Stone Makers of Western PA

RE: ID [redacted] - [redacted] Dear Ms [redacted] , In response to your letter dated 8/22/14, regarding the complaint filed by [redacted] [redacted] , please be advised that I have completed the non-warranty item of a French drainThe weep holes, however, have not been completed due to the customer filing a complaint with the magistrate if you should need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me Sincerely, StoneMakers of Western PA

RE: Case ID [redacted] Dear MsEdwards, In response to the complaint from [redacted] my father, owner of StoneMakers of Western PA, resides in Florida in the winter months and is due to return to Pittsburgh in MarchI will contact Mrs [redacted] to schedule an appointment to inspect the patio and repair any cracksUnfortunately, concrete does crack and we have a "crack chaser grinder" to resolve this issue.Sincerely, Anthony CherupStoneMakers of Western PA

Re: [redacted] Complaint - ID# [redacted] Dear MsE [redacted] ,Unfortunately, I admit that this issue slipped through the cracksI was not aware that the patio that I replaced was never colored and sealedI had assigned the job to an employee who is no longer with the company.I will contact Mrs [redacted] and have the work completed within two weeks.Sincerely, [redacted] StonMakers of Western PA

RevDex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below The defendant makes claims, which I will first debase with the following facts Claim 1: The defendant claims that he has not returned to the jobsite following November 21, It is correct that he personally did not come to the site (he did not come to the site for many weeks); however, his employees DID return to the site on November 26, They came to evaluate the work of the crew that had been assigned to my project They were appalled at the work They indicated the following facts: - In their words, with a reminder that these are stonemakers employees acting on behalf of the company: " This is the worst work we have ever seen" "It is embarrassing to us and the company" "This must all be ripped out to start over" " [redacted] has completely misrepresented the work he has done here This is horrible" "We should have hired a subcontractor to pour the shell We don't do pools We should not have not have done the shell We should have came back to finish the decorative rock after." - This dialogue was witnessed by the entire professional office staff of [redacted] Due to the rain, they came inside that office to discuss their observations These witnesses will testify under oath The same testimony will easily be gathered from the stonemaker employees that came to the site and provided the evaluation - The project leader assigned to my project does not have experience in pool building His experience is many, many years old and inadequate for this job - Most of the workers assigned under him have zero concrete experience, and this was their first project Claim 2: Police were to escort my employee onto the the project to recover my property - Again, employees came to the project site on November 26, - At this time, employees indicated that they would return to the site on November 29, (Friday) They indicated that they would make this right, and that they would take over the project in place of the prior project manager - The employees did not show, and stonemakers did not attempt a communication to indicate why Claim 3: Defendant claims 70% of the work is complete - An untrained observer can easily determine that 70% of the work has not been completed With some grace to the defendant, you might argue that 20% of the work is completed - Please use the attached pictures which show the state in which the defendant abandoned the project Compare this to the renderings of the intended final project, as well as the promised scope of work that was agreed upon for a flat rate labor price Note that defendant did not create this renderings and is not capable of such renderings These were created at the client's expense Additional information from plaintiff: - [redacted] is not qualified to comment on the amount of completion or quality of completion, as he had not been to the job site for the last weeks of the construction, nor has he been following his abandonment of the project [redacted] took a vacation in Florida and abandoned this project leaving highly disqualified personnel in place While it would be possible for him to execute some management remotely, a review of the attached email will show that he was not willing to engage in any productive communication as the project began to fall apart Crews were not showing for multiple days, and this was not weather related Crews were failing at the basics of construction, what you might call "concrete 101" Examples include: not covering any of the work area and causing extensive property damage, not using rebar inside the concrete but instead burying it in mud under the concrete, pouring small sections each day vsa 'monolithic pour' as promised ( a pumper had been arranged, but they refused to use it), improper preparation of the soil, no gravel used for drainage and frost protection, no bond beam for perimeter of pool shell, walking through wet concrete leaving footprints, incomplete finishing, allowing concrete to set in advance of their work requiring demolition and removal, not gluing underground plumbing, not pressure testing underground plumbing (which would reveal the lack of glue), not using a level to set basics such as perimeters and skimmers (they had no level in their tool kit), not establishing a zero bond beam (meaning, different sides of pond at different levels -- would not hold water), not using blankets on concrete in sub-freezing weather, completely incorrect use of rebar, and much more - [redacted] 's employees have spoken on behalf of the company and the quality of the work Any attempt by [redacted] to defend this atrocity is simply an attempt to avoid righting this situation -No less than professional concrete contractors have inspected the quality here They all agree it must be demolished and removed, and they are all willing to testify in court The reply system limits the amount of images and communications I can attachThere are hundreds more in support of this case Please let the pictures speak for themselves Regards, [redacted]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
[After Stonemakers received my complaint through the Revdex.com they said they would come back and fix the issues(fix the height of the wall to be feet like the contract states, Weep holes in the wall to allow for drainage since they did not put the French drain in along the bottom of the wall as they stated they would, Fix the waterfall to look like the pictures showed that we would get, lay the soil and seed in front of the wall since they had to dig a French drain in front of the wall since they did not put in the first time behind the wall.
The plan was for Stonemakers to come the week of July 21st 2014. They would be here for days to do the work and be done.
Stonemakers wrote a letter to the Revdex.com on July 16th and said I was happy with their work and the issue was resolved. Stonemakers did not come the week of July 21st and still has not made contact to say when they are coming, so I am not happy with their resolution at this point as nothing has been fixed and nothing has changed on my end
I have also contacted Stonemakers Corp in NH to try and help get a resolution.]
Regards,
*** ***

