D&S Concrete Won't Finish the Job

We've been in our new house 4 months now, and examination of the stamped concrete front porch, walk, and driveway borders reveals fading, mottling, and small cracks. I attribute this to the subcontractor, D&S Concrete, failing to seal the stamped concrete. It should have been power washed and sealed as soon as weather permitted in order to retain color and prevent cracking. Despite sunny, warm weather, and many, many calls to Steve Solano of D&S Concrete, this simple procedure has yet to be accomplished. At this stage, some methods of restoring the concrete color and then sealing it may be required.

Original drawing for front porch and walk design

Framing porch

Porch poured

Framing walk

Framing walk

Walk being poured

Walk poured

Front walk in June not yet power washed or sealed

Dull look of stained concrete walk

Mottled driveway border due to not being sealed

A properly washed and sealed walk should look like this

Some things still need fixing

Weather strip at front door has gap at bottom

There is no heating vent in ceiling of downstairs bathroom.

The Master Bedroom, bath, and WIC are much colder than rest of upstairs.

Exposed deck post anchors

Meter yellow wire covered with concrete

Porch hasn't yet been pressure washed

Ditto walk (and concrete slag hasn't been cleared from lot across street)

Goo hanging from stucco under window of BR #3

Stucco needs to be pressure washed

We have no operational ethernet sites

Charter has wired the house for cable (this is the comm box outside), but won't connect ethernet.

HDMI wires were not pulled through conduit by Charter.

The shelving in the credenza needs horizontal holes cut to bring wires through to DVD player and receiver (not yet placed) on right.

Chandelier needs to be lowered. We'd also like a dimmer switch for the fixture.

Light outside garage mandoor needs to be replaced.

Flatwork and Landscaping

Driveway with stamped border.

Front walk being laid.

Completed front walk matching front porch.

Terraced platform at east side of home.
Two gates, an upper and a lower, will be placed here.

Gravel path leads around east side of home to backyard.

Area under deck to be used for garden equipment storage.

NE corner of backyard showing retaining wall and fence posts.

Sprinkler system along back of yard.

Sprinkler system being laid underground.

Paving stones to be used on patio and walkway inside fence line.

Looking west, utilities on right. Utilities trench
stretches across backyard to east side.

Fence line on west side of house.

A concrete walk will branch off from the sidewalk and go
up to the fence line.

Plants going in the front.

Plants at east side of driveway.

Retaining wall and planting in backyard just outside Stephen's window.

Backyard curbing defining separation between planting bed and lawn.

Paving stone patio and walk.

NE corner of backyard. The trees are dogwood and Japanese Maple.

East side of yard. Trees are Sky Rocket Junipers.

Status Report

Work on the new home is nearing completion. The primary holdup is the concrete work for the driveway, front walk, and east side pad. The landscaper needs to complete a paving stone patio and walk in back. The weather has either been too cold or too wet to permit the work to proceed.

We also need stairs built for garage and deck entry.

Need to have a concrete walk laid up to fence line in back.

Electrical work needs to be completed. The light fixture outside the garage door needs to be changed, a blank needs to be installed for the great room light switch, and a number of outlet covers need to be installed. Light fixtures above vanity in powder room are crooked and need adjustment.

An additional outlet has been installed in the hall bathroom. According to Todd of Silverline Electric, the circuit for the bathroom will handle 1440 watts. Our current space heater pulls 1320, so we'll have to get a smaller heater. The 3rd pendant line has been installed in the main kitchen, and an additional switch has been installed for the can lights over the downstairs kitchenette. The LED covers have been changed.

There's still work to be done in the storage room, including installing the vent cover, wrapping the furnace ductwork, and covering a hole in the ceiling.

Trim around fireplace needs to be reattached, and floorboard in front of hearth needs to be installed.

Toilet seat in hall bath is missing.

Temporary shower panel for hall bath remains to be installed.

Touch up painting remains to be done (paint cans in utility room).

Talon Homes, Inc. performed a thorough walkthrough to identify drywall repair and touch up painting required.

Chip Grisham, Talon Homes, Inc.

Mike Creamer, Talon Homes, Inc.

Atrium delivered window screens Thursday. They are stored in the garage. Also in the garage are excess light fixtures that KIE needs to pick up.

There's some hardware (e.g., mudroom closet door pulls) that needs to be attached.

There are items in the garage that need to be retrieved (e.g., old kitchen window, lumber).

Northwood is scheduled to do their "bump and adjust" on the cabinets next Tuesday, the 11th.

Northwood will add hole and grommet to desk to allow electrical/phone wires.

Other fixes are shown in the photos below. Cleaners are working at the house this weekend and any further work in the house may require that they return. Subs should be instructed that shoe/boot covers are mandatory. Laying cardboard will not suffice. Painters should use measures (tarp, tape) to avoid spills.

Access door in master WIC needs to have a handle attached.

Talon is going to arrange to have a lattice work fence built to protect the compressor wire by the deck.

Stuccoed deck posts need to be painted.

Some laminate flooring is not flush. The gaps need to be filled/caulked somehow.

Washer drain needs to be installed.

Bottom of door frames in places not flush with flooring (this is entry to master WIC).