Architectural Concrete Design

The job took about one week, and they have communicated with us regularly during the process. We would most definitely be very satisfied with the final result if not for two things that we are unhappy with. First, ACD does not fix any damages caused by them during the construction process so we were left with a pretty big spot of damaged lawn that we will need to fix ourselves. So make sure you are prepared to spend more money and breaking a sweat fixing the damages. Second, there are light gray patches all over the patio that look like rain drop marks. Not sure whether they poured the concrete and it rained afterwards causing the blotches to appear in the concrete or if the stamping was done to early and the stones in the concrete were exposed in the process. ACD workers told us that within a month the patches should disappear but I am very doubtful that will be the case. We will be contacting them again to see if they are able to fix this visual imperfection in 30 days. If they do fix it, we will change our review for a better one.

I contacted ACD because a relative was also using them for work and a rep came out fairly quickly to look it over and provide a quote. He also provided some good suggestions as well. I initially talked to them about a specific date which had to be cancelled and rescheduled. I than had difficulty getting my call returned to reschedule as the secretary told me the rep had to handle it and was away. After about a week everything was set up. Another person contacted me via email to handle the actual scheduling. I asked him 3x to let me know what time the guys would arrive. He would always send a reply to my email addressing any questions and providing additional information but would never give me a time so I was a little unprepared when the workers showed up at 7:15 am for the install.
   The work took a few days and the workers did a good job. The pattern and color look good. My main issues are communication with the company is terrible. I tried contacting two different reps regarding the warranty prior to install over a 10 day period and my calls were never returned.
   So far the work looks great so hopefully I have no issues that some of the other reviews have mentioned.

All went very well.   It's been two years and still holding up well.

Architectural Concrete Design (ACD) is a company that I would recommend to others. Our project was to demolish and replace a fairly steep driveway and an expanse of curb and sidewalk and install a new front and back walkway. The more creative part of the project was the walkway for which we chose colored and pressed concrete that mimics grey slate. The pre-sales support was excellent. The designer spent more than half a day with us discussing our ideas and more importantly, providing insight and suggestions. Several other concrete vendors had already come in to bid the project and offered almost no design advice. They were not the lowest bidder, but their pricing was competitive (within 10%) and we felt the pre-sale advice was worth the additional cost. They completed the project in a timely manner and were very professional throughout the project. We had a few issues with surface cracks in the curb and they came back to inspect our concerns and made some additional expansion cuts to address them.

Overall we're thrilled with the new driveway - it's absolutely beautiful. All contractors were professional and very accommodating. Robin kept us informed and handled all of our questions and concerns quickly.

That said, the installation took 2 weeks, with work gaps between processes when we were led to believe it would take a week. Also, there was collateral damage to our landscaping, not just around the driveway, as was to be expected, but in the "wash" runoff which killed a large swath of grass. Architectural Design warned us about the damage potential, but we hadn't expected the grass to be affected. All of this is repairable, however.

Would we recommend Architectural Design Concrete to our neighbors? Absolutely!

Everything went well in the beginning. They were on-time and delivered as promised. The first sidewall had the wrong pattern. They replaced the sidewalk with little pushback. The problem was the patio coloring was not as promised. There were large unnatural black patches. It was clear a mistake was made when applying the color. It looked like they spilled clumps of black coloring when applying the finish. When we complained they initially said this was the nature of the process. None of the samples they showed us before starting the project looked like our patio. They then claimed they could fix it. They came our an made the whole patio a dark grey. This is not want we wanted. The dark grey is not reversible.

We refused to pay the final payment. It was only 5% of $16,000. Not much considering we have been living with a patio we do not love. For $16,000 we should love it. This was in 2007/2008.

The patio started cracking 3 years after it was installed. We contracted another company to maintain the patio. They claimed there were not enough stress joints cut into it and that is why it is cracking. They cut additional stress joints and the crack has stopped expanding. We should have taken them to court to get the patio we wanted.

Job Look Great!

Not well. They never contacted Public service or the phone company before hand and consequently cut through some wires. They were unnecessarily careless and destructive of the adjacent landscaping. But what really upset me is that within a month of the pour, a significant crack in one of the side walk panels appeared along with several defects on the surface of other sidewalk panels. Later a larger defect showed up in one of the driveway panels. I contacted the company to ask if they would send someone out to look at the defects and inform me how the defects could be corrected. Eventually, Chris McMahon, the owner, came out to speak with me. After he looked over the areas I was concerned about, he asked me what I would like him to do about it. I asked him to do whatever was necessary to repair the defects. This was late in the 2012 season, so he suggested we wait until next Spring to see if the number of defects increased. We did that and when he came back in April of this year, he agreed to repair the defects but said it would have to wait until he "made some money doing new jobs" before he could send anyone to take care of it. Since then I have contacted the company multiple times to have the repairs done. I was told over and over that they would be coming out as soon as they had another job in my area. Well, they never came, even after more calls. Rather than continue in my frustration with Chris' lack of response and sense of responsibility, I have decided to let it go. I do not get any pleasure in writing a bad review of anyone. I have never done this before. I am only doing this to inform others, to consider another company because, if things don't go well, Chris is not likely to do anything about it, based on my experience.

