S & S Decorative Concrete Inc

Signed a contract with them in June for a stamped concrete patio and 3 concrete steps and placed a $1800 down payment. Was told they should be available and able to complete in the August/September timeframe. Had them out, they did the initial survey, received quotes from two other companies and signed the contract with them. They advised they would have us look at samples and schedule a time when we got closer to August/September. Their lack of communication was an issue. I called their home office twice and spoke with Sheryl however she was unable to help me so she asked her husband David to call me back. I received no call backs. On the third call she gave me his cell phone number. I called, spoke with him and had a few questions about the specifics of the design and asked to go over it with him. He said he would look at the plans he laid out and would call me back but they could come out in 1 week to do the job. Received no call back. Called him again 2 weeks later, he was disinterested talking to me because he was working on a pour. I asked him again to discuss the job, look at samples and schedule. I was told they would come out in 2 weeks and he would call me back to confirm. No call back. Three weeks later I received an email from Sheryl that they were refunding my money and could not complete the job.

Terrible experience and poor product. Not even a year after the patio and steps were installed the patio has spots of discoloration,cracked concrete in spots on patio, and one of the steps cracked completely. Contacted S&S concrete and we were advised by the owner something got on the patio. The only thing that got on the patio was snow. Owner sent workers out to fix the issue and what we got was a poor quality patch job. The colors they use to patch don't even match the color on the patio. It is a milky white and the patio is brown. There are still spots of discoloration they weren't repaired The owner never contacted me to do a follow-up on the supposed fix , which turned out to be a very poor patch job. I sent an email to the owner expressing my disatifaction and he never received responded. We had a decorative walkway installed at the front of our home 4 years ago by another company and still haven't had any issues. Goes to prove the issue had nothing to do with the customer but with the workmanship provided by the company.

Our asphalt driveway had been paved twice: once when our house was built, and again about 10 years ago. It became apparent that accumulated ruts and cracking demanded a third repaving. At this point, we decided to go with concrete despite the extra cost. Dave of S&S came by and explained a number of options including coloring, molded stone look-alike surfaces, and even electric heating for winter weather. We went with the usual brushed finish and a sandstone coloring. S&S carefully removed the old asphalt driveway. Dave personally did the excavation. They then laid a bed of gravel and compacted it to maximize support. Above that, they installed steel reinforcing rods prior to the final pour of concrete. All went well except for the accidental cutting of a Comcast cable line. A marking service did not show up in time to mark the location of the cable prior to excavation of the old driveway. S&S left instructions for me to call the marking service prior to the beginning of the work. However, once we learned of the exact job schedule and notified the service, they did not show up prior to the start of the job. This could be prevented by S&S contacting the marking service themselves instead of relying on the customer to do it. However, this was a minor issue. After the driveway had cured, S&S came back and repaired the adjacent lawn, planted grass, etc. The driveway looked quite nice upon completion. We had specified a sandstone coloring for it, however, the color lacked consistency which did improve somewhat with age. The big problem came with winter and the hard freeze we had over several weeks. It appears that there was some moisture in the ground under the driveway which froze and applied upward pressure on the driveway. This led to some cracking in the surface. However, with the steel reinforcing rods embedded in it, the concrete retained a constant elevation across the surface and did not have high and low sections. S&S was quite clear from the beginning that they could not guarantee against cracking and that this is always a risk. I'm convinced that they did everything they could have done to minimize this possibility and would hire them again for a similar job.

Everyone showed up on time and worked very efficiently. It took about 3 1/2 days. The end product was very nice.

Contacted S&S Concrete in March 2014 to have concrete patio and walks removed and replaced with stamped concrete. Dave Sherman came to the house, gave me an estimate, and gave me a tentative start date of May/June. I signed a contract on March 25 and gave a deposit of $4680 (one third of the total cost). Tentative start date on the contract was June/July. In August I called S&S and asked if I had been forgotten. I was told that the weather had been too rainy to pour concrete but that my job was a priority. On October 21, I called again at which time Dave Sherman told me that the weather had been too hot to pour concrete and that they do the jobs in the order that they are received. He did not give me a tentative start date or tell me where my job was on his list. At that time I told him that this delay was unacceptable and I wanted the contract cancelled and my deposit returned. My deposit was returned within two weeks.

unknown

We were under a timeline to get the job done before my sons wedding rehersal party that was planned for June 28. David agreed to get it done when we signed the contract around May 10th. David promptly came out when we originally called for an estimate the beginning of May, he was prepared with samples and suggestions which gave us confidence that he was the man to get the job done. We are contemplating a pavilion in the future and David suggested that we pour the concrete for the footers in one pour. That not only provided the supports needed for the future but also helped stabilize the entire patio. It also made my life easier since i was planning to do the foundation work my self. Now the next challenge RAIN. Our weather was not very kind to decorative concrete guys but finally a window opened up June 16th and they were there 7:00am to get the pour started.it took two more mornings to wash it and seal it but the deadline was accomplished. The job looks great, we received many compliments at our party. One of the other things that impressed me was how polite Davids crew was. David was there the whole time making sure the job was done to my satisfaction, but the crew really knew what they were doing and worked together like a fine tuned watch. Thanks David and guys.

