NORTH CENTRAL PAVING

estimate was done and accepted on 5-8-13. Owner said it would be June before they would get to do it. I called owner and left message asking where they were at in July 2013 a couple of times. No return call. I called and left messages in August 2013 and finally did get a call on August 7th saying they would be out the next day. August 8 2013 I watched the start of the project and then left for work. Everything seemed to be going well and the job was completed on August 8 2013. We paid them that day as well. On August 11 2013 we drove our atv 4 wheeler on the new blacktopping and parked it for about 1/2 hour while unpacking our camper across the road. It left a tire mark on the driveway. Our neighbor stopped by and drove on the driveway and we ran out and said they couldn't park on it yet because it was new. They moved the car right away, but it also left tire marks. I called North Central and told them this wasn't setting up correctly, and they said it would take time. Just after Christmas 2013 I was walking to the mailbox and noticed there were cracks in the new driveways and crumbling on the edges. I called North Central and left them a message about the cracks and crumbling We did not park on the new blacktopping until spring 2014. In May 2014 North Central came out and looked at the driveways and said they couldn't see anything wrong with them. On June 4 2014 an engineer from Chosen Valley testing who came out and looked at the driveways. His observation was the mix was a fine tender mix and most likely a virgin mix ( no recycled blacktop or larger aggregate in it ). He could tell us more if they took core samples and sent them to the lab. The engineer knew the blacktop plant that supplied the mix was owned by Cemstone and their road mix did not meet state specs and I should get the mix recipe from them. Initial thought was we might be able to router the edges and cracks, put down hot asphalt oil, cover it with crushed granite and then roller it into the existing blacktop that was so soft. It would give us about a 1" hard surface. I called North Central and told them what the engineer had said. I tried to get the company the engineer recommended to do it and the equipment they use was too large for the job. Two other companies (one provided at the request of North Central) came out and looked at the sealcoating, but were not able to apply and roller crushed granite. It took until September 2014 to get the sealcoating estimates. While tracking down the mix recipe I found that Cemstone had sold the plant to Hardrives. I asked Barney at the plant for the trial mix/recipe supplied by the state or a private testing firm for the job done at my residence on August 8 2013. He told me they were using the same mix all along and that it was the same mix that Pinz used when Cemstone purchased the mix plant from Pinz. Pinz was the plant that made the mix for my original driveways in 1995. It was around 12 years before we even experienced a crack in our original driveway. From then on we have had the cracks sealed and driveway sealcoated. When we were getting the bids for the work that was done in August 2013, I had requested that they use the same mix that was used for the original driveways in 1995 because it held up so well. Cemstone/Hardrives did not have the trial mix/recipe for my job and sent me the formula for the mix they make. I sent it to Chosen Valley for their file. Barney from the plant came out with North Central and looked at the driveways. It was determined he would talk to Kevin at Hardrives about getting a testing company out to test for density. The test was done 10-1-14. The result received on 10-30-14 and it reads as follows. On October 1, 2014 Samantha Primus and Chris Miller cut four cores on a private job paved by North Central Paving in 2013 with mix supplied by Cemstone. It was observed that these cores looked like normal dense graded asphalt mixture with a distribution of graded aggregate consistant with a 1/2 minus design. It appeared that there was adequate course and fine aggregate as well as adequate asphalt cement in the place mat. The density of the cores was measured in our Becker Laboratory, and the results were what I would consider consistant with density achievable on a driveway and small paving equipment. As it stands now 12-31-14 I am preparing for going to court in the spring of 2015. If your thinking of having any blacktop work done just drive by my place and take a look for yourself. Look at the ponding of water by the shop where ithe concrete and blacktop meet. I even cut out the dirt on the side to help with the drainage, but it didn't work. It is a slip and fall hazard in the winter and you are walking thru a puddle in the summer. It won't take much of a look to figure out if you want to use these companies. The workmanship and product are inferior and definitely unacceptable. It is not the product I ordered and the installation was not completed properly. I won't rest until it is straightened out. You can also email me at mb@frontiernet.net.