Business ProfileforJerry's Concrete Works Ltd.

Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Timeline of events and problems/corrections for driveway at ** ******* ******
On Saturday, August 6th, 2022, Trevor from Jerry’s Concrete came out to mark the yard for the new driveway. We reviewed the width of the new driveway and discussed details. It was explained that the approach also needed to be widened as well. That was good information and explained during the discussion.
When framing was completed the week of August 15th, the elevation shots were too low, and the framing was positioned too low. This was discovered after the old driveway was dug out, which was Wednesday, August 24th. There was a difference of 2 – 3” in various areas of the length of the driveway.
Spoke with Mike at the office and he told me that the elevation was correct. I was adamant that the framing was too low, and I was not prepared to scrape down the grass to accommodate the difference. It was then decided to send Trevor our to recheck it, and the elevation marks were too low. The framing on the east side of the driveway was position for most of the length on a 30-degree angle.
I also mentioned that when the framers placed the stakes into the ground along the neighbor’s property, they had a black cable (I think it was the Fiber Optic cable) on the driveway side of the stake. It would have been buried in the bottom of the concrete. When the first framing was removed and replaced, the framers made sure to keep the cable on the outside of the framing stake, and reframe the east side of the driveway straight, as per my conversation directly with the framers.
The framed circles around the manhole for the isolation rings on the driveway, and the drain area by the street were staked and framed. But not with an equal circumference around the manhole. The height of the framing was also not going to be flush once the concrete was poured. I pointed this out to Jerry, I was told that that would be rectified once the new concrete collars were installed.
When the rebar was being installed and completed, I was not at home. In reviewing how it was done, I noticed that the rebar was lying directly on top of the packed ¼ down. I did wonder where the spacers/lifts/chairs were to keep the rebar up off the packed base. Without the spacers installed, how does that support the stability of the concrete over time, as it is a driveway with the eight of vehicles?
There was no rebar inside the framed circle areas around the manhole and the street drain area at that time. When I called and asked Mike why not, I was told that the city stated to not have rebar, since in case they needed to dig up the drains, they would not disturb the driveway, or for expansion and contraction. I did not find this to be acceptable as we drive over those area on a regular basis.
After email with the City Councilor's office for St. Vital, it was forwarded to the Public Works Department, and it was then decided to install the rebar in the area around the drains, but not tied into the existing street concrete, or the new cured concrete in the driveway. I was okay with that, as it would give some stability opposed to no stability.
On Thursday, September 1st, was the day of the concrete pour for the driveway. There were 6 people on this crew. They used of a concrete dump (gas powered walk behind). The crew moved around the concrete and smoothed it as it was being poured. They also used brooms to create sweeps/lines in the concrete. The edges of the fresh concrete were troweled to create a finished edge.
Several areas of the concrete surface were swept too much creating a distinct visual difference in the finished surface. This was noticed and photos taken by Jerry ****** when he came a few days after the pour to review some concerns of the job.
Due to the street drain area and manhole on the driveway not being finished during the main pour, a section of the driveway was not completed. I discussed with Mike at the office and was told that that was going to be finished when the drain areas isolation ring areas were poured, and I was assured by Mike at the office that the edge of the driveway was going to be trowelled to match the rest of the driveway finished edge.
After the pour crew left, I spent time going around and cleaning up the chunks of concrete and debris that was left on the grass. Yes. There was going to be work that needed to be done (by us) to complete the edges of the grass by the driveway but leaving the mess that should have been picked up was not something that I expected to do.
The framing crew removed the side framing and inside the circles of the drains. This was done the week of September 5th. In discussion with the person onsite, he said that they were not going to be able to remove the framing boards that were at the top of the driveway under the fence and gate. He said it would have to stay in place. I politely stated that I was told that the finished product would include making sure that the patio blocks would be placed back in under the fence, gate, and against the existing patio blocks.
The person then asked if I had a Sawzall, which I said nicely that I was not about to use my tools for a job that is something that Jerry’s Concrete needed to take care of. The removal framing crew also removed all the large chunks of concrete that were in the trenches on either side of the new driveway. They did a good job of that.
I then spoke with Mike at the office about the boards needing to be removed and was firm about it being removed.
A few days later (September 12th or 13th), 2 guys came with a Sawzall to remove the boards. They were having difficulty in getting into areas to remove the boards. I engaged in conversation and made suggestions as to how they could get into areas and remove sections of the board. In the end, all the boards were removed.
When the person came to spray/seal the driveway, later that day, it was noticeable that some of the areas either did not have enough spray, too much spray in some areas, or were not sprayed at all. It looked like it was not an even application.