RE: ID *** - *** ***
Dear Ms. ***
/>
In response to Mr***'s complaint, I have no responsibility or warranty on a job completed years agoThe stain issue was caused by the use of salt or a gasoline spill by the customerI was willing to re-stain when there was time in my schedule, which I told Mr***The days that were allotted, it rainedIf the concrete is wet or there is chance of rain, color spot repair cannot be done
It is my understanding that Mr*** is now requesting that the entire walkway and porch be re-stainedI will be happy to do so, however, there will be a $charge for materials and laborPlease advise if this is what he wants
Sincerely,
*** ***
StoneMakers of Western PA
###-###-####

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Right now, our back yard is a disaster The resolution to our original complaint was to repair a hole in the concrete, grind out the big cracks, and then put a coating on the entire patio that was a uniform color They were also supposed to cut stress lines and seal the concrete The concrete has never been sealed to date They put the new coating down, but it was hardening as fast as they put it down, so it is not very level I was told that it would be sealed and made more even, and cleaned up on the edges but that never happened There was also masonary product splattered on the house and the new wall *** said they would repaint small sections of the wall and clean it up but noone ever did that either The sides of the sidewalk still has a lot of gobs of hardened concrete coating that was to be ground off I attempted to remove the gobs but I don't have the right equipment to fix it They did cut some stress lines with a hand tool, but they do not line up with the original lines, and the concrete repair coating chipped off all around the old and new stress relief lines.The biggest problem right now is that about 1/of the concrete coating has broken off It's coming up in sheets Now my patio is multiple colors again, and it is very uneven The coating also came off where the hole was patched So now there is a 4" hole in the patio again Last week I filled trash bags with chipped off concrete ***, please help us! I think we have been very patient, but this needs corrected Thank you
Regards,
*** ***

Re: Complaint ID *** / *** ***Dear Ms***I am in receipt of your dated 6/24/regarding the complaint by *** ***Please be advised that the work has been completed to the customer's satisfaction.Regards,David *C***PresidentStoneMakers of Western PA

re: ID#*** *** ***
Dear Ms***,
"">I am in receipt of your abovementioned complaint letterI met with *** on April 2nd and I made my suggestions to remedy his concerns regarding the jobHe agreed to my plan and within two weeks I will have the issue corrected
Sincerely,
*** ***
StoneMakers of Western
** *** ***
StoneMakers of Western PA

Re: ID [redacted]
Dear Ms[redacted],
"">On November 21, 2013, I received an email (attached) from [redacted] cancelling the contractHe instructed me not to return to the jobsite or step foot on his propertyI have not returned, however, my saws, tamper, and other tools are still there, and need to be returned to meI have not violated or trespassed on his propertyPolice were to escort my employee onto the project to recover my property, however, to date, this has not happened
Mr[redacted] hired StoneMakers of Western PA for "Labor Only" as indicated on the Contract (attached)He fired us when 70% of the work was complete and only paid for 60% of the labor providedThat was his choiceI wanted the opportunity to finish the work thru completion; however, weather was a factorI was not paid as agreed to in the "Labor Only" Contract executed with customer
StoneMakers of Western PA has successfully completed hundreds of jobs in the Pittsburgh with few complaintsThis is the second job in years that I was asked not to complete
Please feel free to contact me if you need any additional information regarding this matter
Sincerely,
[redacted]
StoneMakers of Western PA
###-###-####

