Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  07/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Last fall my grandpa got an estimate from Sam’s Excavating- Ashville, OH. The estimate is in the truck drivers name(who my grandpa knows) and Grandpa told me they were supposed to start in October but never showed. I had spoken with Eric-from the office on details, window sizes/placement & to verify that no calcium would be used for foundation. I was never given a contract to sign, it was all purely word of mouth through my grandpa to the driver to the company. The company showed up in December when the weather was 60+ degrees(which was safe for pouring concrete) & they poured the footers/walls. 2 weeks later we went up to inspect the walls & waterproof- that is when we noticed that every wall has large horizontal cracks all the way through(cold joints) caused from Will having calcium put in the concrete so it set up too fast to mesh together. I called the office and asked to speak to the owner. 3 weeks later when Will finally called me back, he assured me it was purely cosmetic. I told him I was concerned for the structural integrity of the walls, as well as the ability to keep moisture out. Will proceeded to tell me I didn’t know what I was talking about(along with cursing at me) but would have his buddy with ******* come & look at it. His friend showed up the same day & a week later the report showed exactly what I expected his friends report to show, yet funny that the guy even verbalized there would be issues but his report didn’t speak of such thing. I then called around to find a structural engineer that would be willing to do the inspection & take the case. The structural engineer informed me the load bearing walls will seep and I would have to do a 2nd perimeter drain & extra gravel(at min)to hopefully keep the east wall from buckling in 20 years. When I informed Will, he cursed at me & threatened to put a lien on my property & sue. However, my homeowners insurance is reporting that they will not cover any damages d/t the pre-existing cracks/issues.

  Business response

  12/15/2022

  We at Sam’s Excavating pride ourselves in high quality work, professional and transparent customer service, and doing what is right in all situations.  In regards to the complaint filed on 7/19/2022, we had previously made multiple attempts to review the stated issues with the property owner but had been unsuccessful;   We stand by our work, but to ease the property owner’s concern, we hired an outside 3rd party licensed consultant (in January 2022) to test the structural integrity of the poured walls.  The report showed the integrity of the walls met standards and any visual demarcations did not affect the structural integrity; a copy of the report was supplied to the property owner. Following that report, we again made attempts to contact the property owner but were unsuccessful.  In regards to the property owner's concern of the walls keeping the moisture out, Sam's Excavating is not responsible for the waterproofing process.  That has always been and always will be the property owner's responsibility and was not included on the estimate.

  Customer response

  12/15/2022

  I am rejecting this response because: the Professional Structural Engeneer that I had to hire does feel that the structure is compromised due to all of the cracking/full thickness cold joints. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** *****

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