Ben's Paving

Everything went great. Richard Stevens was pleasant, punctual, and went above and beyond by fixing our garden border that is adjacent to the driveway. He also applied a small patch of asphalt to our neighbors driveway free of charge. The driveway has been in place for five months now and we could not be happier with it.

Charl1e is the worst person to deal with. He's dishonest and will take your money and run. They had to dig up a lot of dirt in my neighbors yard to build the new driveway. Rather than hauling away the dirt, Charlie convinced me that its top soil quality and it needs to be spread all over my yard. Little did I know at that point that it was all clay and it would ruin my yard. I believed him and paid him an extra 4K to regrade my property with that soil. He tasked the regrading job to his friend Norman. Charlie took the full payment and said he will return as soon as Norman is done regrading. After the grading was completed, he said its too cold and he would return in 2014 summer to finish the patchwork and seal coating. When I called in 2014 summer he said he would come in May 2014. He kept pushing it month by month and now its 2015 summer and he still has not completed the job. He told me at the beginning of this season that he would come, but now he has stopped answering my calls. They are dishonest people and will cheat you once the payment is made. The nightmare doesn't even end there. All that soil that they dug out and spread on my yard ended up being clay. I had to pay a contractor another 8K to get it all redone with topsoil. This whole project cost me a fortune due to Charlie and his company. They should have hauled away that dirt in the first place rather than charging me extra to spread it on my yard. His dishonesty already cost me 4K (for original regrading) + 8K (for getting it redone with topsoil) and now its back to what it used to look like before they showed up. The new contractor almost laughed at me for my ignorance in letting someone spread clay all over my yard. Thats the price I paid for trusting this company. I also have big holes in my driveway now in areas where both our yards were connected and he does not answer my calls to patch them and seal coat. I have a signed contract with all line items and I will take this to court. I also have proof's of all the calls that I made to him and all the promises that Charlie made to me. Stay away from this company.

I was really impressed with Ben's willingness to come out and consult on this project. He was quick to respond to my inquiry and was able to thoroughly assess the work that done was by another contractor. His list of concerns was nearly identical to those of the other paver that inspected the work. He was able to answer all of my questions and offered a variety of helpful advice. It's clear that Ben's Paving takes paving very seriously and wants their customers to have a good experience with them and with their work. I wasn't able to be on site when Ben visited but I left him a check for $150 for his troubles. When he called me to give his report, he explained that he felt so bad about the mess the other contractor left me with he was unable to take the check! Nonetheless, his report was detailed and thorough and will help me figure out what to do about the situation. Ben was great and, based on my experience with him, I would recommend him and his firm without reservation.

I called him 3 times and even left a note for him in his fedex box. I reached someone in his office and was told that he was not available, but he would have him call me, but HE NEVER RETURNED MY CALLS. I guess it's good that I did not hire him, if he doesn't call you back to get a job, I can't imagine what would happen if I had a problem with his work.

Exceedingly well. The only question I have is the price, and that only because I did not get a second bid. I was impressed by the evaluation and the job turned out to be first rate.

I was very optimistic after speaking with Charles, the man who ran the operation. I am a general contractor and I knew that this man knew what he was talking about, plus he was just a very nice person. While the paving was going on at my home, we began to discuss my investment property and he gave me a bid that was acceptable. The work was completed on both properties in late fall of 2013. After a few weeks, I noticed that the seams were all over the place, both quantity and they swerved every where. I put calling him on my to do list, and then winter came and everything was buried in snow. Spring rolled around and I kept meaning to call...but two weeks ago the driveway started to deteriorate and actually crumble where a tire would turn on it. I tried twice to get a hold of Charles, but no response. It really bothers me that I let this man's charm cloud my business judgment. There were other less than favorable reviews on the internet but I made my decision based on meeting the man; I was wrong.

