-
March 2019 by Rodney Ibrahim
DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT USE THESE GUYS! BUYER BEWARE!!My wife and I had been planning to get our driveway done for the past 7 years and we finally decided to take the plunge. We met with over 10 companies and one of the last ones we met was Michael and James Doran from Creative. He was a friendly Irish guy who seemed knowledgeable and REALLY wanted our business. He offered a price much less then everyone else because he said he "wanted to get his name around my town" and "gaurentees the work for 5 yrs and no money will be paid until you're completely satisfied". I told him that my main concern was I didnt want any water issues and he promised no problems and proper drainage. I respected the candor and we decided to give him a go despite the ONE review (which was very negative on Yelp).The following day he dropped off his Bobcat to do some of the heavy lifting and said we'll begin Monday. Great. Monday comes and he comes with a crew of 4 non-English speaking guys who probably arent authorized to work here to begin laying the blocks for my driveway. I noticed that some of the blocks were crooked and not in a straight line. This to me is masonry 101, make a straight line! I'm not a perfectionist but things should be done right. I brushed it off.Then they try to use the Bobcat but it doesnt work, so they get a company out to fix it. That takes half the day. Meanwhile the workers are laying the blocks the wrong way. I tried to tell them how we want it but they dont speak English! So I have to wait till Michael comes back. The first day was NOT how I imagined it.Next day comes and they are working on our walkway that we wanted to add. I have never seen a worse job. I tell Michael about it and he agrees it could be better so my wife and I take chalk and literally draw and outline how we want the blocks so these can visualize it. That worked. Meanwhile the company that fixed the Bobcat is parked outside our house waiting for Michael to show up and surprisingly he doesnt show. The guys ask me if he is coming because "this guy owes us alot of money and doesnt want to pay". Oh boy..Fast fwd 4 days, the blocks are laid, the stone is set down and I'm prepared to wait bc everyone we spoke to said you need to wait at least a week to let the stone compact and get settled and to assure there are no lumpy spots, so I was shocked when he said we will be laying the asphalt tmrw! I asked him why the rush and he said that what we're doing and he wouldnt take no for an answer. He also asked that we have half the money in cash so he can pay his guys (obviously under the table), and the other half in check.The driveway gets done and initially looks good but any driveway will look good right after its done. Its when it rains you'll see the true integrity of the work. Well as luck would have it, it poured overnight and when I woke the next morning I was shocked! A small pond had formed in the middle of my driveway with a bunch of mini puddles all over (see pictures). No drainage, VISIBLE low spots, and lumpy ashpalt all over. I immediately stopped payment on the check and told him he needed to fix this. When I said he would not be getting payment until its fixed he threatned me and it's gotten to a point where I have gotten an attorney.Do yourself a favor, pay the extra couple thousand dollars and get a real company. These guys are a disaster, please dont make the same mistake I did.UPDATE: I've added a few more pictures to show just HOW BAD this job is. I wish I could attach the video of how BUMPY the car drives over this. The mortar is already chipping between the blocks! The blocks arent even in a straight line, the asphalt already showing the wear after 1 month, it just keeps getting worse! The best part, the 2 "reviews" that came right after mine, they're making up their own reviews! How stupid do they think people are??? Stay tuned for the BBB complaint..
-
March 2019 by Jim Doran
Hi this guy didint want to pay for the job he is a con and very evil I told him I would make it right but he said no so he wouldn’t have to pay the money have a look for your self in pictures below I do very good work but he didint want to pay very bad guy
-
March 2019 by Johanna Hanrahan
We had our driveway and sidewalk completely removed and replaced. They even had to deal with removing some very large tree roots. The finished product looks great. The price was great and the service even better. They were timely and conscientious. We highly recommend them.
-
October 2018 by Bradley S.
DO NOT HIRE. The short version: the owners talk a good game, perform poor quality work, then don't return to finish the job. The company also operates under the name Boss Paving, so beware. The long version: At the end of August, we contacted Creative Paving about repairing our front steps prior to moving out. A dark-haired gentleman named Michael responded very quickly and came out either the same or next day and told me all about how they were going to remove old shoddy repair work, make the staircase look like new, and even do the same for the foundation wall. It all sounded great and we ended up selecting the company, despite a quote twice as much as another company, because Michael made it sound like he was going to provide us the staircase of our dreams. They came out a week later and when I got home from work, I found insulating spray foam all over our siding, front door mat, our neighbors stairs, our garden. Construction debris everywhere, including common areas of our association. The best way to describe the concrete was "globbed on". I am not a confrontational person and I hate having to criticize someone else's work that I paid for, but this was unacceptable. During a phone call later that night, I tried as magnanimously as possible to express my family's displeasure, and Michael's partner John Gallagher spoke with me very graciously, said they would make everything right. We asked if they could stop by the next day as we were getting our kids ready for bed, but John said they weren't far from the house. They show up and my wife goes out to chat with them. Five or ten minutes later she comes back in saying they're demanding payment in full and she feels threatened. I go out and John, who had been so nice on the phone, was obviously agitated. He said that his guys did the work, so they expect to be paid, and any issues that need to be addressed are covered by warranty and they'll come back to fix them. I explain that we had no problem paying them in full, but we've worked with many contractors before and have never done so before a job is complete (we had already given them half the money). We argued back and forth for several minutes (I should have known they'd never come back when John threatened to leave and said "You only want to pay half? Then half a job is what you get"). I eventually felt guilted into giving them a little more money, but not the full amount. John also tried to minimize the issues we described and even tried to blame their own poor planning on us (they didn't know the prefabricated portion of the stairs is hollow, and the gaps they were asked to fill were bigger than expected...blame Michael for his poor assessment skills, not us). John claimed the "globbed on" pieces of concrete would wash away in the rain. Anyone who lived in New Jersey during September 2018 would know how much rain we got, and the work looked unchanged at the end of the month. As I've alluded, no one ever came back to finish the job and we had to hire someone else to fix it. Michael was slow to respond after that and claimed they were coming back September 10th, then September 21st, but no one showed either time. He hasn't responded to any communications since the 21st and a phone call placed to their office was answered by someone claiming to be his son who said Michael was on vacation. It's a lost cause at this point. Please avoid this company at all costs. Working with them is a waste of your time, money, and energy. Again, they also work under the name Boss Paving. Don't be fooled and please DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
-
August 2018 by Johanna H.
We had our driveway and sidewalk completely removed and replaced. They even had to deal with removing some very large tree roots. The finished product looks great. The price was great and the service even better. They were timely and conscientious. We highly recommend them.
