Bergum Concrete & Masonry, Inc.

I am rejecting this response because:[redacted]'s statement of hydraulic pressure was a prediction prior to viewing the issues. The crack has still not been inspected by [redacted] or other staff of Bergum Concrete to our knowledge. I had replaced the siding myself and [redacted] indicated he would then go back in and grout the gap which was never done. I feel there should be a reasonable expectation that a massive crack wouldn't happen to new concrete within 3 months of being replaced.  We feel the issue can't be declared as hydraulic pressure especially without inspecting it. We had the concrete replaced due to the prior owner mud jacking the concrete and that causing lifting and cracking. This was reported to us by [redacted]. When the new concrete was installed, the soil was left mud jacked and in our belief is what is causing the lifting. This was the very issue that had caused the problem to begin with, and was not noted as a soil issue. The area that is lifting is the same exact area which was lifting before the repair and [redacted] had noted as being caused by the mud jacking. We do understand and expect that there will be minor lifting with any concrete, but this is in excess of 4" in areas.  The sidewalk crack, although a minor crack in comparison, was reported on one of the many unreturned voicemails that I had left for [redacted].

In responce to the claim that [redacted] Stated that the previous issues to the [redacted]'s Apron was caused from mud jacking.  I never made the claim that any issues were caused by it. What I stated was that the apron had been mudjacked, which they were unaware of.  Mud jacking is a sometimes cheaper option rather that tear out & replace sunken concrete.  When I originally looked at the [redacted]'s job, it appeared to me to have been the case, noticing drill holes in the concrete where they inject the product used to lift the concrete back up to the appropriate elevation.  The entire job involved the garage floor replacement, which had cracked up and sank more than 4-5 inches, Concrete sidewalk & apron replacement, which included cutting the blacktop driveway 6' from the garage floor to obtain the correct pitch away from the garage floor, due to the blacktop driveway pushing up, (Which was not mudjacked.) replacing concrete block in various locations on the front & side walls of the garage foundation due to salt erotion and concrete floor/apron movement, as well as removing the brick which had fallen loose from the garage walls, with cultured stone. When mud jacking is done on existing concrete, it is injected directly under the concrete, not into the soil under the concrete.  When we removed the old concrete apron & blacktop, and mudjacking material that would have been still in place, would have been removed as well, if for no other reason, because we needed to excavate deeperinto the base to obtain a 4" slab depth with a now lower elevation apron. There were numorous issues before with this property, which is why I wrote a letter for the [redacted]'s before we did the job, when they were trying to go after the prevoius owners for compensation for not disclosing these issues when the property was purchased.  I would encourage the [redacted]'s to contact the local city building inspector and ask their opinion on the matter.

Regarding the complaint from [redacted], There is no warranty offered on concrete work that includes lifting or cracking.  The warranty covers only excessive scaling and rock pops.  We cut the concrete at all corners and other areas in an effort to control where the cracking accures. It...

is impossible to warranty the lifting or cracking due to the climate we are in as well as the different soils in different areas.  I did look at the apron and explained to [redacted] that there must be something causing the lifting. (Excessive hydrolic pressure in the soil, buried organic materials, or possibly something solid that was buried.)  All of which can not be known by us when doing the job. Some options to help with the lifting are to either dig down to the frost footing and replace the bad soils with a gravel , or putting high density foam under the slab area. We cut out the existing blacktop and replaced it with 4" of concrete, using the gravel base that was there.  This is the first I've heard of a crack in the sidewalk. Again, not a warranty issue.  As far as the mortar between the siding and the new stone, We replaced the exising brick with a cultured stone.  The brick is thicker than the stone, so I explained that they would need to have a sider fix the notch in the siding to butt up to the stone.  I was under the impression that that was taken care of by [redacted].  I'm happy to work out a solution to the problem with the [redacted]'s, but understanding that this complaint is not a warranty issue and Bergum Concrete should not be finacially responsible for it.