Shades of Color, Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/22) */
Shades of Color completed a stamped concrete restoration project on a backyard patio with connecting sidewalk to the driveway at homeowner's home in October In April 2013, the homeowner notified Shades of Color that he had noticed air
bubbles and product peeling in several areas of his sidewalk*** *** ***, Vice President of Shades of Color, inspected the areas and repairs were completed in July
On March 27, the homeowner emailed *** *** asking him to stop by and render his professional opinion about the area on the sidewalk in front of the gate that was repaired and the subsequent deterioration*** *** replied by email to the homeowner that same day and told him he would get by to take a lookOn March 30th, *** *** stopped by to inspect the area and determined that a to square foot area of the sidewalk outside the gate needed to be touched-up, which is not unusual in a high traffic area adjacent to a garage after 2-1/years*** *** left a business card in the homeowner's front door when no one answered the doorbell
On May 27, the homeowner again emailed *** *** asking when he would be by to inspect the problem areas on the sidewalkOn June 4th, *** *** replied that he, in fact, had stopped by in March and the touch-ups of the area between the gate and driveway were on the scheduleThe homeowner wrote back that same day informing *** *** he had just filed a complaint with the Revdex.comOn June 5th, *** *** emailed the homeowner to schedule a time to meet to inspect the areas of concern
*** *** met with the homeowner on June 10, to inspect and investigate the problem areasThere are no product or failure problems with the finish on the backyard patioThe homeowner's area of concern is isolated to the sidewalk connecting the backyard patio and drivewayAs previously stated, Shades of Color had made repairs in on the sidewalk and, up to this point, the homeowner's emails only referenced the repairs made to the sidewalk in front of the gate at the drivewayThe June 10th meeting was the first time the sidewalk behind the gate was brought to our attention as a problem
It is *** ***'s opinion that the deterioration of the sidewalk finish is due to excessive moisture underneath and around the sidewalkThe homeowner's sidewalk is properly graded to pitch water away from the foundation of the house, however, his neighbor's house is close by and the neighbor's downspouts shed water run-off directly onto the ground where the sidewalk is situated*** *** observed that the sidewalk, which is adjacent to the property line, is continually exposed to rain/snow/hail run-off from both homes and he suspects the cause of the deteriorating finish is continual exposure to excessive moisture in that areaIt's reasonable to expect a coating to resist moisture, however, the coating protects the slab from "water going down" through the slab, not "water coming up" from the groundAdditionally, coatings can tolerate some moisture evaporation from the ground ("air bubbles"), but not over an extended period of time when continually subjected to excessive moisture
The patio and sidewalk finishes were completed at the same time in 2012, the same products were used on both, and the same application procedures were followedIf the products Shades of Color used had failed or we had not properly performed the installation, there would be similar failure on the patio as wellAdditionally, the repairs we made in lasted close to two years, which strengthens our belief that excessive moisture is the problem, and Shades of Color has no control over excessive moisture underneath concrete slabs
Given that all of the symptoms of this problem point to excessive water, *** *** has offered to perform a moisture test in a couple of areas on the sidewalk to determine water content in the concrete so that he can provide the homeowner with alternative solutions for the sidewalkThe homeowner thought *** ***'s explanation made sense and was agreeable to have the moisture testing done when we're in drier weather in a few weeks
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/06/23) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Most the above is accurate, so at this point I will conditionally accept their responseI will withhold acceptance of excessive moisture being the problem until after a moisture test is complete, and reserve the right to have one conducted by an independent entityI will request that a test is done on the area of concern, as well as one conducted in an area that does not have the problem so that we have a comparisonI would also suggest that the test be completed NOWThe only point of contention is the air bubbles that remained after the repair was in progress in July (much less moisture that year)As I communicated back then, after the new base coat was applied, I immediately went out and inspected the area and found that all of the air bubbles had not been eliminated, which was communicated to MrThrasher, to which I received no responseHe attributes their immediate appearance to the yet to be proven moisture problem; I'm not sure that the repair at that time was properly doneMrThrasher states that he stopped by on 3/to inspect the area of concern following my email of 3/27, I have no way to know if this did or did not happenLeaving a business card on or around my door, with the number of flyers and door hangers we see on a weekly basis, was a woefully inadequate method of communicating to me that he responded to my concernSince we had traded numerous emails over the years concerning this problem and other matters, an email on 3/letting me know he had stopped by would have made senseWe then could have scheduled a time for him to stop by when I was home, as I requestedIf this had happened, no complaint would have been filed, at least at that timeOf course, if the moisture test is not scheduled and completed as promised, if the results do not indicate a moisture problem, I reserve the right to re-open the complaint and direct it towards quality of workmanshipThe onus is on them to prove it's a moisture issue