Greg's Concrete Construction

"This is an outright lie. He said he's in the process of suing me, which isn't possible, since slavery is illegal. He liked to threaten and name call, much like a child. He said I installed the rebar incorrectly, which was impossible, since it was in a straight line and passed inspection. It couldn't be retrofitted, and wasn't. Since he was his own general contractor, I'd assumed he was calling for the inspection. Simple misunderstanding and not a big deal. Apparently he'd fired the previous GC, as well as many other contractors, taking his time and wasting loads of money on this house. He insisted he use my excavator, even though I'd told him he was busy and he should get his own. My guy finally came out and didn't do a very thorough job. I couldn't be there to supervise, but I took care of what he'd missed. I only blamed my excavator and took care of it. The bottom line is that I'd underestimated this job by quite a bit. These were driveway retaining walls up to 9 feet tall. This job should easily have been $20K, or more like $25K. Being mostly a flatwork guy, I hadn't anticipated the massively over engineered footings. He didn't pay what we had agreed to and became hostile. I basically did half the job (the footings) for $6000. The cost of materials was $4500 and I'd spent 3 weeks and well over 100 hours on the job. In other words, this was a huge mistake, and it's no wonder this guy has spent several years on this house, while going thru multiple contractors."

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"Her pics here show the transition between the resurfaced wall and concrete drive soon after the pour, and before I came out to brush on a thin layer to attempt to have the color consistent. It's impossible to control the color, especially where a new concrete drive meets a newly resurfaced wall. The walls were not new concrete, but cleaned up and patched/resurfaced with layers of polymer compounds. The overlap will not be consistent, and depending on the products used, who knows what shade of white to gray will occur. I do indeed guarantee my work, as far as form and texture. I thought I was very open in communication here from the beginning, and didn’t think I acted put out at all. However, there are only so many different ways to explain that every time I come over to brush the concrete work, it’ll be a different shade, until things cure a bit (rain and water has a lot to do with it, as well as sun and shade). I admit, it’s frustrating to accept a lower counter bid, then do more work than the initial bid, and then get complaints for color. Next time I’m in the neighborhood, I’ll give the couple sq. ft. of the 1000 total a quick one over with a wire brush, which should do wonders to the surface effervescence there. Also, concrete can be stained, but I can’t guarantee that a customer will be happy with the results, so I’d rather not be the one applying the stain. Again, stain will have a different effect on the non-concrete, resurfaced areas."

"THESE FOLKS LIVE ON A STEEP HILL, AND WHOEVER REPLACED THE DRIVE BEFORE LEFT A MASSIVE HUMP NEXT TO THE CITY SIDEWALK. I SENT A BID TO REPLACE THE FIRST THIRD OF THE SUPER THICK DRIVE TO THE CUT JOINT, GUESSING THAT WOULD SOLVE THE PROBLEM. I WAS CLEAR ON THE MEASUREMENTS. TO HAVE GONE FURTHER WOULD REQUIRE A PUMP TRUCK AND A BIGGER BID. IN FACT, I WOULD HAVE HAD TO JUST REPLACE THE WHOLE THING. SHE HAD CALLED TO SCHEDULE BEFORE XMAS, BUT BECAUSE OF THE WINTER STORM THAT WE'D HAD ALL DECEMBER, IT WASN'T POSSIBLE TO POUR, SO SHE MENTIONED AFTER THE HOLIDAYS WOULD BE FINE. WE CAME OUT THE DAY AFTER NEW YEARS, SO I THOUGHT THAT WAS AS PUNCTUAL AS IT GETS. THERE WAS A CRUMMY OLD CURB THAT RAN ALONGSIDE THAT I FIGURED WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED. SHE ASKED WHY, AND I REALIZED IT COULD STAY, BUT I DECIDED TO START RESURFACING THE MAJOR DIVETS, AND DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO FINISH. SHE ASKED ABOUT A DISCOUNT, AND I KNOCKED OFF $500 FOR LEAVING THE CURB WHICH I THOUGHT WAS A PRETTY GOOD DEAL. SHE SEEMED JUST AS HAPPY AS COULD BE WITH THE JOB, WITH NO COMPLAINTS. HEY PEOPLE LISTEN, THIS IS A ONE SHOT DEAL, AND I'M OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS, PREFERABLY BEFORE THE CONCRETE IS POURED. I FEEL I'M CLEAR WITH THE SCOPE OF THE WORK AS WELL AS THE PRICE. MY WEBSITE IS A GOOD RESOURCE FOR EDUCATING PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMERS, AND ALTHOUGH I'M NOT PERFECT, I FEEL LIKE I DO A PRETTY GOOD JOB WITH WHAT I HAVE TO WORK WITH FOR THE MONEY. I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE TO GET AS MANY BIDS AS POSSIBLE AND GO WITH THE GUY YOU THINK WILL DO THE BEST JOB."

"HERE'S AN INTERESTING REPORT. I HAD SENT THE HUSBAND A BID 7 MONTHS AGO FOR TWO DRIVES. A MONTH LATER, THE FELLOW THAT DOES MY DEMO WORK NEEDED HELP WITH A "SMALL POUR". I AGREED TO COME OUT AND TAKE A LOOK, AND TO MY SURPRISE, IT WAS THE SAME TWO DRIVEWAYS. HE HAD DECIDED TO GET WISE AND HIRE ME FOR THE MAIN COURSE (FINISHING THE CONCRETE) INSTEAD OF ME HIRING HIM TO DO THE MINOR BREAK OUT. MY BID WAS $1500 HIGHER, SINCE I WOULD HAVE ALSO REPLACED HER DRAIN, PIPES AND SOME OTHER STUFF. I RELUCTANTLY AGREED TO HELP HIM FOR REAL CHEAP, THOUGH I DID CHEW HIM OUT PRETTY GOOD. HE QUICKLY LEARNED I DON'T WORK THAT WAY, BUT HE'S STILL A HECK OF A DEMO MAN. SO WHAT A COINCIDENCE, HUH? EVEN THOUGH HE WAS IN THE WRONG CATEGORY ON ANGIE'S LIST FOR CONCRETE, HE GETS THE JOB AND HE GETS A'S, AND I GET THIS?! 7 MONTHS LATER? I JUST WANT THIS MEMBER TO KNOW THAT THEY DID GET MY PRODUCT, AND FOR A LOT LESS, SO GOOD FOR THEM."