Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Aug 18, 2013 2:38 pm Hi, Hope to get some comments in regards to a paving work a landscaper did for me. This person/company was hired to pave a 20sqm area in my backyard, it took much longer than estimated and I am uncertain if the work was done correctly. The job is not finished yet (he verbally told my wife he is going to level the pavers in the end?!), due to several circumstances I don't trust this person too much and I am afraid he rushes now to finish the job to claim the outstanding money without delivering a satisfying result. I didn't follow through the complete process of work (I am not always home) and can't comment on all steps he did for the preparation but would say he never used a compactor and may have put a sandbed of max 5cm onto the crushed rocks (maybe another 5cm). Not sure if that is sufficient for a backyard?! Any comments here? The result (again, I am not sure what he is going to do as the final step) so far doesn't look too good to me and I would like to hear some opinions from someone who does paving or someone who understands what kind of result I can expect without being too demanding/picky. Photos (hope the link works): https://plus.google.com/photos/10749532 ... 7872308331 Thx for any response already. Chris Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 2Aug 18, 2013 5:47 pm Link didn't work for me. But I've always thought the base is compacted and level before the pavers go down. I would expect it to be pretty level straight after laying, without any further effort required. 4 Beta Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 3Aug 19, 2013 12:22 am Looks pretty ordinary to me. Certainly not good enough for a pro The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 4Aug 19, 2013 5:31 am If he suggests to get everything properly leveled by using a compactor would that be a solution? The pavers are only 25mm thick, would that work? Not sure if he is a pro (possibly not), is it tricky to lay pavers that size or why is the outcome so poor? Regards, Chris Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 5Aug 19, 2013 7:02 am I wouldn't be confident that the compactor would work. By putting himself forward as a landscaper he should be offering a professional job. To do paving properly isn't easy but the bigger the paver the harder it can be. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 6Aug 19, 2013 10:35 am That job certainly is below par. I'd be holding onto any sort of payment until he fixes it. Not good at all. As suggested above, if he a landscaper, he should be embarrassed to put forward that sort of job. Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 7Sep 13, 2013 7:00 pm Thanks for all replies and comments already. The guy ran over the pavers with a compactor chipped several edges (as expected), changed a couple of them and "finished" his work while I was away. Apparently he believes the job is done and OK like that, currently he is sourcing some pebbles he is meant to put at our path. Now my questions again: Am I to picky or is it normal to have damaged edges in pavers? Are the pavers not meant to be absolutely even (without "steps" of 5mm)? If I run a string across the area the middle appears to be about 15mm lower, can I expect better? When stepping onto several pavers I clearly can feel and hear (scratchy noise) that they move. I don't think they will seddle further down? The overall impression I have when I look at this is disappointing, does a proper job look like that? The pavers the guy laid at our path have those really weird imperfections. What's that? For me it is unacceptable. Am I over the top here? In my original specification I asked for approx. 3m3 of pebbles/crushed rocks around the path pavers, any access I planned to use later elsewhere. Idea behind that was to have a proper layer of about 10cm of pebbles. Looking now at the already haunched pavers I can't see how he is able to put more than 5cm. What is the typical height you normally get when asking to get an area filled with pebbles or crushed rocks? Please note that the quote was $4700 for the complete job, above average and chosen as I wanted a headache free thing. Not enough money for a satisfying job? Any comment are welcome. Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/1123165172 ... 86/Paving2 Regards, Chris Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 8Sep 13, 2013 7:34 pm chwoern Am I to picky or is it normal to have damaged edges in pavers? No, they shouldn't be damaged Are the pavers not meant to be absolutely even (without "steps" of 5mm)? The ground looked level so it shouldve been perfectly flat. If its not level then their prepwork was subpar. If I run a string across the area the middle appears to be about 15mm lower, can I expect better? If the middle is lower than the rest, how is water supposed to run off it? water pooling would be bad When stepping onto several pavers I clearly can feel and hear (scratchy noise) that they move. I don't think they will seddle further down? Generally pavers have a small gap in between to prevent this and paving sand fills in the gaps The overall impression I have when I look at this is disappointing, does a proper job look like that? Hard to tell from the photo but the closeups show it's an ordinary amateur job The pavers the guy laid at our path have those really weird imperfections. What's that? For me it is unacceptable. Am I over the top here?Who provided the pavers? The landscapers can save money by buying crap and giving crap excuses to lay them. In my original specification I asked for approx. 