We hired John at Solocrete to install just over 1100 square feet of stamped concrete around the house and around our swimming pool. The first installation last year in September went well however this year when John returned to complete the rest of the work it was the worst experience we've encountered. John made empty promises of when he would show up and scheduled the installation countless times, didn't show up and didn't both to call or text us that he wasn't coming, we constantly had to follow up with him just to see if his crew was coming which was an inconvenience to us. Regardless of this we were still patient and accommodated them every time they tried to schedule us. The majority of the time they actually showed up at random with no notice at all and we accommodated them. We treated the crew very well, we bought them coffee, espresso, offered food and even put out a cooler with ice with drinks for them to make sure they were comfortable. When they finally got to installing the concrete they came with a huge cement truck with a full load on a 30 degree day and parked the truck right on our asphalt driveway causing damage. They didn't even both to use plywood or steel plates. They damaged our driveway causing the ashpalt to sink in all over the place. We texted John about this and he completely ignored us and didn't respond. John also did some work as well at my neighbors house while they were doing mine and didn't park on my neighbors driveway, they parked on the street as they realized how much damage they caused to ours! They could have parked on the street for ours too since there's no cars on the street and a ton of room. They wanted to make things easy for themselves instead of being concerned with the damage that they would cause us. Then, once the concrete was done we noticed they used the wrong colour and it was completely different than what was supposed to be installed. It was supposed to be the same matching concrete colour but instead they put the wrong colour. One of the crew members who came to powerwash the concrete advised me that the crew who added the colour should have known immediately upon laying the powder colour down and stopped what they were doing.. I spoke with John after this happened who advised he was going to sand down the concrete and try to re add the colour which we were fine with as long as there were no issues. A couple days later we received a call from John who advised he has to rip out the concrete and redo it. He took his time and constantly complained over the phone to us about the project in general as he was upset that his company lost money on the job. After weeks of waiting they finally came out and cut the concrete so its ready to remove. John was also supposed to bring a plastic cover or sheet for the pool before cutting and removing the concrete to ensure no dust went in the pool. What he brought was an old plastic sheet filled with mud and dirt that I refused to let him use as it would be dropping mud in our pool. I ended up bringing out an old TV cardboard box to block the back spray of the concrete from going into the pool when he was saw cutting. About a week later Johns crew returned to remove the concrete and left a significant amount of concrete dust all around the pool and walkways and didn't bother to clean it even though we have and in ground swimming pool that we use daily. They also used my neighbors driveway without his permission and left a mess on the road and on his driveway. John was supposed to return the following day to do the concrete so we didn't mention it to him. We sent a text message to John in the morning of the day they were supposed coming to pour the concrete requesting that once they complete the concrete if they could please clean up around the pool and my neighbors driveway. We immediately received a call from John after the text, he started swearing and advised he's not coming out to finish the job and that we complain about the mess too much.
We are now left with a damaged driveway, an unfinished project which we now have to pay someone to bring it back to it's original state, were left with a mess all over the concrete that we now have to clean up and we have to seal 1000 square feet of concrete that John was supposed to do. This is going to cost us in the thousands of dollars to just bring everything back to way it was before John and Solocrete took on the project. The photos we attached here show the original grass we had laid down, then the wrong colour concrete they installed and finally what they left us with. A hole in the ground with gravel. We called a few companies and they did not have the stamp to do our concrete to match so the only thing we can do now is replace it with the grass that was there before John started.
What a nightmare, This company should not be in business.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $20,500.00
- Company Response
I would like to thank you for taking the time to write such a lengthy review. I am sorry that we could not be accommodating to your demands of not being messy, but this is the nature of construction work. I would like to inform our potential clients of this situation.
In September of 2019, we completed concrete around the pool. Sealing of this concrete was completed. It is part of the customer’s maintenance to seal their concrete as needed after the initial completion. This year, 2020, the client contacted me on my personal cellphone and asked that we do a small extension to the job we had done for him the previous year. I agreed and the new job was commenced. Unfortunately, by mistake, the wrong colour was put down. Once this was realized, I apologized and explained to the client that we would remove and replace it. During this process. The client became impatient and texted me multiple times complaining of the mess and how long it was taking. His texts became aggressive, demanding and threatening. I explained and assured him that the mess would be cleaned upon completion. Stamp concrete is a 2 week process. He is familiar with this 2 week process, as it was the same way last year. He refused me access to his property via text. He is now texting me to go back to continue the job in an aggressive and threatening manner. From this, I decided it was in the best interest of everyone to walk away from this situation. I have not been paid for this job. I explained via text back to him that I was not going to return. I recommended that he find a company that is not messy. All the best – John