Dino Gaetano Concrete

First, the contractor's response"I do not deal with customers who alter the truth to try to get a response of free work" is wrong because he never responded to my phone call, letter, and cell phone calls to him BEFORE this complaint in By not responding, he couldn't assume I was looking for "free work"He didn't know why I was calling He didn't respond leading to this complaint I was following up on his suggestion to let him know if I had questions on the patio's appearance from meeting with him in 2013, being told again that it was still drying, and it would be a uniform light color when the process completed It was at that time he said he didn't know why it cracked, but it wasn't going anywhere and there was no need to be concerned The goal from the beginning was expecting a good job for the money paid as any consumer is promised At this point, I have no confidence in him doing any type of work nor would I want him In paragraph 3, he left out an important point He was called back because the sealant was not uniformly applied and there were areas that were not sealed at all He did most missed areas, but he said the streaking and darker areas were due to drying The original sealing of the patio occurred the evening after the early afternoon completion of the patio Shortly thereafter was a heavy downpour that was a concern for me on its effect on the patio and sealing in the same day A period longer than his suggested 3-months had passed in when he came back for the continuing concern over the appearance of color variations with streaks, white dots, clouding, and also the long crack ChemMasters Technical Service Manager stated that the product is better sprayed so it's more of a uniform application as opposed to the roller that was used The rain could have also added to the problem and removing the seal and redoing it was a possibility Better sealing would have eliminated some of the mentioned problems The contractor refers to the contract as having no guarantees on cracking and discoloring especially in this climate Verbally, he stated what a good result would be achieved with his "dream team", and the possibility of problems I have experienced were never mentioned even though he makes it seem commonplace To note that his over year old patio experienced similar problems immediately as my year old patio is disconcerting on two levels Comparing his over year patio to a year old patio, and more importantly maybe after all this time, he should have remedied the same problem He states the contract says approximately inches of concrete, but it also says inches at another place on the same contract Industry standards that he likes to reference say minimum of inches His 2-inches of base was not consistent and below the minimum of the suggested inches He doesn't assume any responsibility for anything Blame is attributed to supplier of concrete, materials from suppliers, control joints, etc., but he is the one who makes these choices for the final product that is a testimony to his work By his reasoning, is everyone given the same latitude as him for a poor product result? In reference to the post holes, he forgot to mention that I had to request that he make them deeper because he originally did not have them deep enough He also was to have the posts equally spaced apart, but he miscalculated and posts were needed otherwise there would be a foot spacing between posts 2-on a foot patio He said were good, but I had him dig an additional hole at extra cost to me The irony is that the posts were for a future roof and his posts were not used It was decided that additional posts at extra cost off the patio for the roof was the choice with consideration given to the uncertainty of the cracking in the patio in less than a year I made a mistake in hiring for I should have not listened to his verbal promises, my time frame, and costs More research should have been done on my part This individual even brought a cement truck into the back through a small area between two houses after being told not to do so the day before His excuse was he thought I meant only on the one side This involved a safety issue in addition to the work and cost of repairing the lawn His disclaimer in the contract for such costs were shown in his disregard to the property In conclusion, since he is so proud of his final product, I'm sure it will become another reference for him for future clients I do get the question, Who did this? A lack of professionalism is evidenced in the numerous examples cited

Everything this customer states is all true. I am dealing with him now with very similar situation. He does crappy work and blames the customer. Total fabrication of events. He requests the customer to pay for his shotty work to fix what should have been done correctly and part of the contract. Everything you tell him during the proposal stage is disregarded. Do not walk; run!

