1.We hired M&M Paving and Excavating on October 14, 2015 to tear out the old existing asphalt drive way and install a completely NEW, from base up, asphalt driveway and seal coat. The fee for this service was $14,916.20
2. The temperature during the date of installation was cool and went into the winter months without any evidence of serious issues other than some peripheral cracking along the outer edges and several more porous areas where the asphalt was stretched during application and left pock marks and deeper crevasses and not a tight smooth texture as in other areas. No evidence of crumbling or chunking off was noted through the winter months.
3. On May 19, 2016, M&M Paving and Excavating applied the seal coat manufactured by Star Seal of PA. It was applied by spray on the driveway. The job at first appeared to be clean and evenly sprayed and we complimented M&M Paving and Excavating in an e-mail at the worker’s diligence and care in the application process.
4. After waiting approximately a week before using the driveway we noticed several porous and uneven discolorations from both the base not being sealed tightly in some areas, but tight in others, to the substantial discoloration after any water from rain or hose was applied. The areas were large and consumed the better part of the entire driveway turning light gray, brown and other stained colors.
5. After contacting the M&M Paving and Excavating employee that applied the seal coat and explaining the situation he agreed to come back and hand apply the seal coat to attempt to fill in the porous and stained areas. This was on or about June 2, 2016. M&M Paving and Excavating went over the better part of the driveway and improved upon the shallow coverage that had been a concern.
6. After waiting an additional 2 weeks from the second application, placing us a total of a month after the first application, we began to bring our vehicles back to our driveway from our neighbor’s driveway where they had been kept the entire month during this seal coat process.
7. Once we began using the driveway, on June 21, 2016, while attempting to back up and go forward from a stopped position in the middle location of the driveway, we witnessed a substantial amount of both seal coat and aggregate chunking off from the asphalt and sticking to the back tires of the vehicle and leaving a .2 - .5 inch deep rut in the general shape of the tires on both sides approximately 10” x 8” in size. We inspected our other two vehicles where they had been parked overnight and discovered upon attempting to move them as well the same issue. Our three different vehicles are; Dodge ram truck, Chrysler T&C minivan and Ford Fusion. None of these areas of chunking off aggregate locations were a result of front tire power steering rotation as clearly seen in the attached images.
8. We contacted M&M Paving and Excavating immediately and scheduled a face to face meeting with Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating. After his review of the problem areas, he acknowledged that this was not something a power steering rotation could have caused and claimed that in his opinion it appears to be a “seal coat issue”. At that time he said “let’s see if this happens again” and in the meantime he would contact his supplier Jeremy, General Manager of Star Seal of PA, and bring him out to see the situation.
9. Approximately 10 days later both Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating and Jeremy, General Manager of Star Seal, came out to inspect these holes and areas where the aggregate was coming up. Neither of them could conclude what happened and were indeterminate and stated that they had not seen this before. They both claimed that all materials were inspected and met criteria and required stats for the state. Jeremy stated that he would prepare a special mix to use to patch the problem areas which at that time were 12 areas of concern. Eddie M[redacted] stated that he will continue to back his product.
10. Not long after that meeting we experienced more of the same chunking off of the seal coat and aggregate sticking to the tires of every car that came into the driveway or parked through any of the recent hot days of the month of July. We contacted Eddie M[redacted] once again and asked him to inspect the more recent and continuing issue. We met and it was at that time we also noticed cracking and sinking in the upper part of our driveway, an area of approximately an 8’ x 10’ area. He identified a possible issue with the base stone that was used not being supportive enough and that if that continued he would have to come in and cut that area out and replace it.
He also informed us that Jeremy of Star Seal sent him an e-mail that stated he felt that the issue with my driveway was not a seal coat issue and was a much deeper issue with the base asphalt. We were shown that e-mail by Eddie M[redacted] along with other problem residential homes where Eddie M[redacted] claimed the seal coat was discoloring and chunking up just as it was in our driveway.
