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Beautiful, quick, professional job on my small, steep driveway! Very patient and knowledgeable designer!
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At first, I was hesitant even to contact a paving company to get estimates because I have such a small (300 sf) and steeply sloped driveway. From what I knew previously, most companies had minimum sf/price restrictions that would not make my small job possible.
I have a 1920s French Normandy/storybook style house, so while the idea of interlocking concrete pavers greatly appealed to me (since they could achieve the look of fragile/irregular natural cobblestones but have the ease of installation and strength of concrete), I had also (erroneously) thought it was not safe to have pavers installed on a driveway as steeply sloped as mine. Of course, I also didn't want to spend a fortune to remodel such a small space, and I was afraid that pavers were going to be too expensive. Even as small as my driveway is, frankly, I had never undertaken an outdoor construction project of this scope before on my own, so I was nervous about tackling my driveway at all!! Besides, it is *really* hard to find street parking in my Hollywood Hills neighborhood, so I was worried that if the driveway work took longer than a few days (such as installing new ugly concrete, which takes forever to cure), I would be out of a parking spot for up to a month, which would make my daily life extremely difficult.
When my car began to bottom out to the point that I actually could no longer get in my driveway, however, I knew it was long past time to demo the old, cracked concrete. After calling several other companies, I was thrilled when I called Go Pavers and found out their job minimum was just 200 sf with no price minimum, and they were even having a special sale on all of their pavers installed at $9-13/sf, which meant that I could afford the job!
Kobi was the designer who handled my job from beginning to end, and from the amount of time he spent with me, he made it clear that the outcome of my small driveway was just as important to him as a mile-long driveway, which really made me feel like he valued my business and wanted me to be happy. First of all, his initial meeting with me was on a Sunday morning (in order to accommodate my difficult schedule). Second, he was so incredibly patient in answering all of my million stupid questions, and really made me believe that everything would turn out great--and not just by providing vague reassurances, either, but by giving me actual facts and evidence. Notably, he explained how 1) the polymerized (special) sand holds the pavers firmly in place but also allows for movement in our earthquake-prone area (versus plain concrete, which will just crack, as my old driveway did), 2) how the sand would allow easy removal of just one stone if replacement was needed (versus having to cut a hardened grout/mortar joint with traditional brick), 3) how the driveway would be regraded to be even and prevent bottoming out, and 4) the final slope would be well within spec for pavers to be installed according to ICPI guidelines (I even looked online to double-check, and indeed, everything he said was 100% correct)!! Also unlike natural stones or poured concrete, paving stones (if installed by an ICPI installer, like Go Pavers) have a lifetime guarantee, which made me feel like choosing pavers was a much more worthwhile investment than any other driveway material. Since Kobi's company just happens to be a distributor for the company that manufactures the paving stones I chose, I knew they would be around to help uphold that guarantee!
In general, I was really impressed with Kobi's current ICPI certification (in addition to licensure, liability insurance, and workmen's comp, the proofs of which he proudly showed me without my needing to request them, and he even gave me copies to keep in a neat folder, which let me know that distributing these materials is standard operating procedure for his company), as well as his clear knowledge of pavers, paving installation procedures, and especially local building code and permit regulations, which made me feel that I really had an expert on the job. In L.A., there are so many "contractors" that are willing to do jobs with no regard to building codes, so I was much more reassured that Kobi and Go Pavers were not some of these fly-by-night guys!!
Plus, Kobi even demonstrated his excellent ability to offer aesthetic guidance in terms of what paver stones and colors would be most appropriate for my eclectic home (which many--especially male, LOL--contractors can't)! Sure enough, Kobi's initial choices (Arbel paver in the Bella color, which is a multi-part paver that closely resembles natural, irregularly-shaped flagstone) were completely right and what I ultimately chose in the end, but even so, he was quite happy to humor my initial indecision about choosing a non-traditionally-shaped cobblestone by ordering and delivering samples of other (square/rectangular) stones in a range of finishes and colors directly to my home so that I could take my time and make my own choice without pressure.
