ARTCON STAMP CONCRETE

Working with Rick Kelm from Art Con was one of the worst experiences of my life. He quoted a price in writing. On the day of the concrete pour tried to get me to sign a contract that he covered up with other papers. When I uncovered the pages to reveal the contract the quote was several thousand dollars more than the discussed price. His only interest was trying to extract more money from me. He tried to bully me, guilt me and ultimately attempted to manufacture a false written agreement agreeing to pay more money. He paid no attention to to the work that was being done. Mr. Kelm supplied his workers with old used foam forms that were spliced together. When I asked if it would be a problem Mr. Kelm dismissed my concerns and told me that he was an expert and it was not going to be a problem when the concrete was finished...It clearly was a huge problem and as I feared all of the splices were visible. The crew did not bring the proper tools to the job. The crew did not bring a screen to strain the gravel from the concrete for finishing mud. Most importantly they did not bring a trowel that fit the bullnose trim. As the decorative concrete was setting one of the finishers walked away and talked on the phone to his wife. In protest the other finisher walked off and refused to work while his coworker was away talking on the phone. Rather than help with the work or manage his workers Mr. Kelm left to go to an "appointment." I observed a section of the bullnose finish fall off when the workers stripped the forms. The worker said it would be OK..it wasn't. The piece fell off and had to be epoxied on later leaving a very visible crack line. The finish of the work on the stairs looked horrible as you can see from the photos. When I questioned Mr. Kelm about the quality he became agitated and aggressive. He told me that I couldn't judge the work until it was finished...that he was the expert... Mr. Kelm's crew was supposed finish forming and installing expansion joints on the day before the next phase of the pour. Nobody showed up. He didn't return any of my messages inquiring when the crew would show up. I couldn't sleep that night worrying about the potential disaster headed my way. I called the concrete company and told them not to deliver the cement at the 7am time arranged by Mr. Kelm. The workers showed up at 7 and worked feverishly to get everything ready. Mr Kelm showed up at about 7:30 and was furious that I called the concrete company to delay the delivery. He called to have the delivery made when he got to my house. The workers we still not ready when the cement truck arrived at about 8am. They hadn't had time to put up protective plastic and still were putting in the expansion joints. I found out that the workers he hired on this phase had never worked with Mr. Kelm before. He had no idea what quality work they would produce and he made no effort to supervise them or observe their stamping work. Since the work was covered with powder color I had no idea the job was such low quality. The quality of the stamping was uneven and appeared to be amateur work. There were areas that were left slick with no texture impression. Other areas had the clear impression of the square shaped mat they pounded to create the texture. I returned home from work 2 days later and found he had sealed the concrete while it was green. The instructions on the sealer stated the concrete needed to cure for at least 30 day prior to sealer application. When it rained the concrete absorbed water in a tight spider web pattern. The workers left a pile of trash and old wood forms in my front yard. They dumped construction trash in my yard that wasn't even from my job including drywall and lumber. They did take new, unused wood that I had purchased for my construction project and forming. The workers neglected to remove all of the forms leaving wood burried in my yard. The work was clearly substandard. Mr. Kelm showed up at my house and demanded payment. I used my video camera to record him with the inspection of all of the issues. Mr. Kelm was antagonistic and seemed to enjoy provoking me. I'm glad I had a video camera rolling because later he alleged that I was swinging fists at him and he had to leave for his own safety. I sent 5 letters certified mail outlining the problems. Mr. Kelm refused deliver of all of these letters. He never returned any phone calls or faxes. Instead he filed a construction lien against my home. I filed a complaint against Mr. Kelm with the Contractor?s State License Board. The process was slow but through state expert analysis the work was deemed substandard and I prevailed after a 2 day arbitration hearing. Rather than owing about $10K, I was awarded approximately $5K. I easily spent 300 hours dealing with this disaster after the work was completed. His lack of action delayed the completion of the construction of my home for 9 months. I would never recommend this company to anyone.

THEY FILLED IN CONCRETE IN DRIVEWAY AND LAYED A NEW SLAB IN MY BACKYARD. THEY DID A REALLY NICE JOB.