We reviewed the photos from Eddie M[redacted]’s phone and saw a variety of issues. Eddie M[redacted] stated that he was upset that Jeremy from Star Seal was backing off from liability but assured us that we don’t have to worry because he will back the work regardless. We expressed our sympathy for his situation but reminded him that we paid him and trust that be will be a man of his word.
11. At that time we agreed, that as long as the condition did not continue, the M&M Paving and Excavating would repair the problem areas based on assuming this was not a systemic condition that will continue to occur for the life of the driveway, according to Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating, that would be 18 years.
12. On August 6-7, 2016 we had identified yet again several more uprooting of aggregate sticking to the tires of our vehicles and other visitor vehicles that were at our home over that weekend. Once again large areas were deeply uprooted and left behind black oily substance below the surface of the aggregate well below the seal coat. We promptly contacted Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating via e-mail explaining that the problem continues to get worse and spreading throughout the entire driveway and provided photos of the recent damage to the driveway. I informed him that we would no longer consider this a problem resolved by simply patching over 2 dozen holes displaced throughout our driveway thus far. We asked that he put his prior promise in writing to us regarding any and all necessary repair or replacement. He refused to comply.
13. Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating stated in his reply the following:
I do not agree with you in regards to the driveway being “flawed”. The issues you describe are all related to the seal coat and are strictly cosmetic and do not affect the integrity or quality of the driveway paving. We purchase our seal coat from a third party and we have not encountered a seal coat issue such as this previously. We recognize that there appears to be an issue with the seal coat during periods of extremely hot weather. Our opinion is that as the sealer ages, the situation will improve.
14. We responded with how disappointed we were with his change in agreement and distancing from accountability and attempt to discount the severity of the actual real evidence that he saw firsthand and continued to be provided.
15. We expressed in a final e-mail to Eddie M[redacted] that it is unacceptable to think a customer who has paid almost $15,000 for a NEW driveway should be expected to accept an endless occurrence of potholes and crumbling aggregate on a driveway less than a year old, let alone the horrific staining and uneven seal coat appearance. We stated that his offer to simply patch over the existing pot holes and crumbling aggregate then spraying additional sealer next year was totally unacceptable and that the entire driveway base clearly has proven now, since the October 2015 installation, that when subject to hotter temperatures a systemic problem exists within the base aggregate asphalt.
16. We informed Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating that we would be filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s office of Consumer Protection and if that does not resolve the matter to our satisfaction that we would pursue any and all legal remedies to resolve this issue.
We have received a response from the AG office of Consumer Protection with M&M's response. Once again M&M refusing to acknowledge the structural failure of the asphalt and demonstrates their continual insistence to pass the buck to the sealcoat (which they applied and was paid for) that the issues are nothing more than cosmetic and the fault of the seal coat supplier to them Star Seal. The photographic and in person evidence is abundant and continues to evolve as the driveway continues to CRACK all the way down the center as one half of the full length of the lower half of the 70" section is sinking on one side.
We have the testimonial of other asphalt pavers in our area and the seal coat company Star Seal assuring us that in NO way possible could what is happening to our less than one year old driveway when these problems began to our driveway, be the cause of any water bases seal coat.
Furthermore we have testimonials from other pavers that the collapse of the upper 20x30 section with cracking everywhere, uprooting of half inch chunks of aggregate from the pavement sticking to our tires ripping up leaving potholes and uncured oil on all of our vehicles tires as well as the sinking of one side of our driveway down the long section of the driveway has nothing to do with sealcoat and that patching and reseal coating will only mask the continues degradation and collapse of the insufficiently and improperly packed and installed driveway.
We will now be forced to pursue M&M through legal remedies and an attorney for filing in the court of Common Plea as a result of M&M's refusal to take responsibility and re pave a clearly systemically failed driveway reimbursement us for a failed job.
