Howard Paving & Excavating Co

Four years ago, we hired Howard Paving to pave our driveway. Initially, the work looked great and we were satisfied. However, over time, a large crack has developed down the middle of the driveway, which is very disappointing considering the relatively short amount of time since the job was completed. We?ve made multiple attempts to contact the company to discuss the issue and see if they could come out and inspect the damage, but unfortunately, they have not returned our calls. The lack of response and accountability is frustrating and unprofessional. We understand that wear and tear can happen over time, but we expected better communication and some level of customer support after the job was completed. Based on our experience, we cannot recommend Howard Paving due to their poor follow-up and unwillingness to stand by their work. Photos attached

The entire experience was excellent from my first phone call w/Ellen to schedule the estimate to the PM Tony. Tony kept me updated and informed throughout the entire process. The team were pro's at their jobs and the finished work far exceeded my expecations. I highly recommend Howard Paving! Never thought I could get this excited about a driveway. Bill

Howard Paving did an excellent job. I couldn't be more satisfied. They are professional in every way.

It went great!

John and his team did an outstanding job. They discussed the project in detail when providing an estimate, visiting the house twice, and accommodated some minor requests without a problem (e.g., replace some walkway stones with asphalt). They were in regular communication with me and scheduled the job quickly. On the day of paving, they regraded and made sure the driveway contours were good for drainage. They moved quickly once the asphalt began to flow, overlapping edges to prevent seams. Their machinery and equipment was new and state-of-the-art, producing a very uniform and smooth surface. John worked much of the machinery himself, while directing the rest of the crew. The crew was experienced and efficient, and worked the edges and tight spaces where the machine could not go. the finished result if outstanding - I am very pleased. I would highly recommend Howard Paving to anyone in need of asphalt work.

the entire experience was great. They had done my parents driveway a few years back and wanted to go with someone we trusted and we interviewed several other companies. They arrived on time when they said they would, answered all the questions we had in a timely manner even though we were undecided and kept going back and forth about what exactly we wanted. They were patient and professional. After ripping up the old driveway, they came back about a month later to lay down the asphalt. The owner himself was here checking up on the work and cleaning up little after the guys.

Went great! We now have a beautiful new driveway. My only complaint is that I didn’t get a lot of notice before they showed up for work. I expected to be notified the day before but in some cases I was notified a couple hours before they showed.

I had a very good experience working with Howard Paving. John the owner was very thorough in explaining the procedure and the time it would take to complete the project. His crew was very professional from the start of ripping up the original driveway to applying the asphalt. They are very detailed oriented and were careful not to disturb the surrounding landscape. Once I saw the finished driveway all smoothed out with the clean edges, I realized it was worth the wait. I would highly recommend using their services for paving and excavating.

This team was GREAT!!! "Guy" who does the estimates was friendly and helpful with the driveway design as it was large and curved in some areas Pricing was competitive They came and did the initial work quickly and properly. My drive way is VERY level which makes draining a bit difficult given the landscaping to the left and right. John the owner came to check it out before prep work was done. When they dd final paving is was perfect. John the owner ran the equipment. Crew was friendly and very careful around my landscaping. Drainage is perfect and the quality very nice. I am renovating my home and can't get contractors and Architects to respond. So having a team like this return phone calls, come in and do a good job, on time and perfect, is really nice to experience. If only they did renovations.... :)

The reason I chose Howard Paving in the first place was because they told me exactly what they would be doing and how they would do it before we even got started, and I liked what I heard.  They were going to tear out and dispose of the existing asphalt, lay a bed of I5-grade crushed stone, and put in the Belgian block in the first step.  Then I would water the driveway daily for 4-8 weeks to let everything settle.  Then, they would pour 2-3 inches of new asphalt.  Since my driveway has a quite a steep slope and was completely falling apart, I felt this was a good approach for laying a solid foundation for the new driveway.  My biggest worry was that the new driveway would start to crack and sink the same as the old one.  (Only time will tell if this is going to happen, but I feel they did everything they could to avoid this problem.)
The crew showed up when they said they would.  They worked quickly and finished the first stage much faster than I expected.  Howard Paving has all the big machinery you could want for this type of job and they weren't shy about using it, even on my smallish driveway.  My only minor quibble, was that they cleaned up and left without a word.  But in fairness, my contact point with the company was easy to get a hold of and always answered my questions.  Actually, when there was a mixup with my phone number, he went above and beyond by stopping by my house in person to get it straightened out.
So I spent 8 weeks watering the driveway each day after they laid down the crushed stone.  I could see it compacting and hardening day-by-day, so I had a good feeling that I was laying down a solid base.  They told me to park our cars over it to help it settle, especially in the areas that the cars might normally sit.  This seemed like a good idea, and it's better than parking in the street for two months.
A word about the Belgian Block.  They were good about asking me if I wanted any cut-outs on the sides so you can get better access to the grass.  They did a good job with the block.  It's straight and solid as you would expect.  For the mortar joints, they actually inverted the joints to give it a unique look.  Instead of pushing the mortar inward to form little channels between each block, they inverted that and created little caps instead.  I was fine with that, but I wish they would have asked first.
The last step was to come back and lay the asphalt.  This was done very quickly, although it seemed they were spending extra time going over it with the compactor to make sure it was just right.  I see a little bit of a rise down the middle of the driveway, where the two "lanes" overlap slightly.  You will notice the same thing in multi-lane roads.  They used the same type of machine to lay and smooth the asphalt as you see when they are working on a highway.  So, I suppose, if my driveway had the same traffic volume as a highway, you might get some wear in the seam area, like you always see on a highway.  Again, not sure what could be done about that, and it's a low-traffic driveway after all, not an interstate.
We stayed off of the driveway for 10 days, and lightly misted it each day, like they said.
So overall, I am satisfied with the job.  And I learned a little bit by watching the guys work.
As for the pricing, it seemed like a fair price -- I didn't get a ton of quotes.  I was looking more for quality than for the cheapest price.  I paid $500 down, then $2250 after the crushed stone was laid down and the rest of the money after the asphalt was laid down. 
They recommend a sealing coat after the first year.
This was pretty painless, other than two months of watering the driveway every day for about 10 minutes.  (Maybe I overdid that part?)

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it was fine