I was contracted in the summer of 2O12to remove and replace a concrete patio at the rear of the
property in question. I provided homeowner actual reference properties for home to review that is why
I was awarded the project.
Upon completion the homeowner immediately complained...

about how the concrete was curing. I visited
the property immediately upon his request after completion and informed the owner upon sealing the
concrete it usually takes approx. 3-6 months to cure out the moisture which causes the darker variations.
Depending how moisture is applied thru the ground, concrete can cure forever
Depending on the Portland used by the supplier concrete can discolor.
I have been using chemmasters products for over 25 years with no issues. I do not know who the
homeowner talked to but the application was a standard process for any installer who applies product
with roller.
There are no guarantees by any concrete installer for discoloring or cracking, especially in the climate
where the work was done.
There were no guarantees provided in this contract in question to cover any of the issues owner is
complaining about therefore there is no liability on my part. Concrete cracks, hopefully it can be
controlled via control joints but nothing is guaranteed. Spider cracks are shrink cracks, another standard
issue in this in industry that is not guaranteed and not able to be controlled based on materials from
suppliers. - - - - - - - -
Note; My back patio is over 24 years old, I immediately experienced similar cracks and discoloring, it has
not moved and is still there It can be inspected at any time by anyone I often use my residence as a
reference to my work
The homeowner was present when patio was formed with 2 by 4’s and used a tape measure to measure
every~hing including the post holes dug on exterior. He constantly reviewed the process of installation,
at no point in time was thickness ever an issue. Note contract is specific stating ‘approx. 4” thick using 2
-4’s’. Gravel is used at the base of forms so concrete will not bleed out under forms, so whatever the
thickness of the wood is on exterior is the thickness of concrete, another standard in this industry.
In addition ~/2 inch rebar and 10 gauge mesh was used in the project, most installers only use 10 gauge
mesh. This practice is standard mall my installations.
In 30 years of business I have had only 2 complaints to Revdex.com this one and one a year ago which was
removed due to contract being breach by customer who filed complaint.
I have absolutely no issues with credibility and I do not deal with customers who alter the truth to try to
get a response of free work.
If you have any questions or need further information feel free to contact me.

First, the contractor's response. "I do not deal with customers who alter the truth to try to get a response of free work" is wrong because he never responded to my phone call, letter, and cell phone calls to him BEFORE this complaint in 2014.  By not responding, he couldn't assume I was looking for "free work". He didn't know why I was calling.  He didn't respond leading to this complaint.  I was following up on his suggestion to let him know if I had questions on the patio's appearance from meeting with him in 2013, being told again that it was still drying, and it would be a uniform light color when the process completed.   It was at that time he said he didn't know why it cracked, but it wasn't going anywhere and there was no need to be concerned.  The goal from the beginning was expecting a good job for the money paid as any consumer is promised.  At this point, I have no confidence in him doing any type of work nor would I want him.
In paragraph 3, he left out an important point.  He was called back because the sealant was not uniformly applied and there were areas that were not sealed at all.  He did most missed areas, but he said the streaking and darker areas were due to drying.  The original sealing of the patio occurred the evening after the early afternoon completion of the patio.  Shortly thereafter was a heavy downpour that was a concern for me on its effect on the patio and sealing in the same day.  A period longer than his suggested 3-6 months had passed in 2013 when he came back for the continuing concern over the appearance of color variations with streaks, white dots, clouding, and also the long crack.  ChemMasters Technical Service Manager stated that the product is better sprayed so it's more of a uniform application as opposed to the roller that was used.  The rain could have also added to the problem and removing the seal and redoing it was a possibility.  Better sealing would have eliminated some of the mentioned problems.
The contractor refers to the contract as having no guarantees on cracking and discoloring especially in this climate.  Verbally, he stated what a good result would be achieved with his "dream team", and the possibility of problems I have experienced were never mentioned even though he makes it seem commonplace.  To note that his over 24 year old patio experienced similar problems immediately as my 2 year old patio is disconcerting on two levels.  Comparing his over 24 year patio to a 2 year old patio, and more importantly maybe after all this time, he should have remedied the same problem.  He states the contract says approximately 4 inches of concrete, but it also says 4 inches at another place on the same contract.  Industry standards that he likes to reference say minimum of 4 inches.  His 2-3 inches of base was not consistent and below the minimum of the suggested 4 inches.  He doesn't assume any responsibility for anything.  Blame is attributed to supplier of concrete, materials from suppliers, control joints, etc., but he is the one who makes these choices for the final product that is a testimony to his work.  By his reasoning, is everyone given the same latitude as him for a poor product result?
In reference to the post holes, he forgot to mention that I had to request that he make  them deeper because he originally did not have them deep enough.  He also was to have the 4 posts equally spaced apart, but he miscalculated and 5 posts were needed otherwise there would be a 14 foot spacing between posts 2-3 on a 28 foot patio.  He said 4 were good, but I had him dig an additional hole at extra cost to me.  The irony is that the posts were for a future roof and his posts were not used.  It was decided that additional posts at extra cost off the patio for the roof was the choice with consideration given to the uncertainty of the  cracking in the patio in less than a year.
I made a mistake in hiring for I should have not listened to his verbal promises, my time frame, and costs.  More research should have been done on my part.  This individual even brought a cement truck into the back through a small area between two houses  after being told not to do so the day before.  His excuse was he thought I meant only on the one side.  This involved a safety issue in addition to the work and cost of repairing the lawn.  His disclaimer in the contract for such costs were shown in his disregard to the property.   In conclusion, since he is so proud of his final product, I'm sure it will become another reference for him for future clients.  I do get the question, Who did this?  A lack of professionalism is evidenced in the numerous examples cited.

