In late 2014 and early 2015, we started to shop for a patio contractor. Our home has installed irregular (natural shape) slate walkways and a raised patio. The patio wall is constructed of granite, the patio deck is also irregular slate. Due to being 50 years old, previous poor repairs and general neglect of the property by previous owners, the job required an overhaul.
This review concerns Scott Ponti d/b/a Ponti Brick & Stone. Do not do hire this contractor. Run away as fast as you can. We first hired Scott to repoint our chimney. This was in 2013. He showed up on time, did a good job and completed the work on budget. In late 2014 and early 2015, we started to shop for a patio contractor. Our home has installed irregular (natural shape) slate walkways and a raised patio. The patio wall is constructed of granite, the patio deck is also irregular slate. Due to being 50 years old, previous poor repairs and general neglect of the property by previous owners, the job required an overhaul. The walk to the front door is about 50 feet long, the side walk is about 25 feet long and the patio approximately 850 square feet. Plus, we wanted several amendments to the current house, such as a hip / wing wall, to reinforce the aesthetics of the style. Most bidders wanted to tear out the existing materials and replace them with concrete pavers (yuck!). Others had no idea how to begin. Ponti gave us a fair bid, not the lowest, and seemed enthusiastic about the prospect of refurbishing the property. To quote him, ?this is a mason?s dream?. Having previous satisfactory experience, Ponti was hired to do the job. He began in late March 2015. There was some significant rain during this time and reasonably, breaking down the existing structures required extra hours and effort. The exterior of the home was a true mud bog. Rolling into April, work proceeded apace, although there were early glimmers of problems. Ponti would show erratically or not at all. On a clear day, he would not come to the job and the next day, make the excuse that rain was in the forecast. Or, he would only bring sufficient concrete-mixing supplies to perform several hours of work. The original estimate for completion was 5-6 weeks. We slogged on through May. Arriving at Mother?s Day, it was obvious the job was not halfway complete. Then the work really started to slow down. Ponti began whining that he had underbid the job. Obviously, this is a risk of business and not the customer?s fault. His material costs were relatively minor, involving several trucks of concrete and equipment rental of a Bobcat, jackhammer and the like. All told, no more than 20% of cash was attributable to vendors, the remainder being the hours paid himself and his crew (usually 1 other guy and on a few days, 3 workers in total). Mid-May the new completion promise was Father?s Day. And the stories started to build upon themselves. Equipment rental needed to reasonably proceed would never show up, one? days work with a backhoe became 5 days of manual labor. Stone supplies were chronically awaiting manufacture at the local brickyard, limiting work. Into June we rolled. The workforce became Ponti himself, with an occasional helper. He was showing up 2 days a week, for a few hours at a time. Never did he work past noon. He alternated saying he was bored and he always finished his jobs. To nudge him along, we started paying him for piece work. Build a set of steps, we paid $250. Finish the hip wall, $250. Top the wall with slate, $100. And so on. Finally, ?custom? slate ordered from the local stone yard was finished. And Scott remarked that he would have the job completed in 10 days. Immediately thereafter, the week before the Fourth holiday, he did not arrive at our property on Monday. On Tuesday, he worked for 2 hours. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, no Ponti. After the holiday, Monday, no Ponti. Called him, texted him. On Tuesday, he texted back that he was on a 2 week vacation and oops, did he forget to mention that? The following day, he came to our home and without announcing himself, removed his equipment from the property. We then terminated his employment. Scott replied he was planning on returning to the job, which was a ridiculous claim, but ?accepted the termination?. He had not performed 20 hours of work during the entire month of June. The job was about 70% done, we were about 85% cash out-of-pocket. Not a great balance, but as close as we could get to cutting the cord without further financial damage. A lot of details need to be reworked ? stones need to be replaced and irregular surfaces on the walkways will need be leveled. Too, on the patio, Ponti had taken to laying a cement base and placing the stone, without finishing the pointing at that time. After a few rains, we now have dirt, mold and other needed repairs in the crevices, because he was in a hurry and could not be bothered to do the work correctly in the moment. We came to find out that the ?custom? slate he was having cut ? and had a purported 6 week delivery - was in stock every day, and actually cost half the amount he told us. Workers were not arriving at the job because they were weeks in arrears for their pay. Equipment could not be rented because vendors were requiring cash-in-advance. Where did all the cash go? For a fact, we don?t know. Adding insult to injury, starting up the job involved removing the existing slate and stacking it for reuse. Ponti placed a pallet of stone on top of the sewer line clean out, despite us previously pointing out the location of same (which is clearly visible). This sheared off the top of the cleanout and the torque caused the sewer line to crack. This very line had been completely replaced in the spring of 2013 for $6000, an expense we are now facing again. The insurance coverage he claimed to hold had lapsed. Again, do not do hire this contractor. He is dishonest, untrustworthy, unprofessional and ultimately not a qualified mason. Run away as fast as you can.
