old cracks. All in all, poor timeliness, poor follow-up and very poor communication.
Would not hire them again.
"Thank you for the review and your business."
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