H & H Concrete on Demand

Review: A good business does what they say they will do and when it doesn’t go as planned they work to find resolution. Without integrity, there is no good business. I hired H&H Pool Deck Inc. (a part of H&H concrete) to demo and re-do my concrete deck around my in ground pool. Over the years it had buckled, cracked and pulled away from the coping of the pool but it took upwards of 20yrs for the movement to occur. H&H came highly recommended by several experts in the field so I felt good about my decision. [redacted] was very patient with my many questions and concerns particularly regarding what measures were they going to put in place to help ensure the stability of the deck…its costs $9200 which is my savings hence my valid concerns and questions. A good deal of my yard had a slope to it and [redacted] ensured me that they were going to build the footings and the turndowns (pardon my lack of appropriate words and descriptions!) long enough so that it would be stable, and while you can’t completely avoid potential ground movement, it would help minimize the chance of deck movement. The slope was very significant in grade and along the entire back side of my pool, and I asked on more than one occasion, and was ensured that it would be built appropriately to accommodate the slope effectively. I made the mistake of not getting specifics in writing. Aside from [redacted] and I having a different definition of the word “completion” in the statement “due on completion”, the project went smoothly and efficiently. The work occurred in Dec 2014. The deck began moving and pulling away from the coping in March of 2015, 3 months later.

While I know there is no warranty covering ground movement, I didn’t expect to see that the footing/turndowns etc. were not built according to what I was told it would be. The movement of my deck occurred along the very edges of the pool where my yard had the significant slope. I immediately called [redacted] with my concerns. Here’s where H&H began practicing, in my opinion, bad business.

[redacted] was initially responsive to my concern, stating he would come out and take a look. I specifically asked to be present. At no time in a 3 week time period did [redacted] make an effort to meet me at my house. I don’t even know if he actually went over to see what I was concerned about. Very rarely did he even call me back. (Only twice during the 3 week period). On the rare occasion when I actually got a hold of [redacted], he was pleasant and again made empty promises of hearing my concerns as I was requesting, specifically to have someone come and look at the work while I was present. The conversations we did have focused on my lack of soil stability vs. my concern of the work that had been done. I asked specifically about the footing/turndowns etc. and he assured me that they were done exactly as he said they would be, long enough to accommodate my slope.

Over the 3 week period that I was trying to get answers from [redacted], I obtained several other visual inspections by experts in the field and the consensus was that the footings/turndowns weren’t built adequately to accommodate my slope, and most importantly the deck should certainly not be moving after 3 months. What H&H did instead of what they said they would do, it appears that they dumped several truckloads of dirt in my yard in attempt to accommodate the slope. I myself was able to pull the dirt away from the edge of my pool and easily see that the footing/turndown was not long enough at all.

Finally after 3 weeks of nearly daily phone calls and voicemails to [redacted], He sent [redacted] out to meet me at my house. I showed [redacted] the inadequate footing/turndown and he proceeded to tell me that it was built to spec. I explained that wasn’t what I was told it would be; I was told it would be sufficient enough to accommodate my slope and clearly it wasn’t. Plain as day it was too short.

[redacted] continued to try to tell me it wasn’t what caused the movement of my deck. I attempted to explain that the work that was done wasn’t what [redacted] assured me it would be. The footing/turndown was to be longer. While it might not have been the direct cause of the deck movement, according to the other experts I had look at it, it was a definite contributing factor to the movement of my deck and bottom line, it wasn’t built the way it was supposed to be built.

I did believe H&H Pool Deck Inc. was a good company, even good companies make mistakes. The fact that they didn’t own up to not doing what they said they were going to do, as well as their lack of effort to address my concerns, or find a workable resolution, makes for very bad business practice. H&H Pool Deck Inc rides on the “no warranty for ground movement” statement; that ensures that they can’t be held accountable for poor workmanship. I will no longer recommend H&H in fact I will make sure to tell anyone that asks me, be sure NOT to use H&H. I am sure this one complaint on the Revdex.com site won’t hurt their business but if it keeps even one person from using them it will have served some purpose.Desired Settlement: Unfortunately there isn't a way to "fix" the problem other than to start over.