Review: Concrete patio was made and it had problems with the finish from beginning with variations in color, sealing, and a crack that ran the length of the patio. I was told it was still drying and would improve appearance. It wasn't sealed properly after talking to manufacturer of product. [redacted] looked at it and said give more time and to call if it didn't. It didn't and the gray area started spider cracking and it continues to get worse. I also noticed where the crack started the thickness of the cement was less than the contracted 4 inches. I contacted his business phone listed, sent a letter, and contacted his cell phone and have received no response. The original problem has become worse and my patio has more cracks and looks worse than the one that was replaced.Desired Settlement: I need to correct the existing condition that continues to get worse and would not want him doing the work again. The surface needs to be corrected if possible.

Business

Response:

I was contracted in the summer of 2O12to remove and replace a concrete patio at the rear of the

property in question. I provided homeowner actual reference properties for home to review that is why

I was awarded the project.

Upon completion the homeowner immediately complained about how the concrete was curing. I visited

the property immediately upon his request after completion and informed the owner upon sealing the

concrete it usually takes approx. 3-6 months to cure out the moisture which causes the darker variations.

Depending how moisture is applied thru the ground, concrete can cure forever

Depending on the Portland used by the supplier concrete can discolor.

I have been using chemmasters products for over 25 years with no issues. I do not know who the

homeowner talked to but the application was a standard process for any installer who applies product

with roller.

There are no guarantees by any concrete installer for discoloring or cracking, especially in the climate

where the work was done.

There were no guarantees provided in this contract in question to cover any of the issues owner is

complaining about therefore there is no liability on my part. Concrete cracks, hopefully it can be

controlled via control joints but nothing is guaranteed. Spider cracks are shrink cracks, another standard

issue in this in industry that is not guaranteed and not able to be controlled based on materials from

suppliers. - - - - - - - -

Note; My back patio is over 24 years old, I immediately experienced similar cracks and discoloring, it has

not moved and is still there It can be inspected at any time by anyone I often use my residence as a

reference to my work

The homeowner was present when patio was formed with 2 by 4’s and used a tape measure to measure

every~hing including the post holes dug on exterior. He constantly reviewed the process of installation,

at no point in time was thickness ever an issue. Note contract is specific stating ‘approx. 4” thick using 2

-4’s’. Gravel is used at the base of forms so concrete will not bleed out under forms, so whatever the

thickness of the wood is on exterior is the thickness of concrete, another standard in this industry.

