Background:
We had a gravel driveway, half of which was on a 150 foot long hill that was drained poorly and was untenable during the Pennsylvania winters. The gravel could not be properly shoveled, salt was ineffective, snow blowers would have shotgunned rocks and plowing wasn't an option without pushing all of the gravel into the road. All of this was made worse by bad drainage which not only created an ice-sheet on the hill, but even pooled on the level top portion: creating a 10 inch thick sheet of ice winter. (The sheet of ice was so bad, that two years ago we had a vehicle get stuck on the level part of the driveway for four days.)
We had at least a dozen different contractor estimates to improve the drive ranging from just grading, to cement and pavement.
Our first attempt to remedy the driveway involved hiring another contractor (before Dun Rite). That initial try was to just grade the drive and put a new layer of rock in place. That worked for about one season before it was useless again.
We tried having that same contractor pave the driveway, but he put us off for an entire year in spite of numerous calls to him and promises that he'd get to it 'next month'.
It was at the end of that frustrating fall (2015) that we found Dun Rite's excellent reviews here on Angie's List and called Gary for an estimate. After reviewing the drive and discussing our particulars, he emailed us an estimate about a week later. Unfortunately, at that time, new expenses had arisen that required us to put the job off until the spring of 2016.
And then, in 2016, with our money in hand, we called Gary and asked to come out and review the job again, which he did. Even though it was about 7 months later, he committed to honoring his earlier bid.
A number of reviewers say that Dun Rite isn't cheap, but I actually found them on par with the other bids I was getting and cheaper than many (even discounting the costlier cement estimates.) And now that the job is done, I can say this about the quality of their work: extraordinarily impressive, to say the least.
Scheduling:
In March of 2016, we asked Gary to schedule the work, which he set as the first week in June. (We noted that we could be flexible with timing.) The day of the job, Gary and team showed up on time, prepared to go to work. - In fact: they jumped right in and where underway before we even knew it.
The first day, a team of four (lead by Gary) excavated the driveway.
The second day, Gary and a team of 7 others paved the driveway.
The third day, a team of three came to lay in topsoil, plant grass and fix our sidewalk's pave stones so that they lined up to our new driveway. (This time without Gary, but with a team leader who did a fine job representing.)
Every day the team was on time and Gary kept us apprised of the schedule.
Professionalism and Communication:
A few reviews here ding Dun Rite for not returning calls or emails, but we did not encounter that issue. The 'worst' we experienced was an occasional delay of a couple days in response to a call, email or text but certainly nothing to complain about.
Still, if that is a shortcoming others have experienced, we'd suggest: Gary is clearly busy, being personally involved in these projects, so we can only imagine that an occasional communication slips through the gaps. Our suggestion: follow-up. Dun Rite is worth working with, and if that means an occasional follow up call or email, it's an easy effort with great payoff.
In terms of professionalism, the team conducted themselves with great courtesy and manners. Everyone was friendly, hard working and helpful: happy to answer questions.
Gary is clearly the spirit of the team, and even when he wasn't around, his team members spoke highly of him.
We watched the team work for over three days, and even when we were not in their field of view, we never once saw anything but quality, committed hard work.
Quality of Work:
We were blown away by the obvious dedication to rock solid, polished work. Without fail, the team went the extra mile.
Now, thanks to Dun Rite, the foundation of our driveway is at least 6 inches of compacted rock and gravel dust. In places, (in order to properly drain the driveway), they dug down 30 inches on what as previously the 'level' portion of the driveway!
At the end of the first day, before they'd even put down an ounce of blacktop, the graded and compacted driveway was already better than our old driveway and was almost cement hard.
It was after this foundation was done that the team then laid down 3 inches of binder and 2 inches of top coat (5 inches of pavement in total.) It was during the paving process that curbs were added around 90%+ of the drive. (There were two sections where the drive met two different sidewalks where it was not required and would have only been a tripping hazard.)
Throughout the process of leveling and paving, Gary and team made fastidious measurements with laser finders survey tools, levels and pavement depth measurement guides. The attention to detail was remarkable.
The work included laying down a crush resistant conduit pipe so that we might run electrical to the other side of the driveway in the future.
They had some extra blacktop leftover, and were generous enough to lay down a pad of pavement under our mailbox which has been sloppy and muddy ever since the township laid drains down our road.
Gary was intimately involved throughout the entire process. - It is easy to see what why is team respects him. He was hands on: driving back-loaders (like a master), taking measurements, raking out the hot pavement and providing guidance throughout.
The back of our driveway meets an 8 foot high steep embankment that was more cliff than hill. After consulting with us, Gary used the backloader to make the old cliff a greatly improved graded slope.
Our front sidewalk, which is comprised of paver bricks, was no longer level with our newly graded driveway, so Gary had team members take up about 6 feet of the sidewalk and regrade it to match the driveway: eliminating a potentially ugly tripping hazard.
Through the entirety of the project, watching the team work, one could see real craftsmanship on display. We only half joked with them that they were artist at work.
Cost and Value:
As noted above, we had a good number of onsite estimates done from a variety of well respected vendors. Dun Rite's costs came in the middle range of quotes.
Now, one can only afford what one can afford, and our wish list exceeded our budget. (Doesn't it always?) But Gary worked with us to find happy solutions that gave us maximum bang for our buck. We're confident that if we ever go to sell the house, we've increased its curb appeal and property value.
There is no doubt that we received top-notch value for our dollar.
Recommendations:
We whole heartily recommend Gary and his Dun Rite team!
We've learned that he does a lot more than paving and driving including retaining walls, garages, hardscaping and other construction. Based on the quality of his work, Dun Rite will be the first call that we'll make.
Closing Thoughts:
Gary has indicated that this driveway should last a good 30 years and after that, it might just need a new top-coat. After seeing how it was completed,we believe him.
We also asked him about driveway sealant. He educated us that the sealant serves two primary purposes: aesthetics (for that rich, black look) and to keep oils at bay. He also indicated that many people too often treat their driveway too frequently (which can result in build up and cracking.) Likely, we'll get an initial sealant in a year or so. Gary indicated that he puts the first application with a double treatment, with a light san