We feel it is our responsibility to make sure that consumers are warned of this companies response and business practices in our case.
for more details and photographic evidence of the failed work M&M has done please view our photo bucket http://s165.photobucket.com/user/edbeardjr/library/M%20and%20M%20Asphalt%20and%2...⇄
1.We hired M&M Paving and Excavating on October 14, 2015 to tear out the old existing asphalt drive way and install a completely NEW, from base up, asphalt driveway and seal coat. The fee for this service was $14,916.20
2. The temperature during the date of installation was cool and went into the winter months without any evidence of serious issues other than some peripheral cracking along the outer edges and several more porous areas where the asphalt was stretched during application and left pock marks and deeper crevasses and not a tight smooth texture as in other areas. No evidence of crumbling or chunking off was noted through the winter months.
3. On May 19, 2016, M&M Paving and Excavating applied the seal coat manufactured by Star Seal of PA. It was applied by spray on the driveway. The job at first appeared to be clean and evenly sprayed and we complimented M&M Paving and Excavating in an e-mail at the worker’s diligence and care in the application process.
4. After waiting approximately a week before using the driveway we noticed several porous and uneven discolorations from both the base not being sealed tightly in some areas, but tight in others, to the substantial discoloration after any water from rain or hose was applied. The areas were large and consumed the better part of the entire driveway turning light gray, brown and other stained colors.
5. After contacting the M&M Paving and Excavating employee that applied the seal coat and explaining the situation he agreed to come back and hand apply the seal coat to attempt to fill in the porous and stained areas. This was on or about June 2, 2016. M&M Paving and Excavating went over the better part of the driveway and improved upon the shallow coverage that had been a concern.
6. After waiting an additional 2 weeks from the second application, placing us a total of a month after the first application, we began to bring our vehicles back to our driveway from our neighbor’s driveway where they had been kept the entire month during this seal coat process.
7. Once we began using the driveway, on June 21, 2016, while attempting to back up and go forward from a stopped position in the middle location of the driveway, we witnessed a substantial amount of both seal coat and aggregate chunking off from the asphalt and sticking to the back tires of the vehicle and leaving a .2 - .5 inch deep rut in the general shape of the tires on both sides approximately 10” x 8” in size. We inspected our other two vehicles where they had been parked overnight and discovered upon attempting to move them as well the same issue. Our three different vehicles are; Dodge ram truck, Chrysler T&C minivan and Ford Fusion. None of these areas of chunking off aggregate locations were a result of front tire power steering rotation as clearly seen in the attached images.
8. We contacted M&M Paving and Excavating immediately and scheduled a face to face meeting with Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating. After his review of the problem areas, he acknowledged that this was not something a power steering rotation could have caused and claimed that in his opinion it appears to be a “seal coat issue”. At that time he said “let’s see if this happens again” and in the meantime he would contact his supplier Jeremy, General Manager of Star Seal of PA, and bring him out to see the situation.
9. Approximately 10 days later both Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating and Jeremy, General Manager of Star Seal, came out to inspect these holes and areas where the aggregate was coming up. Neither of them could conclude what happened and were indeterminate and stated that they had not seen this before. They both claimed that all materials were inspected and met criteria and required stats for the state. Jeremy stated that he would prepare a special mix to use to patch the problem areas which at that time were 12 areas of concern. Eddie M[redacted] stated that he will continue to back his product.
10. Not long after that meeting we experienced more of the same chunking off of the seal coat and aggregate sticking to the tires of every car that came into the driveway or parked through any of the recent hot days of the month of July. We contacted Eddie M[redacted] once again and asked him to inspect the more recent and continuing issue. We met and it was at that time we also noticed cracking and sinking in the upper part of our driveway, an area of approximately an 8’ x 10’ area. He identified a possible issue with the base stone that was used not being supportive enough and that if that continued he would have to come in and cut that area out and replace it.
He also informed us that Jeremy of Star Seal sent him an e-mail that stated he felt that the issue with my driveway was not a seal coat issue and was a much deeper issue with the base asphalt. We were shown that e-mail by Eddie M[redacted] along with other problem residential homes where Eddie M[redacted] claimed the seal coat was discoloring and chunking up just as it was in our driveway.
