A happy customer in the end

I was contacted a couple of months ago by someone who had got my details from paving expert.com to have a look at a driveway what had been started by a local landscaping company but the job had been stopped due to bad workmanship, I have been asked not to mention the name of this company for fears of any possible repercussion but the customer has agreed to let me post details of the bad workmanship and photosthe photos below was how they left the driveway and the front lawn area after 4 days work, the hardcore they had laid was nearly 75mm too high in places and no way you could of laid block paving with a sand laying course on the top of it, they had removed part of the lawn to extend the driveway to the right hand side of the house and added between 75mm - 100mm of hardcore to this area which would of resulted in only having 25mm of an 18mm to dust type limestone sub base by the time the correct levels had been achieved

the drainage channels they had installed to the front of the house had back fall to the right hand corner and the outlet for the drainage channels was just a 90 degree bend which was connected to the existing top water drainage system but they had made a hole at the back of this 90 degree bend so the water from the driveway would of been pouring out of the drainage channels directly onto the house foundations

the underground pipe connecting to the existing drainage system was too high and not encased in concrete, the weight of the car driving over it would of resulted in the pipe cracking and caving in over a period in timewith the way they had installed everything there is no way the water facing the front of the garage could of drained into the channel along the front of the house and would of resulted in a massive puddle in the middle of the drivewaywords fail on the use of the timber decking to form the edge of the driveway, they were going to install the same to the right hand side of the driveway too until the customer stopped them from continuing the workin other words everything they did was totally wrong, i will openly admit that you can write my knowledge of planting and the latin names of plants on the back of a cigarette packet but you can write their knowledge of driveway construction on the back of a book of matchesanyway just over a week from start to finish and everything was rectified

far be it for me to say that landscapers /garden maintenance people should not do additional work other than cutting a few bushes and mowing the lawn for a customer but one can't help thinking that its one thing doing a patio where if the flags are not quite right it will not matter the same as if they make a total cock up of a driveway but it is happening more and more where they are out of their depth as this is the 4th case in less than 5 weeks that i have heard about and a dare say there are many more due to these guys being short of work and turning their hand to anything they can getyour thought ?

"I've brought and used Chinese carbs in the past for around £15. They're a bit rough but still work. Never used a Chinese coil. You can test if there working properly with a vault meter, plenty of instructions on the Web.
Cost of parts is a problem…"

"Again thank you for all your replies. As a self employed gardener i need the best, which from research and talking to others Stihl are the best. They do need repairs every so often but then they all get plenty of use. I do more or less 50 hours a…"

"I generally spray a heck of a lot in Feb/March, or just befroe the buds appear, then as soon as the leaves have appreared stop... unless I have a real problem with a particular plant - otherwise I would spend my life spraying for blackspot :)"

Comments

Graeme @ BGS February 17, 2011 at 8:00pm

Excellent job Mick and you can tell done by a true professional.
PRO

Mick Gammage February 17, 2011 at 8:58pm

thank you Graeme
andy hayton March 3, 2011 at 7:06pm

100% agreement mick. in my town anyone with a van, pick up etc is now doing landscaping, block paving, tree work etc. i know someone who worked in the local sweat shop for years and are claiming in their new advert 10 years experience........

anyway, lovely looking work. definately deserved your marshalls award
PRO

Mick Gammage March 3, 2011 at 9:31pm

Thank you Andy
PRO

Mick Gammage March 3, 2011 at 10:07pm

I don't know the answer to your question Gareth because i did not ask the customer if they had chosen the cheapest quote in the first place

I was pleased to have been awarded the job of rectifying the problem and making the daughters wedding day a success
Jackson's Landscape Design March 3, 2011 at 10:19pm

Yet another tidy driveway from camp Crystalclear....nice one Mick...its not often you hear of professional contractors stepping onto anothers work.....it just goes to show your good character..

Kerry
PRO

Mick Gammage March 4, 2011 at 12:21am

thank you kerry