STN Concrete

Roy knocked on our door asking for work.  He complimented us on the beautiful brickwork of our walkways and retaining wall in the front yard.  He said he does that work too.  I had laid out string to mark the location and shape of a sidewalk we wanted put in.  He gave me a business card that included his CCB number.  He gave me an estimate that was quite a bit lower than others I got.  He showed me photos of really lovely walkways, walls, barbeques, etc. many in very high-end homes.  He and his crew were working on the projects in a lot of the photos, so I knew they were actual pictures of his work.  I had already checked him out with the Contractor's Board and BBB.  He had no complaints on file.

We agreed on the price and his crew showed up the same day and put the bricks in with empty spaces left for the exposed aggregate that was to be poured into the open spaces.  He saw a rotting railroad tie retaining wall in the back that needed to be replaced.  He gave us a bid for that too.  They came back the next day and poured the cement for the walkway.  It looked terrible, but he said they were still working on it and it would be very nice.  When they were finished, it still looked terrible.  He agreed and said he would redo it after the retaining wall.  I said there would be no retaining wall until the sidewalk looked good.

He then brought in Sam, who actually knew what he was doing.  They tore out the sidewalk and started over.  Sam was the only one who was working on the project, the others (lots of others) just stood around and watched.  The sidewalk was finished to our satisfaction and we agreed to have them do the retaining wall only if Sam was the one doing it.  The retaining wall turned out beautifully.  But he kind of rushed through facing the steps with bricks and they aren't as perfect.

They left garbage and cigarette buts all over,  even though I provided an ashtray for them.  They are really nice people, but their work is mediocre at best.