Revdex.com

Response:

The turndown beam in question here is not installed as a support beam but rather as a way tocontain the cushion sand underneath the concrete. The out edge of much of the pool deck isdouble-formed for added thickness. The problem here is that the entire deck has "raised up"about%" at the coping(inner part of the deck next to the pool)evenly including where there isno added thickness at the edge. The problem is ground swelling, likely associated with all of thesaturation from the amount of rain this year. Concrete does not raise on its own. The deckfinish is far above average and amazingly has no cracks from the ground movement. In thisindustry we have few options of control over ground movement. There are companies in thearea that specialize in a procedure known as soil injection which is very costly and warrantiedfor five years with and only up to one inch movement. This deck has only raised about%". Ihave seen many cases in which the heavily saturated soil dries out and the concrete sits backdown. This is definitely not uncommon. It is highly possible that if it were removed andreplaced at this time it could settle or even raise more. I inquired as to the other "experts inthe field" warranty on ground movement and the answer was none. [redacted] offered to have thecoping raised to meet the concrete at our cost, which is the most cost effective procedure tohave the two surfaces even. This would be a mistake to do until we were sure that the soil haddried enough to be stable. I would recommend giving a sufficient amount of time to allow theground to dry out and see if it moves again. Then assess the situation and look at alternatives.At this time, there is a concern of communication. There seems to have been responses to textmessages as well as phone calls, but apparently not sufficient to meet the customers concerns.[redacted] did visit the job and took pictures but did not arrange a meeting which could possibly haveprevented the complaint from escalating to this point. We have never turned our back on anissue and it is very important for us to do everything within reason to resolve the problem.The "no warranty for ground movement" clause on the contract is not to insure that we cannotbe held accountable for poor workmanship. The reason for the statement is that this Texas soilis known for expansion and contraction. This is an occurrence that we have no control over.Especially through periods of extreme rain and drought.This is an unfortunate situation for both parties involved but hopefully it can be resolved tomeet reasonable expectations for both sides.

Consumer

Response:

Thank you [redacted], for your response. Your integrity has been obvious throughout the process and I appreciate that. You are correct in that the turndown beam isn’t installed as a support beam, my exact concern. However, the initial conversations I had with [redacted] revolved around what measures were going to be put in place to maximize stability and support of the deck. We talked about ground movement as well at that time. On more than one occasion, we talked about the challenges of the fence side of the pool deck as well as the diving board area and the need for more stabilization in those areas. I was ensured by [redacted] that the footing, turndown beam (I don't speak contractor speak) was going to be down to undisturbed ground to ensure enough "stability" on that side of the deck. I asked him on more than one occasion if that was indeed how it was going to be constructed and I was ensured that it was. The other contractor that I almost went with (happens to be my neighbor and has been in the cement business for 50+yrs and has a very stable pool deck that hasn't moved in over 40 yrs...) came over while the project was in process. Talked to the guy in charge (can't remember his name but he was Hispanic and was difficult to communicate with) about the footing on the fence side of the pool. They walked over there and had discussions about what was going to happen, talking specifically about what that side of the deck needed for support. I was appreciative of this as he was able to speak "contract" speak in a manner that I could not. He said that "guy in charge" said they had a plan to build the footing appropriately. When I contacted [redacted] about the deck moving I asked him about the footing on the fence side and he assured me again and even said "down to undisturbed ground". I tried to get [redacted] over there so that we could look at it together but I was unable to get that accomplished. You finally came over and saw it with your own eyes and could see that it wasn't that way at all.

The entire deck is not moving by the way. The majority of the house side of the deck is flush, intact as it should be. The movement starts as you move towards the fence side and around those corners as well as the diving board end, which had the same landscaping challenges as the fence side did and was supposed to have the stability built in as well. How do you define a sufficient amount of time to allow the deck to settle back down into place? Over that same amount of time, it could get worse.

I know there is no warranty for ground movement and I also know that what [redacted] said would happen in the construction process didn't happen. He continued to tell me it occurred the way he said it would after it started moving but would not come over to actually look at it with me. (I wonder why) In talking with my contractor neighbor, and others, I am in the process of getting bids to put some things in place to keep it from getting worse until I can afford to have it re-done. When you offer your life savings (I know, $9200 isn't a lot to some folks but it literally was my life savings....) you expect to get what you pay for.