ComplaintsforConcrete Craft of Cleveland SW

• Initial Complaint

  09/21/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On August 18, 2022, Jack *****, President of Concrete Craft came to my house to give me an estimate on my family room floor. It was bare concrete and needed to be leveled and finished. We had a detailed conversation on what we expected and he agreed. I received his proposal on Aug. 20 and accepted it by email. Among other things it promises "lasting beauty and charm, value to my home, exceptional durability and enhanced beauty to my home". Project was to start the following week. On Aug. 25, I received an email requesting 50% deposit. I paid the deposit by phone that day. On Sept. 1, after not hearing anything for a week, I emailed him asking to secure a start date. He responded with a start date of Sept. 7. On Sept. 15 the crew indicated they were done. I sent Jack a text with pictures indicating the job was NOT acceptable. He responded "Ok, we will fix it". On Sept. 16, he texted they were on their way and "Can someone approve the surface before we apply the coating?" I replied "We are both here", "You should come too." He did not. I grilled the 2 man crew as to whether they were going to be able to fix it, they failed. Came back on Sept. 19. I asked them if they were ready to admit defeat and throw in the towel, they said they were going to fix it. I reminded them to come and get me before the final coat. THEY DID NOT. I smelled paint and found them midway through the final coat. When I asked him why he didn't get me he simply said "oh, sorry". I left the room very upset as I would NEVER have approved the condition of the floor for the final coat. My husband then got very upset, raised his voice and angrily told them to stop what they were doing and leave. He told them we would not be paying and they should call their boss and get him over here. I have since sent Mr. Moore additional photos and requested he meet with us, inspect the floor and come to a resolution. He has not done so, but has sent a bill for the remaining 50%.

  Business response

  09/29/2022

  Complaint ID ********.

   

  Regarding the first point of the agreement on expectations.  This is where the differences in expectations occurred.  We discussed numerous potential solutions.  Each solution had a different finish and price point.  What was ultimately decided upon as the lowest price point application to correct the primary concern of a floor that was not level having variations up to 1.5” in elevation with a surface coating applied over the concrete leveling material.  The flowing are the bullet points of the scope of work. 

  • Extreme care is taken to prep every concrete slab to ensure the application process meets our standards.
  • First, a thorough cleaning and exfoliation will ensure an extreme bond every time utilizing our exclusive process and products.
  • We prepare surface as required to ensure structural integrity.
  • Grind surface as needed to remove carpet pad glue.
  • Chase, clean and mesh cracks as needed.
  • Structural cracks may return through any overlay at some point in time
  • Clean surface and remove contaminants as needed.
  • After applying our unique moisture-resistant bonding primer, we apply our proprietary concrete leveler to the surface.
  • Our proprietary coloring system uses special UV-resistant colors and pigments.
  • Color is applied using ******* ******** ***** Plex Water Based Acrylic Coating. Colors as available from SW.

  We performed all of these bullet points according to acceptable industry standards.  In fact, after we installed the concrete leveler, we all thought we could improve the surface profile by adding a skim coat of ********** to the leveler (at no additional cost to the owner) and took it upon ourselves to try and improve the surface profile.   After receiving a complaint about this surface profile and having already installed the finish coat, we took additional steps to provide a smoother surface profile by installing an additional product (at no additional cost to the owner) that has the finest and smoothest profile available for concrete overlays.  We even took additional steps to sand this surface to provide an even smoother surface.  Below is a summary of the additional steps above the proposed scope of work we took to provide a smoother surface profile. 

  • First coat of ********** over the initial leveler installation
  • Sanding of this application of **********
  • Sanding of the surface to prepare for the installation of the Micro Topping
  • Installation of the Micro Topping
  • Sanding of the Micro Topping
  • Second application of the ******* ******** Treadplex. 

  These six bullet points were performed on our own good will to try and satisfy the customer.  Not once did we ask for additional compensation even though we had clearly exceeded the stated scope of work. 

  The work we performed meets acceptable industry standards for concrete overlay surface profile.  The issue at hand is what the expectation was from the beginning.  Being an experienced decorative concrete contractor, I thought I had communicated effectively what the finished product would look like.  We discussed other options for a finished appearance with higher price points that were not chosen.  I believed the customer knew and understood that they would be getting a concrete floor that was level and greatly improved from the existing condition but that it was still “just a concrete floor” (attached is a representative picture of the existing surface profile).  We spent an additional 3 days working above what was proposed trying to satisfy the customer.  The unacceptable behavior of the customer experienced by us has led us to stop any additional communication.  We do not treat anyone in this manner, and I refuse to expose our team members or myself to this type of behavior.

  I believe we have gone above reasonable expectations to satisfy the customers’ expectations and agreed to scope of work.  There are only two ways to achieve the surface profile, I believe at this point, the customer is looking for.  The first being a hard troweled surface that is achieved during a new concrete pour and certainly is not applicable to this situation.  The other is concrete polishing.   This process is 2-3 times higher than the price for the scope of work we proposed.  The work as proposed was completed in what we feel meets industry expectations.  The floor was not level, now it is.  We proposed to install the floor coating and have done so almost twice.  The customer demanded we leave before completely finishing the second coat.  I think the only resolution would be for us to issue a credit memo on the outstanding invoice. 

   

  Jack *****

  President / Owner

  Office:  440-420-2045

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