Ben came promptly for an initial assessment, and sent in his estimate by the next day. He then agreed to meet with all the neighbors involved while they asked additional questions, and all were very satisfied with his answers and his professionalism. There was concern about the tree roots in particular - if they might prove to be more time-consuming than expected, what might happen to the cost. Ben assured us that his price was the price - he takes that risk, loses some, makes up on others sometimes. Unfortunately for him, rain intervened, and halfway through, it ruined a whole load of hot mix, which he had to discard at considerable loss to himself. However, our price held. He and his team spent a total of a day and a half on the job. There is a slight indentation of the surface over on the tree root side, which he is coming back to deal with in the next few days. Overall, there is a vast improvement in the sloping of the driveway into the road, and good general drainage. It all comes with an unconditional 2 year warranty, but Ben says he would expect it to last for 25 years in general. The renewed area and driveway have a total compacted thickness of 4 inches. One warning: The answering service you get when calling the number listed on Angie's List is very unreliable. After leaving a message 3 times and getting no response, we looked up Ben's website and found a totally different number and somewhat different address. Charlie, Ben's father answered, and the response was immediate. If there hadn't been such a good review on Angie's List in the first place, we probably would not have persevered. Both Charlie and Ben are on the job all the time - it's a fourth generation family business. They also have contracts with TGI Friday and Wendy's in other states besides PA, but they treated us as if we were just as important to them.

Ben and his crew were great! He told me he would be there at 8 am and he was early! They showed up with some very large equipment. These guys definitely know what they are doing and did an amazing job. I am a hard customer to please because I am a perfectionist! Perfection is what I got. The lines were perfectly straight and the driveway so smooth. Extremely professional and I will not hesitate to recommend him to my friends! He is very busy so be patient. He is worth the wait.

He did not call back.

Within 24 hours of calling (on a Saturday), Charlie (Ben's Dad) arrived and conducted an estimate. Charlie was professional, highly experienced and most informative. He explained in detail the planned methods of repair including sections to be cut and removed. He identified where new base material would be applied and exactly the process involved in cutting existing material in order that mating garage and street surfaces would result in a durable outcome. It was clear to me (an engineer by trade) that Charlie was a master in his trade. As stated by Charlie, that evening I received the quotation via e-mail. What followed next was quite interesting, and in part, entertaining. Other providers stumbled with appointments, quotations and application techniques. One provider explained that simply applying a "new, high tech tape" over existing cracks, then paving over the tape would provide a most durable outcome (I thought Charlie won't do that!). Another explained that abutting to street level could be attained via "feathering" the asphalt (as opposed to cutting 3"-4" deep, removing material, then abutting fresh asphalt to the street level). Ben's Paving was the selected provider even though they were the highest price by nearly $3000 as I had that much confidence. My wife and I both happen to be out of town when the work was conducted. Upon returning a few days later I was pleased to review the work. It was exceptionally well done. The work site was clean. Ben and his crew extended the rooster tail by 2 1/2 feet (no extra charge) under appeal I find out later from call to Ben by my wife ;>) - which was great. The garage and street mating surfaces were perfect. Ben even extended his work effort to include paving along under and past the mailbox so as to reduce wear from the Post Office vehicle. All-in-All, I am extremely pleased with Ben, Charlie and the professional crew of Ben's Paving!

I phoned Ben to schedule an appointment for an estimate. He promptly returned my call, and scheduled an estimate the next day. We agreed upon the price for the work and the job was completed shortly thereafter. Ben was prompt and professional. We would use him again. He had done a similar job for a neighbor the year before.

After having been given an extremely overpriced estimate by another company, I called Ben's Paving. They were practically around the corner and I had an estimate from Charlie the day after I called. He arrived exactly when he said he would, which was 7AM,so I could get to work on time. He gave me a fair estimate, got the permit himself and all the work was done that same day. Also have a 2 yr. guarantee or repairs are free. VERY PLEASED!

Charlie (Ben's father) provided me with an estimate slightly lower than the others we received but I hired Ben's Paving based on a good feeling I had when I met Charlie to discuss the job rather than because they were the lowest cost. Either Charlie or Ben was on-site the entire time the driveway was being replaced. The workers were very careful not to damage the street, curb or lawn. It was a completely professional job from start to finish.

The paving went very well. I watched the process and they did excatly what they said they would. Filled the large holes with stone to build up the foundation. They put two coats down. The edges are very straight so it looks very neat. They patched another part of the driveway that was not being completey paved and it looks very good. Overall a very good job. The crew was very well behaved and competant in doing their job. They worked togeather very well. They also cleaned up after the job very well.

Provider made an appoitment, but a no show and never called.

Contacted the contractor to give me an estimate to repair my driveway.. He came to my home. Inspected my driveway. Told me his ideas. Said he would prepare an email estimate and send it to me. I did not receive any email estimate. I called and left a message with his answering service and asked that he get get back to me. He never did. I consider this to be very unprofessional and would not recommend this contractor to anyone. If he is this unprofessional I am afraid to hire him.

