NewHorizon's Land
11-25-2007, 04:06 PM
Here's the deal
Guy that lives behind me is having a patio and steps put in at the rear of his house. I see the 6 pallets of techo bloc a few days ago. Today I see a competitor ride by my house and didn’t think much of it. Well I go out and see them start working on his project. (I was never asked to do the project which I would have done labor free)
They compact the soil like they should and the guy hops on the skid loader and gets a bucket full of STONE DUST (not modified) and throws it in. NO fabric, nothing. So as I am talking to my neighbor I ask “They won’t be using modified or fabric?" The neighbor asks "Are they supposed to?" As I almost :faint: I replied with a very strong "HEL* Yeah" So I start telling him the PROPER way to install a patio and he just gives me one of the looks :noidea: I said well when it fails in a couple of years make sure you call me to fix it.
The crew continued to fill the "hole" with STONE DUST till they had 6" and THEN started to compact it. I just keep biting my tongue. I see the owner of the company running the tamp and he can’t figure out why he is not getting good compaction :confused:. The whole time I just want to :brick: at the owner for screwing customers and our industry.
However it can’t be totally blamed on him. The TECHO BLOC dealer is trying to convince ME that I do not need to use a '3/4" - ' modified and that a '3/8" -' will do just fine and that concrete sand he says is the SAME as mason or bar sand. Maybe this is why since this place started selling Techo bloc there have been more "Hardscapers". This dealer does not sell 3/4" modified or concrete sand or joint sand.
(The following are rough prices)
Materials:
Assorted pallets of techo bloc to include the wall block for the steps $2000
STONE DUST $300-400
Equipment:
Wacker 1550 tamp (this is brand new, may be first job) $1500
Cat skidsteer (Rental) $275 weekend
When it fails and the neighbor calls me to fix it PRICELESS
So my real question here is: What would you have done? I like my neighbor and don’t want to see him get screwed.
Guy that lives behind me is having a patio and steps put in at the rear of his house. I see the 6 pallets of techo bloc a few days ago. Today I see a competitor ride by my house and didn’t think much of it. Well I go out and see them start working on his project. (I was never asked to do the project which I would have done labor free)
They compact the soil like they should and the guy hops on the skid loader and gets a bucket full of STONE DUST (not modified) and throws it in. NO fabric, nothing. So as I am talking to my neighbor I ask “They won’t be using modified or fabric?" The neighbor asks "Are they supposed to?" As I almost :faint: I replied with a very strong "HEL* Yeah" So I start telling him the PROPER way to install a patio and he just gives me one of the looks :noidea: I said well when it fails in a couple of years make sure you call me to fix it.
The crew continued to fill the "hole" with STONE DUST till they had 6" and THEN started to compact it. I just keep biting my tongue. I see the owner of the company running the tamp and he can’t figure out why he is not getting good compaction :confused:. The whole time I just want to :brick: at the owner for screwing customers and our industry.
However it can’t be totally blamed on him. The TECHO BLOC dealer is trying to convince ME that I do not need to use a '3/4" - ' modified and that a '3/8" -' will do just fine and that concrete sand he says is the SAME as mason or bar sand. Maybe this is why since this place started selling Techo bloc there have been more "Hardscapers". This dealer does not sell 3/4" modified or concrete sand or joint sand.
(The following are rough prices)
Materials:
Assorted pallets of techo bloc to include the wall block for the steps $2000
STONE DUST $300-400
Equipment:
Wacker 1550 tamp (this is brand new, may be first job) $1500
Cat skidsteer (Rental) $275 weekend
When it fails and the neighbor calls me to fix it PRICELESS
So my real question here is: What would you have done? I like my neighbor and don’t want to see him get screwed.