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 11014008.   I will accept the business's response.   However to date I have not been contacted and an appointment has not set up.  I'm concerned this complaint will be forgotten once spring rolls around.  If that happens I will file another complaint. 
Regards,
[redacted]

RevDex.com:
I have
reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint
ID [redacted],
and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. 
For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
The
defendant makes false claims, which I will first debase with the
following facts.
Claim
1:  The defendant claims that he has not returned to the jobsite
following November 21, 2013.   It is correct that he
personally did not come to the site  (he did not come to the
site for many weeks); however, his employees DID return to the site
on November 26, 2013.   They came to evaluate the work of the
crew that had been assigned to my project.  They were appalled
at the work.  They indicated the following facts:
 -
In their words, with a reminder that these are stonemakers employees
acting on behalf of the company:  " This is the worst work
we have ever seen"  "It is embarrassing to us and the
company"    "This must all be ripped out to
start over"   "[redacted] has completely misrepresented
the work he has done here.  This is horrible. "   
"We should have hired a subcontractor to pour the shell. 
We don't do pools.  We should not have not have done the
shell.   We should have came back to finish the decorative
rock after."   
 -
This dialogue was witnessed by the entire professional office staff
of [redacted].  Due to the rain, they came inside
that office to discuss their observations.   These
witnesses will testify under oath.   The same testimony
will easily be gathered from the stonemaker employees that came to
the site and provided the evaluation.
 -
The project leader assigned to my project does not have experience in
pool building.   His experience is many, many years old and
inadequate for this job
 -
Most of the workers assigned under him have zero concrete experience,
and this was their first project.
 
Claim
2: Police were to escort my employee onto the the project to recover
my property
 -
Again, employees came to the project site on November 26, 2013
 -
At this time, employees indicated that they would return to the site
on November 29, 2013 (Friday).   They indicated that they would
make this right, and that they would take over the project in place
of the prior project manager.   
-
The employees did not show, and stonemakers did not attempt a
communication to indicate why.
 
Claim
3:  Defendant claims 70% of the work is complete.
-
An untrained observer can easily determine that 70% of the work has
not been completed.  With some grace to the defendant, you might
argue that 20% of the work is completed.
-
Please use the attached pictures which show the state in which the
defendant abandoned the project.   Compare this to the
renderings of the intended final project, as well as the promised
scope of work that was agreed upon for a flat rate labor price.  
Note that defendant did not create this renderings and is not capable
of such renderings.  These were created at the client's expense.
 
Additional
information from plaintiff:
-
[redacted] is not qualified to comment on the amount of completion or
quality of completion, as he had not been to the job site for the
last weeks of the construction, nor has he been following his
abandonment of the project.   [redacted] took a vacation in Florida
and abandoned this project leaving highly disqualified personnel in
place.   While it would be possible for him to execute some
management remotely, a review of the attached email will show that he
was not willing to engage in any productive communication as the
project began to fall apart.   Crews were not showing for
multiple days, and this was not weather related.   Crews
were failing at the basics of construction, what you might call
"concrete 101".    Examples include: 
not covering any of the work area and causing extensive property
damage, not using rebar inside the concrete but instead burying it in
mud under the concrete, pouring small sections each day vs. a
'monolithic pour' as promised ( a pumper had been arranged, but they
refused to use it), improper preparation of the soil, no gravel used
for drainage and frost protection, no bond beam for perimeter of pool
shell, walking through wet concrete leaving footprints, incomplete
finishing, allowing concrete to set in advance of their work
requiring demolition and removal, not gluing underground plumbing,
not pressure testing underground plumbing (which would reveal the
lack of glue), not using a level to set basics such as perimeters and
skimmers (they had no level in their tool kit), not establishing a
zero bond beam  (meaning, different sides of pond at different
levels -- would not hold water), not using blankets on concrete in
sub-freezing weather, completely incorrect use of rebar, and much
more.
-
[redacted]'s employees have spoken on behalf of the company and the
quality of the work.   Any attempt by [redacted] to defend this
atrocity is simply an attempt to avoid righting this situation.
-No
less than 6 professional concrete contractors have inspected the
quality here.  They all agree it must be demolished and removed,
and they are all willing to testify in court.
 
The
reply system limits the amount of images and communications I can
attach. There are hundreds more in support of this case.
 
Please
let the pictures speak for themselves.  
 
