Elwell Concrete & Contracting

Unfortunately I did not check Unilocal beforehand, however I did call to get Elwell to come out to give us an estimate. Seems they might be too busy as they never bothered to return my call to schedule an appt. I am glad they didn’t!

We contracted with Elwell Concrete to remove an existing concrete block retaining wall, 2 sets of concrete stairs, a small driveway pad and a small concrete path. Additionally, they were to form and pour a new concrete retaining wall approx 3″ x 33′, 1 set of 5′ wide steps and a 7’x8’ concrete driveway pad. The contract stated the job would take 2 days.
The experience from start to end was horrible. We signed the contract and paid a 30% deposit about a month in advance to schedule our job. Our start date was May 25, Eric Elwell showed up on the 25^th at about 2:30 pm and we paid him an additional 20%. They proceeded to demo the existing concrete that day, then returned May 27 to finish the demolition. During the demo process, they removed and discarded a section of the neighbors landscape wall. Our property line was clearly indicated with a marker in the sidewalk. Additionally, the neighbors was was a very different material than our existing wall.
Once demo was finished, they began creating the forms for the new wall, and this is where things went horribly wrong. The crew had not been explained where the wall was to be built or any of the details I had discuss with the owned at time of bid and start of the job.
By the weekend of May 29, one section (8 feet) of wall forms were erected, which blew over and landed on the sidewalk.
On Tuesday May June 1 the crew returned and by the 4^th, the main surface of the wall had been formed. I had many concerns with the forms, there were large gaps, they seemed to have little support, and the support it did have was at teh top and bottom. There were unlevel areas, no rebar, ends of the wall that were supposed to tie to existing concrete were left open, on and on. I had a discussion with Eric Elwell on Friday the 4^th explaining my frustration that the work had taken so long as well as all my concerns with the forms. He assured me the wall would be poured on Monday June 7 and he would address any concerns prior to that.
On Monday June 7, the crew was at the site and I reminded Eric of my concerns and he assured me everything would be remedied and he would call me to examine before pouring concrete.
I never received a call. When I arrived home that evening, the concrete had been poured and the forms bowed severely and even split apart in places. (See photos) Eric explained this was normal. I was very concerned and found 2 concrete contractors on Angie’s List that agreed to look at the work. Both contractors stated that it would be impossible to grind 3″ of a bowed wall down with any good result. Not to mention the huge amount of dust associated.
On Tuesday June 8 I discussed my complete dissatisfaction with the wall and explained that I felt trying to repair the wall would take more time than removing it. I also stated that I had lost confidence in Elwell Concrete to do this work and after removal, would like to part ways. Eric agreed that it was the best solution for both parties. At this time I also left a message for the business manager.
By Friday June 11 the wall and most of the debris had been removed. I sent a written notice to Elwell Concrete that as of the wall removal, all I had been left with was the removal of the existing wall and steps and I was unwilling to pay for the forms and work that went into the substandard wall.
Nathan McDonald, the business manager, contacted me and said he had a chance to review our job history and wanted to meet with us. I agreed. He met us at our house and had a letter which was mostly false stating dates, times and other detials of the job. He also stated that I had changed my mind several times causing the forms to be built multiple times, as well as ultimately changing my mind about wanting a concrete wall at all and that was my reason for asking that it be removed. He also wanted to charge us for the entire cost of the contract and stated that if we did not pay him within 5 days he would refer our account to a collection agency as well as placing a lien on our property.
I explained my side of the story, in addition to providing him with several of the photos we had taken of the wall.
After reviewing the photos, Nathan took a much less aggressive tone and stated that we didn’t owe any more on the contract and wanted to «execute a mutual release of claims against each other» if I was to agree to confidentiality. Basically he did not want me sharing the photos of the work with anyone.
End the end we were left with nothing but the removal of original concrete, damage to our property and our neighbor’s property and missing tools from our garage.
I told Nathan I was unwilling to agree to anything unless it involved the refund of a portion of out 50% deposit.
As of this date (June 30, 2010) they are unwilling to do so.
I would not recommend anyone use this contractor. They are completely unprofessional in every way.