Ben returned my initial call and scheduled a visit to give us an estimate. He arrived promptly and spent a great deal of time answering my questions which were many as he was the first of 3 companies I had contacted. He was detailed in what the work would entail, how it would be done, and the time line involved. He gave me his quote on the spot. After getting the other estimates, which were significantly higher, I contacted Ben again to clarify that he would be doing the same work (ex. 2" compacted asphalt, etc.) - details I had learned from the other companies. We accepted his quote. Ben and a large crew arrived on the scheduled date and worked steadily completing the job in one day as promised - quite a feat since we have a large circular plus straight driveway. This was not just a job that was applying an asphalt layer, but also removing a significant section of badly deteriorated driveway and curbing. In some areas, they had to use 4" compacted asphalt (2" being he norm). His crew included his young son Henry which shows it truly is a family business. Ben and all the crew were friendly and professional and spent time answering the questions from our visiting grandsons who were fascinated by all the construction equipment. Most importantly the end result is fantastic and at a reasonable price. We plan to have Ben's Paving do the recoating maintenance when needed.

I couldn't have been more pleased with Ben's Paving and the team - including Dan Hanson for the concrete work. They were all very professional and did exactly what they said they would do. They are a family business of several generations (which counts a lot for me), and have an excellent reputation, established over many years and projects. All involved were friendly, courteous and helpful Their bid was the lowest of three that I sought out and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them for a paving job of any size.

Called Ben's Paving based on good marks on Angie's List for an estimate for driveway repaving. Returned my call and arranged to come by --said I did not need to be home. A week went by--no estimate,no call. I called back and left a message saying I was still interested in an estimate. Another week --no response to my message.

Charlie was great. Show up on time for the appraisal. Their price wasn't the lowest of all the estimates we received but we felt confident with their quote and quality of work. We had an opportunity to see them working on a driveway near our house and were impressed. His work crew was prompt and efficient. Our project took 3 days to complete and they ran into a few unexpected situations like concrete pads that were 16" deep instead of 4 to 5 inches. They never once asked to charge us for the additional work which was quite nice in my book. They also finished the job on time even with the added surprises. We just had our first few days of heavy rain and our re grading was perfect, all the water flowed exactly as planed.

I called Ben's paving to obtain a price to replace my aging driveway. Within 4 hours I had a very competitive price and an install date that met my timeline. The one thing that I must note is that on the day of installation there were 2 trucks containing the asphalt and the one truck had the top material and not the base material. The owner of Ben's paving sent the truck with the Top back to the plant because it was wrong. I know nothing about paving and he could have easily put the material down. I must say that his honesty has gone a long way and has been noted. I will certainly recommend Ben's paving. Thanks for the great work!

My experience with Ben's Paving was a pleasure from beginning to end. Charlie came out on a Saturday afternoon to estimate the job and provided a written quote that explained the job and the price. I contacted Charlie on Wednesday to give the go ahead and Ben called on Thursday and scheduled the work for Friday. The work was started and finished as scheduled . The job was done in a clean fashion and the finished product looks great. Prior to the work being done the parking pad was unusable on the one side due to a steep incline. Ben regraded the incline so well that it is level with the alley and the entire area can now be used to park on. I especially was pleased to see that Ben took a few minutes with my elderly neighbor who had come out to see what was being done and to make sure his property was not being disturbed. I would not hesitate to refer this company to friends, family or business contacts.

On schedule, on cost estimate, very neat and clean job. Hope I wont need another driveway job any time soon, but I would definitely use Ben's.

I made contact with Ben's Paving on March 19th in order to have an estimate done for a new driveway. Within an hour, a representative arrived at my house, took some measurements, gave me a rundown on what needed to be done and the pricing was significantly lower than the three other contractors whom I had got quotes from. The gentleman set an appointment for March 21st (two days later). The crew arrived right around 9:00 am on the morning of the 21st and were done with the job right around 11:30 am that same morning. The driveway looked great after they were down and still looks just as good today. Outstanding service, communications and craftmanship!!

They had to come back to fix a few things, but it was alright. There are still a few things that need to be addressed, but overall it is pretty much okay. Even thought I'm out of town, he was still responsive. The price is pretty decent.