Rochester Residential RMDLG

We initially met to discuss two different jobs- moving the laundry to the first floor, and repaving the driveway. The laundry job was absolutely fantastic- one man, one day, outstanding work. The driveway was another matter. The project started as a way to protect the basement. Our engineer's inspection told us that the original driveway was in such poor condition that water was collecting underneath the driveway and damaging the basement wall. So, we called in Rochester Residential Rmdlng to pave the driveway. We specified that we needed the driveway to be graded and pitched away from the house, which was drawn up in the work order by the lead contractor (Jim). The paving crew arrived and got to work. In retrospect, it's clear that they didn't think through the job they would need to do. When I arrived home, the lead paver (Gary) told me that they had done me a favor- they had extra asphalt so they layered it on extra thick on the driveway. What became clear as soon as they left, however, was that the extra asphalt had piled up so high that it started to cover the basement windows and the side door to the house. Once they realized they were about to seal in the door, they pushed the asphalt out of the way, creating a bowl curved TOWARDS the door. The next rainfall, all of the water at the middle of the driveway pooled in front of our sidedoor and began seeping in. When we called to have them fix the problem, they decided to put in a drain. I took time out of my work day to come home and see the drain put in. When I got there, the drain was already done, and no one was around. I waited for the lead contractor (Jim) to come and see the drain, which we had agreed on. He never showed. He had decided that since it was already done by the time he heard about it, he didn't need to come see it. But he never told me. The drain itself was what the lead paver (Gary) described as a "French Drain." He punched a hole in the driveway where the water was pooling and then said that the water would disperse into the ground. Recall from earlier, that the initial problem was that the water was collecting in the ground next to the foundation, so what this "French Drain" and the pitch of the new driveway had done was take all the water from the driveway and give it an express route to our foundation. (Side note- after plenty of online research, I've found that just creating a covered hole in a driveway and allowing the water to seep into the ground is NOT a "French Drain," as Gary had tried to tell us). So after our basement began to actively seep water during the next rainstorm, we called and asked them to put in a pipe that directed the water away from the basement. Jim and Gary came by to meet us to inspect the work, and Jim rudely told us that "they usually charge for this kind of work," and then rudely told Gary that "but since you had messed up and didn't anticipate this in the first place" they would cover the cost. The pipe drain was installed, but when I went out to inspect the work, they had moved the entrance of the drain to the middle of the driveway- not at the bottom of the bowl anymore. I was told that the reason they couldn't place the drain entrance where they originally had it was that they would need to dig down more and they had hit concrete, which Gary deemed to be the foundation. In order for them to fix this the right way, I was told, I would need to shorten the entrance door to the house by 5 inches, and they could bring the grade of the driveway up so it pitched away from the house. We elected not to make the side entrance a 5'10" door. The cement they hit while digging, as a side note, was the cement apron to the entryway that many houses have. It had been paved over when the first driveway was built. After the most recent set of torrential rainstorms, our basement has leaked more than ever, and water is still collecting near the side door. All this is to say that Rochester Residential Rmdlg is NOT who you would like to use for paving. They may be able to lay asphalt, but in a job that is a bit more complicated, they clearly do not think through the job enough to do thorough work, and the response we received when we asked them to fix their mistake, for all of Jim's talk of "holding the contractor accountable" at our initial meeting, was both rude and inadequate. In case any of this has still not convinced you that the work was subpar, our work order also indicated that the crew was supposed to dispose of the asphalt from the original driveway when they excavated it. We should have specified WHERE to dispose of it because a week afterwards, when we were doing some yard work, we found pieces of our old asphalt driveway and gravel disposed in the back corner of our backyard behind a tree. Simply the icing on the cake, I suppose.

I was pleased with the quality of work, but the follow up afterwards was not very good. The price was very high.

has been with this contractor for about 9 years

The project went very well. The crew was very hard working and they seem to take pride in their work.

He came to look at the problem and when he came back to do the work, he was done in four hours. The leak was between a new addition and the original house. He even had me on the roof to show me what was wrong and had me back up to show how he fixed the problem. We haven't had any more problems and the price was right.

The owner of Rochester Residential is no help at all. He never once tried to help me decide what could be done with the kitchen. He did not have any samples of colors or cabinets not a thing not helpful at all. I am still not satisfied with the job.

I would recommend Rochester Residential Remodeling to anybody for their services. The crew was amazing. They had really great manners and consideration. They did a great job cleaning up my yard, too.