Driveway sealing
Sealing work was performed but the work was destroyed by torrential rain approximately 3 hours after completion. Sealing materials were washed off of significant portions of the driveway and the company Atlas/Nate refuses to speak with me about what can be done to repair the work. I am out the entire amount I paid and I need to find another company to come redo the work Nate refuses to return my multiple calls and emails. I guess he's got his money and he doesn't care what happens after that. Additional details: 1300sf driveway and quote was $300. My research indicated I should expect to pay between $0.14 and $0.25/sf so this quote seemed reasonable. The 2 man crew arrived around noon (appointment was for 8:30am) and they began using a blower and broom to clean the driveway but stopped after a few minutes and let me know that they thought the quote was way too low. I immediately tried to call Nate but could not reach him by phone. I also sent email. I was initially concerned that the crew was trying to shake me down for a little extra cash but apparently they had a way to reach him and he gave them the go ahead at the originally quoted price. They finished the work, I paid them, and 2 hours later it started raining - but very lightly. At about 3:30pm that afternoon, Nate finally called me (based on voice messages I had left earlier) and we talked. I express concern about the rain but he indicated that unless we have places on the driveway where water pools we should not have a problem. We did not talk about the issues that might occur with hard / torrential rain. Nate also indicated that he knew that rain was coming but thought it would be later in the day. At about 4:00pm the torrential rain started. And while I was still worried, there was no pooling water (driveway is very flat). At no time was I was never informed that hard rain could destroy the work. I came out the next morning and the work was ruined. Large areas of the driveway had all the sealant stripped off and there was sand everywhere. I was clear to me that this work needed to be done again. I placed multiple calls to Nate and sent multiple emails - No response. I did manage to connect with one of the guys that came to do the work (Scott) and he said that he would ask Nate to call me. He also said that this was an "act of god" and not their problem. He said if they came out to repair the work that I would need to pay again. Scott was rude and argumentative and he also indicated that they knew rain was coming but thought it was be latter in the day/evening. My position: 1) I am not an expert so I had no idea (and was not informed by Nate) that hard rain would ruin the work. These guys do this for a living so presumably they knew that a hard rain would damage the coating. 2) Nate knew that rain was coming and took a calculated risk - HIS risk NOT MINE. If he had informed me that rain could damage the work (as he should have), I could have taken on part of the risk - If after being informed of the risk I chose to go ahead with the work then I would certainly also be willing to take on the added expense of repairing the damage. I can say for sure that had Nate told me that hard rain would damage the work I would have asked to reschedule. I've lived in New England for over 25 years and I know that the weather forecasts are often way off. Horrible experience with this company. Poor communications, terrible customer service. Stay away!!!