We reviewed the photos from Eddie M[redacted]’s phone and saw a variety of issues. Eddie M[redacted] stated that he was upset that Jeremy from Star Seal was backing off from liability but assured us that we don’t have to worry because he will back the work regardless. We expressed our sympathy for his situation but reminded him that we paid him and trust that be will be a man of his word.
11. At that time we agreed, that as long as the condition did not continue, the M&M Paving and Excavating would repair the problem areas based on assuming this was not a systemic condition that will continue to occur for the life of the driveway, according to Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating, that would be 18 years.
12. On August 6-7, 2016 we had identified yet again several more uprooting of aggregate sticking to the tires of our vehicles and other visitor vehicles that were at our home over that weekend. Once again large areas were deeply uprooted and left behind black oily substance below the surface of the aggregate well below the seal coat. We promptly contacted Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating via e-mail explaining that the problem continues to get worse and spreading throughout the entire driveway and provided photos of the recent damage to the driveway. I informed him that we would no longer consider this a problem resolved by simply patching over 2 dozen holes displaced throughout our driveway thus far. We asked that he put his prior promise in writing to us regarding any and all necessary repair or replacement. He refused to comply.
13. Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating stated in his reply the following:
I do not agree with you in regards to the driveway being “flawed”. The issues you describe are all related to the seal coat and are strictly cosmetic and do not affect the integrity or quality of the driveway paving. We purchase our seal coat from a third party and we have not encountered a seal coat issue such as this previously. We recognize that there appears to be an issue with the seal coat during periods of extremely hot weather. Our opinion is that as the sealer ages, the situation will improve.
14. We responded with how disappointed we were with his change in agreement and distancing from accountability and attempt to discount the severity of the actual real evidence that he saw firsthand and continued to be provided.
15. We expressed in a final e-mail to Eddie M[redacted] that it is unacceptable to think a customer who has paid almost $15,000 for a NEW driveway should be expected to accept an endless occurrence of potholes and crumbling aggregate on a driveway less than a year old, let alone the horrific staining and uneven seal coat appearance. We stated that his offer to simply patch over the existing pot holes and crumbling aggregate then spraying additional sealer next year was totally unacceptable and that the entire driveway base clearly has proven now, since the October 2015 installation, that when subject to hotter temperatures a systemic problem exists within the base aggregate asphalt.
16. We informed Eddie M[redacted] of M&M Paving and Excavating that we would be filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s office of Consumer Protection and if that does not resolve the matter to our satisfaction that we would pursue any and all legal remedies to resolve this issue.
We have received a response from the AG office of Consumer Protection with M&M's response. Once again M&M refusing to acknowledge the structural failure of the asphalt and demonstrates their continual insistence to pass the buck to the sealcoat (which they applied and was paid for) that the issues are nothing more than cosmetic and the fault of the seal coat supplier to them Star Seal. The photographic and in person evidence is abundant and continues to evolve as the driveway continues to CRACK all the way down the center as one half of the full length of the lower half of the 70" section is sinking on one side.
We have the testimonial of other asphalt pavers in our area and the seal coat company Star Seal assuring us that in NO way possible could what is happening to our less than one year old driveway when these problems began to our driveway, be the cause of any water bases seal coat.
Furthermore we have testimonials from other pavers that the collapse of the upper 20x30 section with cracking everywhere, uprooting of half inch chunks of aggregate from the pavement sticking to our tires ripping up leaving potholes and uncured oil on all of our vehicles tires as well as the sinking of one side of our driveway down the long section of the driveway has nothing to do with sealcoat and that patching and reseal coating will only mask the continues degradation and collapse of the insufficiently and improperly packed and installed driveway.
We will now be forced to pursue M&M through legal remedies and an attorney for filing in the court of Common Plea as a result of M&M's refusal to take responsibility and re pave a clearly systemically failed driveway reimbursement us for a failed job.
We feel it is our responsibility to make sure that consumers are warned of this companies response and business practices in our case.
for more details and photographic evidence of the failed work M&M has done please view our photo bucket
http://s165.photobucket.com/user/edbeardjr/library/M%20and%20M%20Asphalt%20and%2...⇄