Pigliavento Masonry & Concrete Coatings

In mid-June my wife informed me that we would be hosting my son’s graduation party on August 3, 2019. My heart sank because our 54 x 14 foot patio was not finished. One third had brick pavers that looked like it was turning into a lawn; one third had river stone that was hard to walk on and the other third was a bed of weeds.
My wife said, long ago, we should have someone stamp concrete the whole area and I finally gave in to her request. The east side of our future patio has an existing retaining wall and I had to build the south side retaining wall to support the new patio. We were half way done with the south wall when I called several masons to get quotes for the stamped concrete. A few masons never called me back. Others did not think I would be able to prep the area for the concrete.
The guy that gave me the first quote swore at me because I questioned his price. Jimmy gave me the second quote and said he would work with me on the price when I got the other quotes. By that line of reasoning, I figured Jimmy’s would be the highest. As it turned out his price was the lowest of the three quotes and I never heard back from the fourth contractor.
I could have pursued the fourth contractor to leverage Jimmy’s price but I knew he was the right guy for my job. Here is why. Jimmy actually told me to sit down and he explained to me all of the options that would work for my project. Then he gave me the pros and cons of each option. He took the time to explain to me what I did not know about concrete and the endless colors and patterns. I knew I was talking to a guy that took his trade seriously and knew he was the right guy for the job.
I held up my end of the deal and had the area prepared for concrete. The forms were in on the two sides that did not have a retaining wall. The area was graded and compacted with no. 1 stones with the wire mesh in place and tied together. All the requirements necessary to ensure a good foundation.
Jimmy stopped by to check on my progress and we picked a date to pour the concrete. The base color he picked worked perfect with the antiquing colors he later applied. The final color matched our retaining wall so well and he finished and sealed the concrete two weeks before our deadline! My wife and I could not be happier with Jimmy’s professionalism, his crew (3 generations of masons, including himself) and the work that was done to ensure our patio came out beautiful!
We had a great graduation party on our new patio and everyone was very complementary of the pattern and color choices. There is more work to be done on our property and we would not hesitate to hire Jimmy again! If you are reading this, know that Jimmy is the right guy for your job too!