MD Concrete, LLC

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2014/12/03) */
I'm sorry for my delayed response but I was on an end-of-the-season vacation and then my wife had an immediate scheduled surgery which demanded most of my time as a caregiver for her and our children.
I'm disappointed to hear of our...

customer's complaints. We highly value the opinions of our customers for they are our greatest assets due to receiving a large percentage of referred business.
Md Concrete has been in business since 1999. It's safe to say that we have had over 2000 customers from the Twin Cities metro area. As owners, Mike and I have been involved with every aspect of our business because we actually do the work! We are very proud of our service, product and value that we offer to our customers. The fact that we have had literally one other complaint out of 1000's is something to be said.

During the bid process, the customer mentioned how disappointed he was with his last concrete contractor for some other work he had done. The customer pointed out things he would have done differently. It was alarming to me but I thought we'd be the company that could provide him with full satisfaction.

The customer voiced his concern for the driveway slope the day after we initially graded and set the forms. I conceded, investing more time/money to touch up grading with 2 other workers and a loader ("bobcat") to help satisfy the customer's concern.
2 pre-existing conditions that make this job challenging are: 1) driveway is considered flat with little slope to work with considering the total length of the driveway and 2) the fact that the stoop/walk are higher than the garage floor.
In no way did I guarantee to the customer that there would be no ponding or slope issues for his new driveway. In fact, I did say it has its challenges.

Our contract is very clear that Md Concrete is not responsible for ponding or improper water shed.
"... Concrete slope, for water run-off,
may vary from non-existent to dramatic. In some circumstances, water ponding may occur. Slope shall be determined by Md Concrete, unless pre-existing conditions on the property dictate otherwise...."
A small chip on the concrete cut line for the garage floor patch did occur and was filled/finished like standard procedure. Considering the size of the chip and the fact that the whole floor was a patch job (only 18" x 20') we didn't feel it was warranted to re-cut the whole floor. The customer said "Ok" and he never spoke of it again until now. To clarify, this chip did not happen from the saw cutting but rather from removing the old partial garage floor. The particular area in question had unforeseen dense amount of rebar which wasn't consistent with the other side that we removed first. This unforeseen rebar and the fact that the old floor was poured into the foundation made it very difficult to remove, thus causing the two to pinch which resulted in the small chip.

The customer promptly paid in full as described which I do appreciate. As for the discrepancy on the stoop charge - The customer requested a last minute stoop design change after the stoop had already been prepared and formed. Not to mention, the concrete had already been ordered for the day. In a difficult position I wasn't able to give an exact amount for the change order but rather an estimate due to the charge being based on time and material. The customer's complaint of an added "surprise" charge of $50 isn't what he is trying to imply - that my word isn't good. I was fair.
Md Concrete had numerous opportunities to charge more for this particular job but never did in efforts to retain customer satisfaction. For example, we ran into significant difficulties in concrete removal of the stoop and garage floor patch. Both areas had "hidden conditions" - over 5" thickness in concrete, rebar and underpinning. This made the removal more costly - excavation cost and disposal fees as well as labor for added time.

Md Concrete's contract is clear about the added costs on "hidden conditions":
HIDDEN CONDITIONS. Md Concrete, LLC shall not be responsible for bearing added costs of the project due to the need to repair hidden, concealed or unforeseen conditions. For the purpose of this agreement, a hidden, concealed and unforeseeable condition shall mean a condition not readily observable when inspecting the property for the purpose of estimating and performing the work specified within the context of this Agreement. Examples of such .... overly thick concrete removal (over 5") or double layered asphalt driveways.... or any other unusual conditions that are beyond that which is specified in the Agreement....
Very important to note: it didn't help that the homeowner drove over and wrecked our driveway forms with his trailer. These forms were set to a specific height and straightness. The owner never informed us of his accident but rather left it to us to discover as we showed up to pour the driveway! Canceling the concrete order was not an option due to the time - thousands of dollars of concrete were "on the road". We did our best to re-set everything.
As much as I would like to make the customer completely satisfied I'm afraid it wouldn't be possible. Through various interactions with the customer during the job install I became keenly aware of his quest for perfection. He left me with the impression that he would rather do the work himself in effort to do it right.

In addition, If we were to redo a portion of the driveway we would still likely have the same issues due to the degree of flatness and that the stoop/walk are higher than the garage floor which are out of any contractors control.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2014/12/05) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I will address each of your comments as best as I can.
During the sales process, I also came to believe that MD Concrete was going to do the best out of all the contractors I interviewed. You are correct that I voiced my concern about MD concrete bringing in too much fill toward the middle of the driveway thus the top of the forms were about 3" above the initial grade at this mid-point. This resulted in the grade having more slope from the middle of the driveway to the end of the driveway and less slope from the garage to the middle of the driveway. As was mentioned by MD, the slope of the driveway is minimal which is why I expressed the concern a few days before the concreted arrived. It was good to see the contractors come back and pull out some of the fill, but after they left, I realized that they took fill out close to the house and left all the fill in the middle of the driveway which did nothing to improve the grading from the garage to the middle of the driveway. At that point, I figured they were professionals and they knew what they were doing. There certainly is grade from the garage to the middle of the driveway so as long as the top of the concrete is done correctly, it should have resulted in proper drainage. So, if the grading wasn't improved by the contractor then either the person I talked to didn't communicate what needed to be done to the workers or the workers didn't follow his instructions.
Regarding the chip that was caused and filled by MD concrete, although I asked for a new cut line to improve it, this is not what I am asking to have repaired. I can live with the level of quality that MD did to this portion although the quality would have been better if a new line had been cut. I hope it lasts.

