LaValley Home Care

While I truly regret that [redacted] is unhappy with the state of his project, I think it’s important to point out a few things. When he contacted me about his issue more than two years after the warranty period had expired, I happily agreed to come out and see what the problem might be and... if I could help with any remedy (at no cost). On my first visit, I agreed with [redacted] that the sand-colored appearance of random areas of the border was unusual – something I had not encountered in my more than 20 years of doing this work. [redacted] was incredulous that I didn’t have a ready answer for the problem, and my lack of an immediate answer seemed to sow a seed of distrust with him. I gathered from his complaint that he suspected I knew the answer to be defective material and/or workmanship, but was withholding information to protect myself. This distrust seemed to grow throughout our dealings, and is what ultimately brought my efforts to remedy his problem to a halt. I volunteered to research the project logs to review exactly what processes we had used and to see if there was anything unusual or revelatory during the original installation, but found nothing. I then proposed that we do some experimental samples on the stained areas to find a remedy, and I visited the site six times over the next several weeks working on a variety of approaches. My foreman and I settled on a method and scheduled the crew in to try it ( [redacted] was aware that they were coming). I dispute [redacted] ***’s claim that the power washing we did to prepare for the treatment caused a deterioration in the concrete’s appearance. Power washing is a routine part of the cleaning we do to any concrete before staining and/or sealing, and my crew is very skilled at doing it. But I do agree that the results of this first effort to remedy the problem were not exactly what we expected and did not yield a satisfactory result. [redacted] ***’s assessment was more strongly worded - “ghastly and amateurish”. So, we scheduled the crew in again to remove what had been done and to try a slightly different method. When we arrived on site, [redacted] was adamant that what I was now proposing would likely do more harm than good, and was not interested in allowing any additional effort from us. In an attempt to address his concerns that the underlying product (concrete) was defective, I provided him all of the supplier information ( [redacted] ) with a contact for their Quality Control division so he could have an unbiased second opinion on both the material and workmanship, but he refused to look into that. In closing, this was a cosmetic issue most likely related to exposure that I was willing to continue working on until I could get it resolved, but the client closed the door on those efforts. I considered my willingness to work with this customer at no cost well after the warranty had expired to be a sign of good faith, but enjoyed no courtesy from the client that I would need to fit this work into my existing, busy schedule. I also dispute his assertion that the crew arrived unannounced for work – he was well aware before the start of either effort. Ultimately, while I would have been happy to continue to work with the customer to try to address this issue, I found it unreasonable to remove and replace a structurally sound driveway, or to provide the requested 50% refund, and despite my best reasonable efforts I could not make him happy. He has chosen to live with the product as it now is, and given his lack of trust in my ability to satisfy him, I must leave it that way. I am offering no refund for this work.

While I truly regret that [redacted] is unhappy with the
state of his project, I think it’s important to point out a few things.  When he contacted me about his issue more
than two years after the warranty period had expired, I happily agreed to come
out and see what the problem might be and...

if I could help with any remedy (at
no cost).
On my first visit, I agreed with [redacted] that the
sand-colored appearance of random areas of the border was unusual – something I
had not encountered in my more than 20 years of doing this work.  [redacted] was incredulous that I didn’t have
a ready answer for the problem, and my lack of an immediate answer seemed to sow
a seed of distrust with him.  I gathered
from his complaint that he suspected I knew the answer to be defective material
and/or workmanship, but was withholding information to protect myself.  This distrust seemed to grow throughout our
dealings, and is what ultimately brought my efforts to remedy his problem to a
halt.
I volunteered to research the project logs to review exactly
what processes we had used and to see if there was anything unusual or
revelatory during the original installation, but found nothing.  I then proposed that we do some experimental
samples on the stained areas to find a remedy, and I visited the site six times
over the next several weeks working on a variety of approaches.  My foreman and I settled on a method and
scheduled the crew in to try it ([redacted] was aware that they were coming).
I dispute [redacted]’s claim that the power washing we did to
prepare for the treatment caused a deterioration in the concrete’s
appearance.  Power washing is a routine
part of the cleaning we do to any concrete before staining and/or sealing, and
my crew is very skilled at doing it. But I do agree that the results of this
first effort to remedy the problem were not exactly what we expected and did
not yield a satisfactory result.  [redacted]’s assessment was more strongly worded - “ghastly and amateurish”.  So, we scheduled the crew in again to remove
what had been done and to try a slightly different method.  When we arrived on site, [redacted] was adamant
that what I was now proposing would likely do more harm than good, and was not
interested in allowing any additional effort from us. 
In an attempt to address his concerns that the underlying product
(concrete) was defective, I provided him all of the supplier information
([redacted]) with a contact for their Quality Control division so he
could have an unbiased second opinion on both the material and workmanship, but
he refused to look into that.
In closing, this was a cosmetic issue most likely related to
exposure that I was willing to continue working on until I could get it
resolved, but the client closed the door on those efforts.  I considered my willingness to work with this
customer at no cost well after the warranty had expired to be a sign of good
faith, but enjoyed no courtesy from the client that I would need to fit this
work into my existing, busy schedule.  I
also dispute his assertion that the crew arrived unannounced for work – he was
well aware before the start of either effort. 
Ultimately, while I would have been happy to continue to work with the
customer to try to address this issue, I found it unreasonable to remove and
replace a structurally sound driveway, or to provide the requested 50% refund, and
despite my best reasonable efforts I could not make him happy.  He has chosen to live with the product as it now is, and given his lack of trust in my ability to satisfy him, I must leave it that way.  I am offering no refund for this work.