Well, I write reviews normally only if I have excellent experience or if I have awful oneGuess which one I had this time ;)I can agree with others here that Jose and his crew is very hard working, grantedThey show up in time, start very early (gee, like 7am, I want to sleep!) and get a job done in one day normallyJose is very responsive and returns calls rather quicklySo initially I was impressed and really motivated to work with himPlus he had excellent reviews on Yelp (before, not any more)That's why I have contracted him to do mid-size project at my propertyButThere is alway "but"
The problem I had with Jose is his unwillingness to listen to any concerns, recommendations, and suggestionsI may describe it as "his way or highway" - if you ask too many questions, or want a job to be done in a particular way, or will try to oversee the job and correct issues as he progresses - he will most likely get angry, verbally abusive, unprofessional and at the end will refuse to work with youSo in his case customer is never right
Another big concern I have is that Jose is that he is rushing through work really hardHe wants to get a job done in one day no matter what, by all means, and quality suffers naturallyAll small things related to quality of work get left behindLike for instance simple position correctly gutter collector in concrete before it hardens, or center an opening for water main and gas in concrete so pipes do not touch concrete wallsI literally had to oversee and babysit every step of the project to make sure these small but still important things are done rightAnd this is something that I should not do because I'm paying for the job to be done end-to-end without me investing my time into it
While the job was done on schedule, the crew showed up early morning and was hard working until late evening - big plus and kudos to Jose's team, I have way too many concerns and issues with quality of his workThey did not compact soil and I've got cracks in fresh concrete after only two weeks after pouring!!! Guys, you suppose to compact soil, right? They put a drainage pipe right next to my foundation instead of a middle as it was plannedThe channel drain they used is light-duty type instead of heavy duty as I initially wanted and planned to haveThe channel drain was installed off-level and sinks below concrete slab level on one side - it's functional but looks looks awfulThey did not put full expansion joins between the new concrete and my house foundation as needed, only 4-inch pieces of rubber and it still touches my foundation at the bottom - the whole reason of expansion joints to prevent touching and allow movements! They did not connect drain pipe to my existing underground drainage system and left a piece of pipe sticking from under concrete slab and I have wasted half a day finishing after themThe drain pipe was not even glued at all - I was able to pull it out by hands! They broke off piece of stucco on my house wall and did not care to fix itSome of steps they poured turned out to wavy after they were finished - not much but still very noticeable to meNot much to list here
I can go on about all small things that they have done wrong in my opinion and some may say that I ask too much, but for me it's very simple - or you do quality work or you don't do it at allThe worst part is that when I was trying to discuss my concerns with Jose he would just get very upset (to say at least) and say to my face that this job is too small and he does not make much money on it, and that I'm too special, and so onThis "small job" costs more that $3K, and I have paid extra for all extra things that I have requested to put in and still I get this kind of attitude? Thank you very much
I had Jose to do another simple job, which I though is impossible to screw upIt was simple replacement of a curb and gutter plus driveway approachThe only reason I wanted to do it is because the water was not flowing property and it was collecting across my driveway and eventually overflowing the approachI had only one requirement - water must flow and gutter must be levelWell, he has managed to screw up this one too, water still not flowing throughHe tied to patch it up (yes patch!) and somehow fix it after he poured concrete but it just made concrete look really bad and did not fix anythingAnd all expansion joints are are not straightIs it really so hard to just draw a straight line?
Bottom lineThe only thing Jose can do is flat slab pouring IMHOBut if you think about more complex project involving drainage, custom design, some special requests I would strongly suggest to look somewhere elseAnd don't even think of asking too many questions :)I liked Jose's energy he puts into his work but his extreme rushing of work and lack of attention to details kills the deal for me"Devil is in the detail" as they say
Well, I write reviews normally only if I have excellent experience or if I have awful oneGuess which one I had this time ;)I can agree with others here that Jose and his crew is very hard working, grantedThey show up in time, start very early (gee, like 7am, I want to sleep!) and get a job done in one day normallyJose is very responsive and returns calls rather quicklySo initially I was impressed and really motivated to work with himPlus he had excellent reviews on Yelp (before, not any more)That's why I have contracted him to do mid-size project at my propertyButThere is alway "but"
The problem I had with Jose is his unwillingness to listen to any concerns, recommendations, and suggestionsI may describe it as "his way or highway" - if you ask too many questions, or want a job to be done in a particular way, or will try to oversee the job and correct issues as he progresses - he will most likely get angry, verbally abusive, unprofessional and at the end will refuse to work with youSo in his case customer is never right
Another big concern I have is that Jose is that he is rushing through work really hardHe wants to get a job done in one day no matter what, by all means, and quality suffers naturallyAll small things related to quality of work get left behindLike for instance simple position correctly gutter collector in concrete before it hardens, or center an opening for water main and gas in concrete so pipes do not touch concrete wallsI literally had to oversee and babysit every step of the project to make sure these small but still important things are done rightAnd this is something that I should not do because I'm paying for the job to be done end-to-end without me investing my time into it
While the job was done on schedule, the crew showed up early morning and was hard working until late evening - big plus and kudos to Jose's team, I have way too many concerns and issues with quality of his workThey did not compact soil and I've got cracks in fresh concrete after only two weeks after pouring!!! Guys, you suppose to compact soil, right? They put a drainage pipe right next to my foundation instead of a middle as it was plannedThe channel drain they used is light-duty type instead of heavy duty as I initially wanted and planned to haveThe channel drain was installed off-level and sinks below concrete slab level on one side - it's functional but looks looks awfulThey did not put full expansion joins between the new concrete and my house foundation as needed, only 4-inch pieces of rubber and it still touches my foundation at the bottom - the whole reason of expansion joints to prevent touching and allow movements! They did not connect drain pipe to my existing underground drainage system and left a piece of pipe sticking from under concrete slab and I have wasted half a day finishing after themThe drain pipe was not even glued at all - I was able to pull it out by hands! They broke off piece of stucco on my house wall and did not care to fix itSome of steps they poured turned out to wavy after they were finished - not much but still very noticeable to meNot much to list here
I can go on about all small things that they have done wrong in my opinion and some may say that I ask too much, but for me it's very simple - or you do quality work or you don't do it at allThe worst part is that when I was trying to discuss my concerns with Jose he would just get very upset (to say at least) and say to my face that this job is too small and he does not make much money on it, and that I'm too special, and so onThis "small job" costs more that $3K, and I have paid extra for all extra things that I have requested to put in and still I get this kind of attitude? Thank you very much
I had Jose to do another simple job, which I though is impossible to screw upIt was simple replacement of a curb and gutter plus driveway approachThe only reason I wanted to do it is because the water was not flowing property and it was collecting across my driveway and eventually overflowing the approachI had only one requirement - water must flow and gutter must be levelWell, he has managed to screw up this one too, water still not flowing throughHe tied to patch it up (yes patch!) and somehow fix it after he poured concrete but it just made concrete look really bad and did not fix anythingAnd all expansion joints are are not straightIs it really so hard to just draw a straight line?
Bottom lineThe only thing Jose can do is flat slab pouring IMHOBut if you think about more complex project involving drainage, custom design, some special requests I would strongly suggest to look somewhere elseAnd don't even think of asking too many questions :)I liked Jose's energy he puts into his work but his extreme rushing of work and lack of attention to details kills the deal for me"Devil is in the detail" as they say