Nathaniel Smith-General Contractor

Review: We had our front porch redone with concrete & a back patio with concrete & brick put in. The expansion joint lines that Nate put in are crooked on the front and back patio & the front porch was not pitched properly and we have water that puddles on the porch after each rain that sits even the next day which we were told would not happen. We've tried contacting Nate several times and he tells us the "job is done" and we are over analyzing and unsatisfiable and he will not come out to look or even try to resolve the issues. Nate has a very bad attitute and gets very hostile if you question his work. Also On day 1 when Nate was measuring and mapping out our back patio. I asked him if that was the correct size and he said yes. I said it seems smaller because my husband and I measured it out a couple times before he came and it seemed like Nates measurement was smaller. He said it was right and then finally re-measured his initial markings and found he was 8" short. If I hadn't said anything we would have had an improper sized patio. Not sure if that was deliberate or not.When Nate came to gives us an estimate he said he would fix the mortar on our existing back cement porch as well as pressure wash the entire porch as a throw in for free and did not do this. He told the guys just to do the front of the porch that meets with the new patio. I guess because he was angry at us for questioning his work he did not do the extras he promised. Also, when his guys drove the truck on our lawn after the rain and sunk down a big area of the dirt/ground, Nate said he would bring some dirt to fill that it in as well as bring dirt that he needed to fill in around the edges of the cement patio that he installed for us. The problem is that the dirt that he brought was NOT clean fill as we discovered when we tried to put grass seed down. The dirt he brought was full of rocks/debris so we had to spend a day digging out all the rocks and debris just so we could put seed down to grow. I dont know why would choose to give you product like that knowing full well that you would not be able to grow grass on it except for the fact it was cheap for him and a short cut. Obviously he never told us we would get dirt with rocks/debris when he secured the job or we would have not taken his business.Desired Settlement: Either have Nate come out and fix the problems listed above or get a refund to have another contractor come out and fix the problems.

Business

Response:

Response to Complaint #[redacted]

Inboxx

Jul 15 (1 day ago)

to me

Good Afternoon **. [redacted],

I am submitting the attached response to complaint #[redacted] on behalf of Nathaniel Smith. Please note a hard copy of this response has been mailed to you as well.

Thank you and have a wonderful day!

Best,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

I am replying below to Nate Smith Contracting response to our concerns.

In regards to #1. We did not complain about the control joint AFTER completion of work. We saw after it was done by Nate that the control joint lines were CROOKED. We did not know Nate had left our property and we asked his guys if Nate would be back because we had an issue with the lines. The guys said they were not sure. We waited a bit and then asked the guys if they heard from Nate and if he was coming back and they said he was not coming back again that day. We immediately called Nate and got his voicemail and left a message. I also emailed him with pictures of the crooked lines and I sent him a text at which point 3 hours later he called us back with an attitude and said he would fix the lines the next day with some type of saw. The next day Nate came, looked at the front porch, shook his head and went out back where his guys were working on the patio. He told his guys to do a good job because he didn't want to hear anymore crying and complaining. Nate then left and came back at the end of the day. My husband and I came out back and said hi which we got a cold response and Nate was slamming his tools all over and was visibly annoyed. We then went inside and then we saw him getting ready to sneak out and leave without talking to us about the patio issue and Nate was very defensive, angry and told us he did a grade A job not A_+ and its not a masterpiece its just concrete. We went back and forth about the issue and Nate would just stare at the ground, no eye contact and said he did the best he could, it was a hard job and he was exhasted and worried about being crippled (whatever that meant). He knew what the job was when he gave the quote.

In regards to #2 - It did not rain until approximately a week after so who could I know about puddling issues before that? Nate told us there was NO puddling issues so we assumed he did a water test on it but obviously not. We never had puddling issues on the tiled porch prior so it is definately a defect in his work that there is an issue now. I immediatley sent Nate emails and pictures of the puddling and my concerns which he ignored for several days before leaving a rude voicemail that " you're gonna get puddles when it rains and that we are unsatisfiable and the job is done".

Nate says he came to the house to view the puddles which he did not. I work overnight and I am home all day. The living room and front windows face the front porch so I would have seen him if he showed up. Even if he did show up (which he didn't), would you ask a "professional" business man knock on the door to speak to me/us or call and email us that you were here? Or call ahead of time to say you were coming?

In regards to #3 - Nate never mentioned he was making the patio bigger at no charge (had no idea until now that it was bigger). The only thing he mentioned was a different way to set the pattern then how my husband and I discussed prior.

In regards to # 4 - These items were throw ins when Nate gave us our quote as a way to try to guarantee business. Nate said he would pressure wash the entire back porch, top and sides and he only did the front part facing the patio. He also said he would fill in the long space along the top of the patio with mortar which he did not. With regards to "trash/debris removal". He did not remove any trash from our house unless it was his or his workers. We did ask him if he could take some cinder blocks that we had behind our shed and we WOULD PAY HIM which he refused and said he could use most of it and WE carried the cinder blocks to his truck not him. The dirt fill was more of ROCK FILL. Totally full of rocks that his guys hid under a layer of dirt on top. It wasn't until after when we tried to put grass down and started raking that we saw all the rocks and had to pull them out. bags full.

I also emailed Nate several times 05/22 & 05/23 to provide us with work guarantee which he will not and ignores our emails and texts. He told us when he came for the quote that his work is guaranteed and now he wants not parts of it.

Nate says we were satisfied with everything but in fact several of the issues did not come up until after the fact which is not our fault.

Nate is very unprofessional and has a bad temper. He had to "walk away from the conversation" and he left our home. We were both nervous with him on the encounter that we had with him that I spoke about above.

Also, want to mention the back patio lines were crooked as well.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Response to Claim #[redacted]

Inboxx

Jul 26 (3 days ago)

to me, nate

Good Evening **. [redacted],

I have attached Nathaniel Smith's response to the rebuttal made by [redacted] regarding claim #[redacted].

Thank you and please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Best,