DRS LTD

Our driveway was first done by DRS early this summer. We waited longer than their recommended time frame to park on the new driveway, but noticed we would see indentations from tires whenever a car was parked in the driveway. The asphalt never set up correctly. We had them come out to look at it and their response was "No, we are not re-paving your driveway". They advised us to give the driveway the summer to completely harden. We did this and parked cars still made indents; when it rained you could really see all the indentations. In September, we contacted them and sent pictures of the driveway after a rain so they could see all the indents we were talking about. They sent a response the next business day and said our driveway would be replaced. The crew came out the following day and tore out the driveway and prepared it for the asphalt. We knew the base for the driveway needed a week before the asphalt could be put down. However, 2 weeks went by and they still had not come to complete the job. When contacted and asked for an approximate date our driveway would be completed, we were told they didn't know, they were very busy. Another week went by and my husband stopped by their office to check again. We were concerned the driveway would not be done before cold weather came and they were no longer able to asphalt. Their response was very rude. The owner even stated that tearing up their first driveway was not what he would have done! We pointed out that we did not rip out the driveway ourselves and how could they start the job to fix it and then not complete it? That meeting ended with my husband being told they would come when they had time. We had begun to check on our legal standing about this, but fortunately that option wasn't necessary. The following week, the crew came to our house, completed the job, and we received an apology (hence, the C grade vs. D for overall). This driveway hardened as it should and we have had no issues. We would suggest that someone using DRS only pay half the fee upfront and pay the balance AFTER completion and time to make sure your driveway is satisfactory. Also, check the warranty language very thoroughly. The asphalt mixtures are usually just fine, but there can be batches that have incorrect ratios of those materials and you should not have to live with that when it happens.

In March 2012, we spoke to a DRS representative at a home show they were exhibiting at. We planned on building a garage in the spring of 2012 and due to the length and size of the driveway, we knew concrete would be cost prohibitive. We were very interested in the type of asphalt DRS provides, one made from old tires. The rubber base supposedly extends the life of your asphalt. We explained our plans to the representative at the home show and were informed they've done many driveways of all shapes and sizes. She gave us information about their product and services and told us to call for a price quote, even though their asphalt plant wouldn't be operational until May. We called right away and scheduled Jim Burns to come to our home and examine the garage site the third week in March. We were very detailed in what we were looking for and even gave him a site plan, provided by the garage builder, that had exact dimensions of the driveway, making his job a lot easier. We also asked 2 other asphalt companies to bid on the job, but felt confident that we would be going with DRS, even if the price was a little higher than the other 2 asphalt companies we were working with. We received the quotes from the other 2 companies within 2 to 4 days. After a week with no quote or response at all from Jim Burns, my husband was ready to move on and forget about DRS. I wanted to contact Jim again, before we moved on, giving him the benefit of the doubt and thinking maybe he had tried to get a hold of us and couldn't. When I finally tracked him down, he gave a lot of excuses why he hadn't done the quote and basically asked the same questions that he did on the initial site visit. He wanted to speak to my husband again (since my husband intitially dealt with him and I couldn't answer some of the questions he was asking) and asked me to have my husband contact him on his cell phone anytime, even that weekend. Jim said to leave him a message on his cell phone and he'd call us right back. He also told me he'd have the quote to us by Monday or Tuesday of that following week, at the latest. That would make it 2 weeks since the initial meeting with him. My husband reluctantly called his cell phone and left him a message, but Jim never returned his call. We also never received a price quote from him. All in all, DRS was a pain to deal with and as my husband said, "you shouldn't have to hound someone to give them business." If DRS didn't want our business in the first place, or felt the job was too small for them, they should have told us that up front or not agreed to give us a bid. I felt DRS was VERY disorganized and wouldn't trust them to do the job they say they can do. Jim Burns didn't even have a business card to give us and gave us an excuse for that as well! Granted we didn't have any work done by them, but if you do, I would definitely make sure you get EVERYTHING in writing up front and don't pay them until the job is complete.

When DRS came out to asphalt our driveway it was such an exciting project to watch. They finished the job in such a timely manner. The end results of our driveway was beautiful.