As a final bonus, the all-inclusive price he quoted me for the job was extremely competitive!! Even if it hadn't been, I still would have felt really comfortable about deciding to go with his company because of his obvious knowledge and expertise, and especially his friendly demeanor and great patience that made him so easy to work with.
Once I approved the bid, signed the contract, and put down a small deposit, Kobi ordered the samples the next business day. They arrived in a couple of days, and then I took a few additional days to mull over which paver/color I wanted. As soon as I let Kobi know my final decision, however, the full paver pallets were ordered the same day. In fact, they arrived so quickly that before I knew it, about a week had gone by, and Kobi was already calling me to let me know that he was ready to begin the work the next day!! Unfortunately, I had to delay the start of the job for several more weeks due to reasons of my own as well as weather problems (rain); even so, Kobi was always completely accommodating of my schedule and never became disgruntled. Even though he was working to schedule my small job between several other much larger jobs, he was even able to give me the advance (5-day-plus) notice I had requested so that I would have time to make arrangements to pay to park my car elsewhere at night. I have seriously never met a contractor that was so humble and good-natured!!!
Once we had a firm start date, I have to mention that I think it is a real testament to the Go Pavers workmen's dedication when the crew still showed up the morning that the work was scheduled to begin despite the horrific December 2011 Santa Ana windstorm that had coincidentally hit Los Angeles the night before (which had felled trees and knocked out power to large portions of the city). Although they were only slightly delayed that morning, the foreman, Nestor, even had the courtesy to call me to let me know that they were stuck in traffic due to the power outages (and to make sure that I had power at my location to plug in their equipment). Plus, unlike some designers that you never see again, Kobi was on-site that first day and throughout the week to supervise the work directly, as was Nestor the foreman, so I never felt like I was on my own with the work crew and not able to ask any questions that came up.
The entire job took just one day longer than expected (which was, of course, no big deal)--about five completely stress- and problem-free days in all, which included demolition, regrading the slope, widening the actual driveway, and rebuilding a natural stone retention wall by hand (which the guys actually did on a SATURDAY afternoon!!!), as well as a great deal of hand-cutting of the paving stones to form the edges of the driveway. On that point, I should note that the Arbel pavers I chose are 80mm thick (i.e., much thicker than most pavers), and yet, the guys took the time and trouble to make tiny, tiny cuts in order to match the pattern and give my driveway very straight edges, which of course resulted in an extremely professional and "finished" appearance on all four sides...I was so, so pleased and amazed when I saw it! The work crew also carefully followed all my instructions regarding letting themselves into and out of the property, and neatly cleaned up after themselves at the end of each workday, so my neighbors and I were hardly inconvenienced at all (sidewalk access was kept clear, etc). There wasn't even much noise when the old concrete was being removed, which had been my biggest concern in terms of disturbing neighbors.
In all, everyone on the team (including the staff who answered calls at the home office) was extremely professional, diligent, and polite. Everything went according to plan, and all services/work were performed just as promised. It was a fantastic experience for my very first major outdoor remodeling/construction work (the most I had done before was pick a new color to replace existing leaky gutters, LOLOLOL, which probably gives you an idea of why I felt so initially overwhelmed, and why I was so grateful that Kobi was always there to hold my hand, so to speak)! Needless to say, the final result is seriously stunning--better than I had even hoped. The installation wasn't even finished, and I had already started getting compliments from the neighbors each night. They were equally impressed with the results, the price, and the professionalism that I had described, so I'm hoping Kobi will get a lot of referral business from my driveway! And yes, I am no longer bottoming out my car on my gorgeous new driveway, so I couldn't be more pleased. :) I just wish I had more spots to pave so I could have more of these beautiful pavers around my house! Thank you so much for everything!!!!!
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