Side Note***the driveway was framed about 4” longer at the top of the driveway by the gate. This was discovered after the framing was removed and I placed a few patio bricks to see how it would look and discovered the difference from the before length and after length.
The pour for the manhole drain, and the street drain areas was supposed to happen at the end of the week of September 12th.
After discussion with Mike at the office regarding no rebar, I insisted that they not proceed until a review was done by the City.
I again contacted the city councillor’s office regarding the ridiculous idea of not having the rebar in these areas, as it was going to be driven over on a regular basis. The matter was then referred to the Public Works Department.
I was then contacted by Mike from Jerry’s concrete at the beginning of the week of September 12th updating that the city gave the approval for the rebar to be installed in the areas, but not anchored into the existing street side concrete, or the new cured concrete in the driveway. I was good with this.
During that phone conversation with Mike, I told him that the spacers/lifters/chairs needed to be installed in those 2 areas as well. I also mentioned that I did not see any spacers/lifts/chairs installed in the driveway during the pour, or prior to the pour.
He was positive that the spacers were placed prior/during the pour. He went on to tell me how other customers had also said that the spacers were not added.
I was not going to get into a big discussion about it.
I question…How does he know when he has never seen the driveway, or progress of the work???
Note***I took photos of the rebar prior to the pour. No spacers at all. I also have photos and videos that I took during the pour of the driveway, and it is very clear to see that there are no spacer/lifts/chairs under the rebar.
The reason for taking the video was to send to my grandson to see, as he like machinery.
During that phone conversation, I explained to Mike that we were going to be away Thursday, September 15th, and Friday, September 16th; and did not want any work being done while we were away. I was very clear that we wanted to be home when the rebar, and the pour was going to take place in the isolation rings of the manhole, and street drain.
With all the missed steps, inaccurate steps in the process, and my concern of what the next issue was going to be; I wanted to be home to supervise and make sure things were being done as discussed. Mike said that he noted that we were going to be away, and no work was to be done until the week of September 19th.
On Tuesday, September 13th, the brick crew came to reinstall the patio bricks at the top of the driveway under the fence and gate. They need to cut almost every brick that had been removed and set aside prior to the work being done. The cuts were done due to the extra length of driveway that was now in place (done in error by Jerry’s). This created more work to reinstall the bricks.
I observed as the patio blocks were being cut (using a gas-powered quick saw), that the person used a rubber mallet to pound the patio blocks quite forcefully into place. They were cut in such a way that the bricks were very tightly placed. There was not room for movement with the change of weather (expansion/contraction), or for the ability to place Polymer sand in the joints. I did mention it to the person doing the job, but he said that it was fine.
I was also, and I am concerned that the pressure of contraction/expansion could place pressure against the new driveway, or buckle some of the patio bricks that are butt up along the whole row of replaced bricks. This could damage our professionally done patio area, or our 6” x 6” fence posts. I was not going to get into how he should do his job but was not happy about it.
When he was sweeping up, I checked to see how it looked, and noticed that 2 pieces of patio bricks were not cut or placed in front of the 6 x 6” posts on the driveway side. He just filled the spaces with ¼ down. Also, on the east side of the driveway corner by another 6” x 6” post, an empty unfinished space was left. The space was in line with the whole row of patio bricks that were just reinstalled, so it should have been done as well.
I did point these missed areas out to him, and I explained to him that he needed to dig out the ¼ down, cut the 2 pieces for those areas, as well as cut a piece for the corner area. He was reluctant to do it as he said he didn’t want to cut his fingers, or feet. I took a couple pieces of bricks and showed him how he could cut them, including the brick for the corner area that could be cut in a ‘L’ shape to be professionally finished.
He did cut the pieces and place them into the spaces, but instead of a nice ‘L’ shaped piece, he cut 2 pieces for the corner.
I brought out one of our large flat head screwdrivers for the other person to di out the ¼ down for the pieces to be placed in the 2 areas. I then reviewed it again, and they then left.
There were approximately 20 full 4’ x 8’ patio blocks that were removed for the driveway to be dug out. The person who cut the pieces used all but 2 blocks to cut up to fill in the section. This was not necessary if he had the correct tool for the job, and the problem-solving skills to use one block for more than one cut. It was a waste of blocks. It was another indicator that the job was not being done with professionalism.
After they left, we noticed that the patio blocks that he placed were not flush with the new concrete, they were sitting higher in some areas. This was not the position of the patio blocks along the top edge of the old driveway. They were flush originally. This does pose a problem when shovelling snow in the winter.
The whole reinstalled cut row of patio blocks needs to be removed, ground down, and replaced correctly.
