X-Treme Krete Transformations, LLC

I contacted X-treme Krete because I was considering resurfacing my patio with resurfacing products being sold at the big box stores, but hoped to have someone do it more professionally. I did research for a company that did that kind of work and an internet link for another company that used to do patio resurfacing sent me to the website for X-Treme. (Apparently, the other company did not last very long.) I have a pool and patio in my back yard. I would estimate that the total patio is about the size of an average driveway. (They told me 1000+ square feet, but I am skeptical) The patio is older but not in terrible condition. It has several cracks, but it is not breaking apart for the most part. It was nicely built and definitely does not need to be torn out and replaced yet. X-Treme advertises a product similar to the "Restore" product sold at Lowes (but, according to them, much better) that covers the surface of the patio, fills in cracks, and extend its life. My goal was to make my patio pretty and cover the cracks. The tech arrived at the scheduled time and was very polite. He measured the patio and informed me that they charge by the square foot rather than based on the actual amount of work involved. He informed me that it should not take more than 3 days for them to complete the entire project. To use the product that they recommend, it would cost $8,500. To use a lesser product, it would cost $7,500. He informed me that the recommended product comes with a lifetime guarantee. *** Side note *** I am well aware of the value of lifetime guarantees for many contracting companies ($0). This is a new company, not one that has been in business for many years. It is not well-established. And, the last company in their spot had not already gone under in virtually no time. Therefore, under the circumstances, a lifetime guarantee meant virtually nothing to me. In fact, I have a fence that has a lifetime guarantee too... that company went under in about two years. *** Of course, I needed to think about it before deciding; I thanked the tech, and he went on his way. The more I thought about the estimate, the more I got upset. I would guess that the product costs X-Treme no more than $1500. This is giving them the benefit of the doubt, since the same amount of product at Lowes costs half that and X-Treme presumably buys at wholesale. That means they would be charging me $7,000 for three days of work. Assuming 8 hours per day, that is nearly $300 an hour! I am an attorney. I do NOT earn $300 an hour and I have two degrees and 11 years of experience. The reason I decided to post this is that I wanted to warn folks to be careful about "per square foot" estimates. I am going to continue my search and would appreciate any recommendations anyone can give on Angie's List. Thank you for your time in reading this.