 
Regards,
[redacted]

Re: Complaint ID [redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted],
/>
In reference to the above mentioned complaint, please be advised that the issue has been resolved with the customer. [redacted] [redacted] is now a satisfied with the service my company provided..
Sincerely,
[redacted]
StoneMakers of Western PA

RE: Case ID [redacted]
Dear Ms. Edwards,
In response to the complaint from [redacted] my father, owner of StoneMakers of Western PA, resides in Florida in the winter months and is due to return to Pittsburgh in March. I will contact Mrs. [redacted] to schedule an...

appointment to inspect the patio and repair any cracks. Unfortunately, concrete does crack and we have a "crack chaser grinder" to resolve this issue.Sincerely,
Anthony CherupStoneMakers of Western PA

RE: Case ID [redacted]Dear Ms. Edwards,In response to the complaint from [redacted] my father, owner of StoneMakers of Western PA, resides in Florida in the winter months and is due to return to Pittsburgh in March. I will contact Mrs. [redacted] to schedule an appointment to inspect the...

patio and repair any cracks. Unfortunately, concrete does crack and we have a "crack chaser grinder" to resolve this issue.Sincerely,Anthony CherupStoneMakers of Western PA

Re: [redacted] Complaint - ID#[redacted]Dear Ms. E[redacted],Unfortunately, I admit that this issue slipped through the cracks. I was not aware that the patio that I replaced was never colored and sealed. I had assigned the job to an employee who is no longer with the company.I...

will contact Mrs. [redacted] and have the work completed within two weeks.Sincerely,[redacted]
StonMakers of Western PA

Re: [redacted] Complaint - ID#[redacted]Dear Ms. E[redacted],Unfortunately, I admit that this issue slipped through the cracks. I was not aware that the patio that I replaced was never colored and sealed. I had assigned the job to an employee who is no longer with the company.I will contact Mrs. [redacted]...

and have the work completed within two weeks.Sincerely,[redacted]StonMakers of Western PA

RE: ID [redacted] -[redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted],
In response to your letter dated 8/22/14, regarding the complaint filed by [redacted], please be advised that I have completed the non-warranty item of a French drain. The weep holes, however, have not been completed due to the customer filing a complaint with the magistrate.
if you should need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
StoneMakers of Western PA

Review: In 2013 we hired Stonemakers of Western PA to build a wall in our back yard. The wall looks pretty good. About a week later we hired them to pour a concrete patio. The vendor either forgot to dye one truckload of concrete or did not add enough coloring but the end result is that we have sections that are plain grey concrete and others that are a mocha color. Vendor attempted to use a coloring stain to fix but they were unsuccessful to match color. Vendor then attempted to remove stain (which turned out a mustard yellow) but could not. Original agreement specified a specific color of concrete. Concrete is not the color agreed upon. Also, vendor failed to return and seal concrete. Concrete is now cracked (within less then a year), unsealed, and has mismatched color. The wall has also cracked. There does not appear to be any spacers in the concrete between the wall and the house. My house has a few new drywall ceiling cracks, I fear it is because the concrete expanded and is pushing my house away from the wall. Also, the sidewalk was poured very unevenly. We also have a water drainage issue. After it rains, we have about 5 feet across of standing water in the back corner. The water is supposed to drain in holes cored in the patio but it does not. We have left many, many, phone messages for the vendor but they do not return our calls. We have asked probably 15 to 20 times to have these issues rectified and can product phone records with dates and times.Desired Settlement: We would prefer to have the concrete re-poured with correctly colored concrete. We would also like the sidewalk (which is partially the wrong color) re-poured so it is more level and the right color. The concrete probably needs spacers along the house for expansion and the concrete should be sealed.We would prefer that the entire patio be angled in one direction so that the water drains rather then have a crown in the middle and pool standing water in the corner. Thank you

Business

Response:

Review: I have my porch and walkway done by Stonemakers of western pa about three to four years ago. I called the owner and asked him about the stain used on the sidewalk which appears to be coming off. The owner came to my house and looked at sidewalk/porch and left his brochure and said he will fix my sidewalk/porch stain and fix repair where there is cracks and re stain. I have been calling the owner and he has made appointments for certain days and has never shown up for the appointments set. This has been going on for over one month and with no result to the problem from the owner. He has made appointments to come and fix the problem free of charge he says but he has not shown up. Poor customer service and Poor follow thru. If you said you are going to be there for over a month with no solution to the problem.Desired Settlement: Need the walkway/porch restained and fixed where there is cracks. Free of charge as per the owner first agreed to over a month ago.

Business

Response: