Though the project started out okay, finishing it was another story. Unorganized, un-managed, unprofessional, completely unsatisfied. Avi is onsite to hear your complaints and take your money and that is it. His website lists 22 employees when there is only one, himself. everything else is subcontracted to third party trunk slammers. Avi takes no part in site management while work is actually being done. He relies on third party contractors who can and will walk away from the job if things don't go as planned.
Work started in late Fall 2013 despite warnings from others that this type of work can be very problematic just before winter. Avi assured us that whatever problems arose, that they would be dealt with when the job was completed in the spring. This approach lead to numerous errors and issues that remain to this day. When faced with the issues Avi did attempt to get his contractors back to finish the job correctly however, nobody anticipated the extreme cold winter we had and the cost of repairing the issues was double the expected amount had they started and completed the work in the spring. As a result of the serious heaving due to frost, the entire driveway has to be re-laid which his contractors refused to do.
Our driveway and rear patio looked ten years old less than 6 months after install. Avi promised to make everything right but failed to do so. All of my neighbors suggested I sue for damages as Avi walked away from the mess he and his sub-contractors created despite his posted 'five year unlimited guarantee'.
The last step of the install, had it been done correctly, was to seal the stones. In frustration, Avi's contractor 'Chris' sent an unskilled worker to power-wash, apply perma sand and sweep and add sealer. The workers did not put sand on all of the stone, just some areas. Perma sand was used in some areas but not all and brown sand was used on dark grey stone instead of grey sand. They then applied the sealer without washing or sweeping which means the sealer now has visible sand underneath. To add insult to injury, they did not call ahead to let us know they were coming to apply the sealant which meant my son's car was in the driveway and he was not around to move his car. They carefully applied sealant everywhere on top of sand and dirt except for the area my sons car tires were leaving behind plainly visible areas with no sealant.
By Avi's own admission, our job was the largest he had attempted to date and the results suggest he has a lot to learn about managament and value for dollars spent.
In addition, in Avi's absense, his contractor returned an helped themselves to extra material on our property which we had bought and paid for. When questioned by my wife as to what they were doing, Chris merely stated that he needed the material for a job he was doing one street over from ours. Though flustered at being caught, he claimed he would let Avi know so Avi could adjust our bill to reflect what he had taken.
A week later, in Avi's presence, my wife asked Chris about the amount to be deducted to reflect the stones he took without permission from our property, he pretended that he forgot to tell Avi, we were not reimbursed this amount.
Avi attempted to bring in a new contractor to clean up Chris' mess yet was told there was far too much work to repair the job for the amount of money Avi wanted to pay. Avi then sent a contractor over to try and clean the sealant off so the dirt could be removed and though this contractor could not start work immediately, he left behind two 20 litre containers of new sealant. This sealant was placed in our garage and stored until the stones were cleaned. I hired an outside contractor to try and clean the sealant off the stones only to find that unfortunately, 5200psi water could not clean off the sealant. Last week my wife and I realized that the two containers of sealant had mysteriously disappeared from our garage which means they were removed without our permission, probably by the workers who delivered in the first place. This took place while we were not home.
Avi's contractors are responsible for breaking a hose reel in my garage, destroying my underground garden watering hoses, my 1400psi pressure washer (their 1200psi washer would not do the job so they borrowed mine).
For some unknown reason a 8"x8" stone had a corner cut out and was then fitted with a small replacement piece. To date, neither Avi, nor Chris can explain this cutout or why it was necessary.
We have had three new contractors quote on the required repairs, the least of which is over 15,000.00. Avi has essentially stated that we are on our own. My only recourse is to sue Delta Classic Homes for damages.
As I stated to Avi, his 97.00 success rate on HomeStars does not define his company, how he handles those jobs where everything goes wrong is how he is defined. In our case, he clearly got in over his head. He may well do a good job on minor repairs and small jobs that are completed in an afternoon however, our job is clearly outside his capabilities. Be warned!!
- Approximate cost of services:
- $56,000.00