custom concrete

Most of the control joints were professional looking, However, they made a mess out of the one directly in front of our front door. I called them on it and they sent out someone to work on it, (we were gone at the time). It was a slight improvement but my wife has to hide it with a rug/foot scraper and was really disappointed. The rear patio dirt was leveled and rebar laid the first day. They were through with the rebar about quitting time so they packed it up for the day. I wandered around the site quite a bit chunking out larger chunks of dirt that evening that I knew didn't belong in a 4" slab . They poured the next day. About a month went by and I noticed a brown stain spot in the patio pour. About another month and a small hole developed in the center of the spot. This hole gradually got larger as time went by. After about four months went by I decided to investigate further. I took a hammer and lightly tapped around the hole and it caved in, I started digging dirt out with a screw driver. By the time I was done the hole was appx. three inches x four inches and went all the way through the slab, (with just a screwdriver). They had poured over a dirt clod that was almost to the surface. I called Rex Walker about it and he returned my call. He said he would pass it along to his crew but that it would probably have to be done on a weekend day. I waited a couple of weeks and called again, no answer. Another three or four weeks went by and I called again with no answer. I left voice mail both times. So I gave up, cleaned out the hole really good, went to Home Depot and found some concrete patch (about $25.00) and attempted to patch it myself. I did a good job I think except I didn't allow for shrinkage and now I have a oval shaped crater in the slab about 3/8" to 1/2" deep in the middle and a little different color. Good conversation piece I guess but a mite embarrassing. This concrete work was separate from the patio roof cover we had built to cover the back slab, the patio cover was installed by Deck Masters, (Brad Rose) whom I feel did a great job. However, I feel I should mention that the Custom Concrete recommendation came from Deck Masters. Stuff happens. I am trying to be civil about the situation but when people won't call you back and it's obvious they are not going to perform under their warranty, It's really annoying. Hence, this bad report.

They were good. I am happy with the results.