They worked with us on the design and layout - provided exact drawings and showed up exaclty as scheduled. They have a set of examples of the various designs for your review at their place of business. That wazs really helpful. They expalined the process and showed the color options. It was a completly easy and professional experience. I recommend this firm to all who comment on my walkways. They are beautiful

We had a patio and walkway installed by ACD back in 2000. Since then we have used them several times for re-sealing. When the patio was installed part of my contract was to install pipe under the patio coming from my downspout. When the guys came to put down the patio, they had no pipe and had to run to home depot to get it. The patio was installed and we were very happy with the job. 1 year later the patio started to crack and it is still cracking in different areas today. I know it is normal for cracking to occur but there is a reason for it. When the sales guy Dave came out he said I do not need footings. I have talked to a friend of mine who commercially installs concrete for a living and he told me that footers should have been installed for a patio that big. The biggest problem (and we just found out) was that they installed the pipe underneath and they did not install it all the way through. I am guesing he did not have enough pipe and did not install it in the middle of the patio. We finally had someone come out with a camera to feed through the pipe and indeed it is all dirt in the middle of the patio where all the cracking happened. Where the piping stops is exactly where the major cracking started to happen. The owner Chris McMahon did come out two times because I wrote him. The last time he did say he would come to remove it but also stated that it would ruin all the retaining wall and landscaping we paid for. I told him I did not want that to happen and he said the cracking would probably not go any further. When I sent them an email back that it was continuing to crack they no longer wanted to respond to the issue. This patio is a mess!!! When the owner came over he told me that the footings were not needed and that had nothing to do with it. WRONG!!! I showed him the garage which is twice the size and sits right next to the patio and guess what? Not one crack. He did not have a response.
Issue two. We contracted them several times to re-seal the patio. When you contract them they send you time and material pricing to sign. Both times the labor price was the same and the materials price was the same. The first time they did it, the price was approximately $300. The Second time we got the bill it was over $600. HOW COULD THAT BE FOR THE SAME WORK??? I put stop payment on the job and only paid them for what they charged me the first time. Complete rip off!!!
Don't ask me why but i wanted to contract them again for another re-seal this past month.

Guess what I got an email back from Robyn in their office stating that the owner Chris McMahon said no more service on our patio/walkway!!! This guy tried to rip me off and he is now not giving me service. I sent her an email back stating that I wanted to talk to Mr McMahon. He has never returned my call!!!
I would highly recommend not using them for residential concrete install. Their professionalism is terrible and their sales guy is HORRIBLE...Even though this has been installed years ago the issue was the piping. At this point I would love to have this thing ripped out and reimbursed but I can't even get a call back.

They gave me an estimate and I went to their facility where they showed me all the different designs. They came and were in and out of there in only a day-and-a-half. It was quick and really good.

The completed product was better than expected. ACD provided excellent customer service from beginning to end and made certain that I was satisfied with the final product. I researched multiple companies before choosing ACD. I schedule an estimate with ACD (Gerry) and they came to the work site (condo unit in 21 story center city Philadelphia condo building) on time and as planned. Received estimate next day and a follow-up meeting at job site the same week for a final walk through, review of Skim Stone color options and contract signing.
Skim Stone work started and progressed as planned. Work began on a Monday and concluded the following week as scheduled. Jeff and his team arrived on time each day and left the work site clean at the end of each day. Condo building has strict work time policy that was fully adhered to by ACD crew. ACD crew were extremely professional and respectful and took great pride in their work. I was not satisfied with the outcome of the final color (third coat) of the Skim Stone product and ACD was more than flexible in applying a fourth coat of Skim Stone which required ordering additional product. ACD did not charge me for this extra work which added one additional day of labor that they did not plan.
My wife and I are extremely pleased with the work performed by ACD and our floors turned out better than expected. Customer services provided by ACD was of the highest level and no call went unanswered. I highly recommend ACD.

We started the project by visiting various concrete facilities in our area and comparing techniques, price, references and other aspects of the job. We then had representatives from two companies come out to look over the job and give us price estimates. We made the decision to go with ACD based on a rapport with the representative and the company's willingness to negotiate the pricing. The representative made detailed drawings with our input , working with us until we had a design with which we were happy. The date was set for the job to begin based on our availability and that of the crew. Work was started on schedule with the first crew showing up to demo, grade and create the concrete forms. A few days later another crew arrived to pour the concrete and stamp the design. After curing for several days, the final crew arrived to seal and finish off the project. During the final process, a small c**** was created in the front walk but was immediately repaired and is undetectable in the finished project.

As stated above, during the process, two small patches of our newly top-coated driveway were broken however the representative worked with us in a very timely manner to have these two areas fixed. In fact, using his former expertise as the owner of a concrete company, he ended up fixing the areas himself when a scheduling conflict would have delayed the fix for an unacceptable length of time.

All of the crews were extremely professional, courteous and punctual. The representative was professional, helpful, and very accommodating to our needs and requests.

ACD did a terrific job for us and we would recommend them highly.