Cutting and placing the bricks tightly was done from either inexperience, or improper tools for the job.
While out of town on Thursday, September 15, just before 1:00 p.m., we received a call from our neighbour who was letting us know that the guys were installing the rebar in the drain areas of our driveway. I was not happy about this but thought ok they will not pour while we’re away, and I can review this when we return late Friday evening.
Then at 2:00 p.m., that same day our neighbour called back to let us know that they just poured the concrete. I was beyond livid, but there was nothing that I could do being over 2 hours away. I would deal with it when I got back home.
Our neighbour also mentioned that he talked with the concrete crew. He asked questions about the spaces between the cured concrete ring on the driveway for both the manhole and the street drain. They told him that there would be sealant filled into spaces after it cures. Our neighbour also told us that there was a lot of concrete footprints, residue, and clumps of concrete on the driveway and the street, that was not cleaned up.
I could not contact Jerry’s concrete office on the Thursday, ** ** **** ******* **** ******** ******** *** ** ***** ***** *****. I felt very betrayed by the ridiculous way that this portion was being done, and the lack of respect to not do any work those specific days.
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Our son, went to check on our house that Thursday, September 15th in the evening. He sent us videos of what the concrete pour around the drains looked like. It was at 7:20 p.m. We were appalled the way it looked. It was very **************, and the fact it was done when it was clearly discussed with Mike to be done when I was home the following week (September 19th – 23rd).
This video added more upset and frustration **** **** **** **** ****** **** ***** *** ** ***** ****** ****** **** **** ****** ** ****** **** ** *****
I did call and leave a lengthy and not so nice voice message Thursday evening at 8:25 p.m. at 204-661-4444, explaining my complete disgust of how this whole job was done.
During that phone message, I stated under no circumstances they were not to put the sealant in the cracks. This whole job needs to be completely reviewed and things need to be changed.
On Friday morning, September 16th, I called my neighbour at 6:40 a.m. I asked him to take photos of the 2 areas that were done on the Thursday.
I received 11 photos at 8:00 a.m. from him. These photos gave us a much clearer picture of the mess, and poor-Quality work that was done. It was very *** unprofessional.
At 7:05 a.m. on Friday morning, I called Jerry’s Concrete. Mike answered the phone, and then put me on hold to speak to Jake regarding the situation. I shared my dissatisfaction of how the job had been handled.
When I explained to Jake how unprofessional the job looked, he said that the silicone would be put in to fill the space between the inner concrete and the outer concrete.
How can you give an answer when you haven’t seen the poor quality of work?
I asked why they put the liner in between the 2 areas, and he said that the city specs required the ‘slip sleeves’.
I then told him that this was the first that I had heard of this. He then told me that he did tell me on the phone in one of our conversations. I stated that there was no mention of this previously, and if there was, I would have asked for an explanation/detail as to what that meant and looked like. I then most likely would have pushed back and had more discussion with the city councillor’s office to get proper clarification, which may have been pushing for an engineer’s conversation. As my experience details, I asked questions and needed clarification prior to the process being done.
I understood that the city gave approval to put rebar in, but not to connect it to the cured concrete on the driveway, or the existing street concrete.
There was no mention of a ‘slip sleeve’ for this portion of the job. It was understood that after the rebar was installed, the pour was going to be done, and the 2 sections of concrete would be flush with each other, but still allow for breaking up the concrete around the drains without damaging the driveway cured concrete and allow for expansion and contraction.
During that phone call with Jake, I told him that no other work was to be done until a meeting was held with Jerry ****** on our driveway to review the situation.
Jake and I also talked about the mess of footprints and concrete residue/chunks on the driveway after the pour on Thursday. He said he would have a crew clean it up today (Friday, September 16th), as it needs to be done that day for easier removal. He said they would use a power washer.
With regards to the power washer being used, and the concrete chunks/residue on the new concrete driveway, I started to question if that would warrant a reapplication of sealer being applied to protect the concrete?
At the beginning of this job, I took the time to get involved, asked questions, and wanted to understand the process. In doing so, I am glad I did, as it has allowed for multiple corrections throughout their job thus far.
During that conversation, I had discussion with Jake from the office, I was very clear that I wanted to have a meeting with the City of Winnipeg Inspector to understand the reasons for the ridiculous results of our driveway relating to the manhole, and street drain area.
I had a meeting with the city inspector on Wednesday, October 5th on our driveway.
During that meeting we discussed that the city required the isolation ring around the 2 areas for expanding and contracting which included the ‘slip sleeve’.
We also looked at the concrete that was packed into the ring around the manhole cover, and the street drain. (Note)** These drains do get checked by the city on rare occasions for proper drainage on the street. With the concrete packed in between the metal collar and the metal cover, it is not going to be easy for the city to open the drains when it arises.