We got 3 quotes and S&S was by far the most knowledgeable and accommodating. They explained each step of the process and even brought real sample of the stamped concrete patterns and colors so we wouldn't have to "guess" what it would look like. They made suggestions based on their experience vs. just giving us what we asked for. The patio turned out beautiful! We absolutely love and have already referred several of our friends to S&S. We would definitely use them again!

Initially had to wait over a month for work to begin (he was that busy) but once he began the work he was on schedule. They were professional and respectful. The patio is beautiful, meeting all my expectations. The yard was re-seeded and everything completed within a week.

The owner, Dave Sherman, *loves* concrete. He knows everything about it and will spend his time teaching you about it if you're willing to listen. We hired S&S Concrete to remove our old asphalt driveway that had been damaged as part of a sewer line replacement, and to pour new *colored* concrete (although we decided not to have it stamped). Dave and his crew began the work earlier than promised, Dave Sherman was at the site each day that they worked and it was completed on time. They were impeccably clean and tidy, going so far as to take dirt away from the site on a trailer, then bringing it back, replacing it, and adding seed. I didn't have to do a thing when they were done. I can now look forward to an attractive, maintenance free driveway from which I expect many years of service without having to put more money into it. August 8, 2014 Well, that was then, this is now. The winter was harsh and long, and when the snow finally cleared we found that the smooth surface of our beautiful colored concrete driveway was damaged in many areas. When we contacted Mr. Sherman he attributed the damage to salt use on our driveway when it was covered with ice and snow. We explained that we had not used salt but a pet-safe product which did not contain sodium or calcium. The apron of our driveway by the public road apparently sustained damage due to road salt that was plowed onto our driveway by road crews, according to him. We do not recall having been warned never to put salt on ice or snow on our driveway, or that the surface was at risk of damage due to weather. If we had known that the concrete surface was so sensitive, we would not have chosen concrete--we would have stuck with the cheaper asphalt. We feel we were misinformed about the qualities of this product and the suitability of concrete in our climate and would NOT choose this again. At this point our only options seems to be to have it resealed for an additional fee. Dave Sherman was friendly and responsive, even visiting our home to inspect the surface. It may be high quality concrete work. But the result is not what we were expecting after our first winter. 8/14/2014 This video explains concrete spalling (and never mentions salt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9OopE3EHFE

We had five companies come and estimate the work. S & S Custom Excavating Inc did the whole drive. They took out the old asphalt which had a million and one cracks which we'd covered with sealer but was a real mess. They did the sidewalk as well all in one, a 50x30 area. They even took out two bushes that we were thinking about removing at no extra cost. They did the work when they said they were going to. We have stamped concrete and everything just about turned out like we wanted. I would have liked a more gradual slope from the top of the driveway to the street. There was something else, some other permit we needed from the town in order for that to happen. The work went pretty smooth. The price was mid-range. The quality is excellent.

The experience was initially very good. David was very accommodating. It was after the job was finished and we started seeing problems with the concrete that things went south. He came to look at the concrete and I had the bad areas marked and he seemed annoyed with that. The concrete was already starting to chip and many areas had "blowouts" or what I initially stated as spalling. It has been explained to me that the "blowouts" were caused because the concrete was starting to set and they had to stamp harder and it caused the sides of the concrete to lift with the stamp. This should have been fixed immediately and before the seal was done. It wasn't! The ashlar slate pattern isn't to look "perfect" as I've been told by Mr. Sherman but shouldn't the texture of the concrete pattern be consistent? Where they started stamping the pattern is very defined but as they got further along the pattern is almost nonexistent and the grout lines are almost not seen. The concrete is almost smooth in some areas with no defined pattern and the grout lines can barely be seen in parts of the patio. The trowel marks are very noticeable in over half the patio. As far as my satisfaction, I was satisfied when it was finished, it was shiny and looked great. I couldn't walk on it initially so how was I to see the blowouts and the lack of pattern texture? The contract indicated final payment due upon completion and I gave the final check that day. Silly me? Lesson learned. Mr. Sherman and his lawyer said the work was performed as specified and it was. It's the WORKMANSHIP that is our issue. A very sloppy job. The continued deterioration is very disappointing. We currently have a Judgement against this company. We filed a civil suit and won by default. We have not been able to collect however. Stay far away from this contractor.

They were very courteous and professional. I was very pleased with this company and would use them again if I found the need.