I disagree with your comment about a "last minute" change on the forms for the stoop. I called the owner of the company over the weekend and asked for it days before the concrete arrived. Further, adding two short boards to the form reduced the amount of concrete needed for the stoop so there would not need to be any changes to the concrete ordering, so I'm not sure what point is trying to be made by that comment. On the phone I was told $200.00. Once I went to write the check as the crew was leaving the jobsite after the work was done, I was told $250.00. Once the contractor owner arrived to work on the change to the forms, I should have been told before the work was done that the cost was going to be $250. Again, I am not asking for any changes to this as I promptly paid the $250.00 change fee. It does seem excessive to charge that amount of money for 10 minutes of work to add two short boards to the existing forms, but again, I'm not contesting that service as that part of the project turned out just fine and I promptly paid the change fee.
I did accidentally knock the last 2 x 4 out of place and it had to be reset. Fortunately, it was only the one board that was at the end of the driveway approximately 50 feet away from the area that has problems and that task took less than 5 minutes. that area has proper draining just fine. Hopefully, this is not what is referred to by MD having chances to charge more but I guess so.
I take note with the comment about being unable to solve this problem. The only remediation I expect MD to do is to properly fix the concrete that was not poured properly and thus has water that is not draining properly. It can certainly be fixed and done correctly, but I believe MD is just choosing not to.
Also, I can be completely satisfied. I don't need to have the chip issue re-visited, I don't need to have the change fees revisited. the stoop turned out great. All I expect is that when I walk down the steps at the front of my house and garage, I'm not having to walk through a puddle of water. I expect that water will not flow into my garage when it rains. I expect that water is shed away from my home and garage properly. This is a basic expectation for anyone hiring a contractor to pour concrete around their home. Every concrete contractor knows that the surface needs to be sloped in such a fashion to properly drain water away from a structure and not toward it. This is what needs to be done to have the job performed properly.
As the oWner of MD Concrete mentioned, I expected MD concrete to do a proper job. Each and every person I know would expect to have the concrete graded properly so that water doesn't run into the garage and water doesn't turn into puddles at the bottom of the stairs where people have to walk to get into my front door. Again, I don't have a "quest for perfection" as I'm not contesting the chip in the garage or anything else that was performed.
Rather, I have an expectation that a very expensive job that I paid for is done correctly and I receive an expected product for which I paid. I truly thought that MD would be the professional contractor that would do it right, especially since I had other bids from other contractors that came in at a lower cost.
If the right portions of the driveway were re-poured and surfaced correctly, I'm sure the puddle of water can be fixed properly since going out with a level, one can see exactly what the problem is.
further, if MD had taken my advise and removed the excessive fill in the middle of the driveway as I suggested, an additional 3 inches of slope would have been available like the way it was with my old driveway surface in place. MD's choice to not do what I suggested contributed to the area being closer to flat than it needed to be.
I'm not expecting the stoop to be adjusted. The stoop is fine. Also, I would expect the stoop to be higher than the driveway since that's the purpose of the stoop which is to walk up the stairs to get into the house.
All of these issues were completely within the contractors control. They have a level to check the forms with, they have a string level to check the slope. They have the ability to remove or bring in fill as needed to get the proper slope. They have the ability to set the forms as needed to get things right, including lowering the stoop a bit (which they did and did well) or putting in thicker forms to give a 7-3/4" rise one the steps instead of the 7-1/4" rise which would have given an additional inch of slope to work with because there are two steps.
The entire situation was completely with the contractors control and the pour could have been done properly. They just simply made a mistake somewhere in there, it didn't get done right, and now I have water problems.
It's unacceptable and it needs to be fixed. Clearly, it can't be fixed until winter is over but I would expect MD Concreted to stand by their work. So far, I have heard no comments from MD to such.
Final Consumer Response /* (3000, 26, 2015/08/05) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
we have been unable to come to an agreed resolution as MD Concrete has been unable to state that any of the proposed adjustments will actually fix the problem. so we will most likely need to take it to mediation.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 31, 2015/08/10) */
At this time, we decline formal mediation due to being in mediation already for over 4 months. It feels as Mr. [redacted] is stonewalling the current mediation and we are exhausted.
Mr. [redacted] states that "MD Concrete has been unable to state that any of the proposed adjustments will actually fix the problem" is not only bizarre but proves his own stonewalling in mediation. Md Concrete's last statement, on 8/4/15, 3rd paragraph, (and numerous other times) states the preference to fixing his non-warranted complaint by doing option 1 - partial garage floor replacement.
Md Concrete is still willing to do the preferred option 1 (partial garage floor). To put his mind at ease, he could add a trench drain and daylight it out the side.
Initially, Mr. [redacted] suggested replacing 2 drive squares (option 2) after MD Concrete suggested their preference in option 1 (partial garage floor). MD Concrete agreed to add it to the options that he could choose from.
Mr. [redacted] chose option 2- replace 2 drive squares
Md Concrete agreed
Mr. [redacted] changed his mind
Md Concrete has gone above and beyond to entertain a non-warranted issue for Mr. [redacted]. We are sorry we can't come to a resolution.