I ask the inspector if the City of Winnipeg specifications included that the spacers/lift/chairs be installed under the rebar prior to the concrete pour for the city side/approach of our driveway.
It was stated that these were to be installed and would have been installed during the concrete pour.
I told her that I took a video, as well as photos of the concrete pour of the driveway, and it does very clearly show that there were not spacers/lift/chairs installed during the pour.
The city okayed the inspection of the rebar by spray painting a purple ‘OK’ on the ¼ down over the rebar with the understanding that the spacer/lifts/chairs would be installed during the pour.
Videos that I took very clearly show that this was not done.
Again, the rebar is sitting on the packed ¼ down, with 6” of concrete sitting on top of the rebar.
I discussed with the city inspector about the finished work around the drains, and it was not to proper specs.
It was pointed out the slope for the drain of the curb was not proper, and it was marked out by the city inspector that it would need to be redone.
I also notice during our reviewing of the curbing, that a portion of the street curb was framed on a slant and was not lined up with the rest of the street curbing.
In reflecting on the whole situation, I question, why did Jerry’s Concrete people not prior to any work being done, that the isolation rings would need to be installed in the new poured driveway. *** **** **** ********** ** ****** *** ** ** *** *** ******** ***** **** ******** ******** ** *** ********* ********** ********* *** ** ** ****** ** ****** ** **** ******* **** *** *** ***** ***** **** ** *** *** ***** *** **** ******* ******** *** **** * ******* ** ** ******** ** * ******* ********* ** ******** * ******* ********* ** *** *** ******* *** ******* ******** **** ******** *** ******
And why did Jerry’s Concrete personnel not use the spacer/lifts/chairs under the rebar for the whole driveway??? There are no spacers/lifts/chairs in the driveway, either on the homeowner’s property portion, or the city/approach portion of the driveway.
If the foundation is not built correctly, then where is the durability and longevity of the workmanship/materials????
At the beginning of this driveway job, I jokingly mentioned that ‘ I am my own project manager’.
Now…this is not a joke…..’I am and have my own project manager’.
This is not what we planned on paying for in our time, energy, frustration, and delays in getting things done due to the driveway mistakes.
I have spent hours on phone conversations and communicating with various crews to understand the process, and question multiple things and processes that were done.
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I have been patient, and tried to be understanding throughout the process, but that is now over.
In the meeting with Jerry on our driveway on Monday, September 19th at 8:00 a.m., I gave him a detailed report on what and how the process had gone to this point. A portion of that report is what is in this finalized report. ******** **** ** **** ****** ** ***** ****** ** ******* ******** ** *****
On September 26th, I received an email from Jerry’s Concrete stating ‘We at Jerry’s Concrete are giving you a 20-year warranty on any structural cracking on any of the concrete work we did in 2022.’
There was no ownership taken for the multiple errors, and *********** work that was done on our driveway. A 1-line statement in the body of an email is not how a Warranty should be addressed, nor do I believe it to be a valid legal document.
After reviewing all conversations, and finding out the proper specs for the job, and communicating with other reputable concrete professionals, we have come to a decision of what needs to be done to rectify this poor handling of the concrete driveway from all aspects.
They are as follows:
The driveway that was poured on Thursday, September 1st is to remain on site until the Spring of 2023.
In the Spring of 2023, an agreed upon date would be scheduled for Jerry’s Concrete to remove the concrete, rebar, and ¼ down from the driveway (both on the owner’s portion, and the city/approach portion). This would not be a cost to us, the homeowners ************* ********* ** ** ******* ******
The removing and replacing of the curbing, as per the spray marked sections on the street/curb portion for the City of Winnipeg specs are to be completed in the Spring of 2023 in conjunction with the homeowner’s schedule. *********** ****************** *** *** *********** **** **** ** **** ***** *** ** ********* **** *** **** ** *********
The deposit that was given to Jerry’s Concrete May 20, 2022, is to be returned to Susan ********* The reason for the return of the deposit is clearly explained in the detailed report above for all the ‘project managing’ that was done, the many phone calls, in-person, and emails that were carried out, and most importantly for the job not being one to specs or done with ************* This is not a normal practice for a consumer and should not be, to hire a company then follow up on all details of the job, and end up with a driveway that is unacceptable, and not done to specification for both the homeowners, and the City of Winnipeg. Specifically stating the rebar in not installed to specifications with the City of Winnipeg, nor is it to specifications for the property portion of the driveway.
The remaining amount that was to be paid to Jerry’s Concrete will not be paid by the homeowners.