In addition ~/2 inch rebar and 10 gauge mesh was used in the project, most installers only use 10 gauge

mesh. This practice is standard mall my installations.

In 30 years of business I have had only 2 complaints to Revdex.com this one and one a year ago which was

removed due to contract being breach by customer who filed complaint.

I have absolutely no issues with credibility and I do not deal with customers who alter the truth to try to

get a response of free work.

If you have any questions or need further information feel free to contact me.

Consumer

Response:

First, the contractor's response. "I do not deal with customers who alter the truth to try to get a response of free work" is wrong because he never responded to my phone call, letter, and cell phone calls to him BEFORE this complaint in 2014. By not responding, he couldn't assume I was looking for "free work". He didn't know why I was calling. He didn't respond leading to this complaint. I was following up on his suggestion to let him know if I had questions on the patio's appearance from meeting with him in 2013, being told again that it was still drying, and it would be a uniform light color when the process completed. It was at that time he said he didn't know why it cracked, but it wasn't going anywhere and there was no need to be concerned. The goal from the beginning was expecting a good job for the money paid as any consumer is promised. At this point, I have no confidence in him doing any type of work nor would I want him.

In paragraph 3, he left out an important point. He was called back because the sealant was not uniformly applied and there were areas that were not sealed at all. He did most missed areas, but he said the streaking and darker areas were due to drying. The original sealing of the patio occurred the evening after the early afternoon completion of the patio. Shortly thereafter was a heavy downpour that was a concern for me on its effect on the patio and sealing in the same day. A period longer than his suggested 3-6 months had passed in 2013 when he came back for the continuing concern over the appearance of color variations with streaks, white dots, clouding, and also the long crack. ChemMasters Technical Service Manager stated that the product is better sprayed so it's more of a uniform application as opposed to the roller that was used. The rain could have also added to the problem and removing the seal and redoing it was a possibility. Better sealing would have eliminated some of the mentioned problems.

The contractor refers to the contract as having no guarantees on cracking and discoloring especially in this climate. Verbally, he stated what a good result would be achieved with his "dream team", and the possibility of problems I have experienced were never mentioned even though he makes it seem commonplace. To note that his over 24 year old patio experienced similar problems immediately as my 2 year old patio is disconcerting on two levels. Comparing his over 24 year patio to a 2 year old patio, and more importantly maybe after all this time, he should have remedied the same problem. He states the contract says approximately 4 inches of concrete, but it also says 4 inches at another place on the same contract. Industry standards that he likes to reference say minimum of 4 inches. His 2-3 inches of base was not consistent and below the minimum of the suggested 4 inches. He doesn't assume any responsibility for anything. Blame is attributed to supplier of concrete, materials from suppliers, control joints, etc., but he is the one who makes these choices for the final product that is a testimony to his work. By his reasoning, is everyone given the same latitude as him for a poor product result?

In reference to the post holes, he forgot to mention that I had to request that he make them deeper because he originally did not have them deep enough. He also was to have the 4 posts equally spaced apart, but he miscalculated and 5 posts were needed otherwise there would be a 14 foot spacing between posts 2-3 on a 28 foot patio. He said 4 were good, but I had him dig an additional hole at extra cost to me. The irony is that the posts were for a future roof and his posts were not used. It was decided that additional posts at extra cost off the patio for the roof was the choice with consideration given to the uncertainty of the cracking in the patio in less than a year.

I made a mistake in hiring for I should have not listened to his verbal promises, my time frame, and costs. More research should have been done on my part. This individual even brought a cement truck into the back through a small area between two houses after being told not to do so the day before. His excuse was he thought I meant only on the one side. This involved a safety issue in addition to the work and cost of repairing the lawn. His disclaimer in the contract for such costs were shown in his disregard to the property. In conclusion, since he is so proud of his final product, I'm sure it will become another reference for him for future clients. I do get the question, Who did this? A lack of professionalism is evidenced in the numerous examples cited.