3m3 of pebbles/crushed rocks around the path pavers, any access I planned to use later elsewhere. Generally you should have a landscaping design and job contract that is signed off by both parties Idea behind that was to have a proper layer of about 10cm of pebbles. Looking now at the already haunched pavers I can't see how he is able to put more than 5cm. What is the typical height you normally get when asking to get an area filled with pebbles or crushed rocks? Please note that the quote was $4700 for the complete job, above average and chosen as I wanted a headache free thing. Not enough money for a satisfying job? We don't know the extent of what you're after. Any comment are welcome. Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/1123165172 ... 86/Paving2 Regards, Chris Building with Jandson Homes - Eclipse 18. http://adgnetworks.blogspot.com/ Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 9Sep 14, 2013 10:20 am Hi Chris. I am not an expert but to my eye the job is a poor one. You have paid a very fair price for the work. Water run off will be an issue if the fall is wrong. If you are in NSW go to the office if fair trading. They will organise a time to come to your place and inspect the work with both parties. If they rule in your favour, the tradie will be required to make good all issues. Best thing is that its a free govt service (not free but taxpayer funded). Not sure if other states have this authority. Good luck. 2 Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 10Sep 15, 2013 11:31 am There is about $2000 outstanding and I will hold that amount until I am happy. Will try a complaint letter listing all items I am unhappy with including photos etc. If he claims to be a landscaper I suppose he knows he delivered a bad job and tries to get out of that, if he seriously believes it is a professional result he needs an "eye opener" and I consider to get a real pro in who confirms again all my doubts and your opinions and finishes the job if required. Cheers, Chris Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 11Sep 17, 2013 7:18 am Playing upset and telling me I would obviously never be happy with his work the "landscaper" accepted the termination of the contract without any further payment from my side. Alternatively I offered him to involve Consumer Affairs which would probably force him to rectify everything to a professional level within a reasonable time. I guess he knew he possibly would fail again. Lesson learnt. I suppose I will spend most likely now more than the outstanding $2300 to find someone to fix that job Next time I'll specify even that the wheel is round and both (trades person and me) sign that agreement as someone suggested. My bad, I should have requested some contact details of previous clients before. Can someone detail what is the typical progress of payments with those smaller jobs? My case was: 10% deposit 40% after commencing work 50% at completion Should it be better (as I believed for a while the guy did a runner after receiving half the money) or is it unusual: 10% deposit 40% after most/all material is delivered to site 50% at completion Regards, Chris Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 12Sep 17, 2013 11:09 am Sounds like he was in over his head and found out half way through he didn't quite have the skills he thought he did. At least he did the honourable thing and terminated the contract. There are plenty of aholes out there who would have claimed the job was acceptable and pressured you for the money. Re: Landscaper about to finish his paving work. Acceptable? 13Oct 08, 2013 10:57 pm Wow as a landscape contractor, this is an embarrassing piece of work. Even the Haunch is inadequate. Just to answer your question on material thicknesses etc. There are 2 standard paving installations - Rigid & Flexible. Rigid 100mm minimum reinforced concrete slab 50mm Maximum sand cement mortar mix We also have a very particular cement paste and technique Grout Joints and clean and seal pavers Flexible(Pedestrian) excavate area and compact with vibrating plate compactor Import roadbase 75mm min and compact again Test compaction rate Import 25mm course washed riv sand (Important for concrete pavers as limits efflorescence) Lay pavers and fill joints with gap sand then compact (With carpet on you compactor so as not to damage pavers Re fill joints and compact again Clean and seal pavers Being concrete pavers, the white mark are efflorescence, google this to research as it is an in depth subject. Sinking in the middle is no good as water will not only pool there but leach down into the bedding layer and cause further damage/sinkage and (Efflorescence) The lines are terrible and stains all over pavers, he should have covered the job and sealed at the end to protect or at least inform you that you would need to seal. Better stop now....... "Losers" "humanity" "off time" "your" "top notch" "love symbol" Sounds like ponzo is done using other people's toilets 37 14043 Unless there were unforeseeable issues with the site, I dont think you should have to pay for contractors errors or poor planning. I'd probably try and be reasonable and… 5 1857 Hi, Wondering anyone has any recommendation of good landscaper for new home in southern Sydney? My land is a bit sloppy down need a good design. Thanks. 0 1788 |