Review of D&M Concrete driveway installation on 04-12-2024
Choosing D&M Concrete was a Disappointing Mistake. I thought because the company installed a gorgeous gleaming driveway for our neighbor, we could expect the same. Alas, my mistake. Instead of our neighbor's smooth, white finish, our driveway is a mottled mess. (It rained 5 hours after the concrete was poured. No plastic cover was used, despite the early April date.) Instead of razor sharp, straight, even, narrow joints - like the other driveway - our driveway has fat, uneven, rough, crooked joints. ('Hand-crafted' was the explanation given.) Instead of our neighbor's one tiny half-inch crack at the end of one joint, after an entire Wisconsin winter - our driveway has cracks that run all the way down to the base at four (4!) joint ends, with one crack running all the way across the width of the driveway, in less than a month from the day it was poured! ('Those cracks are normal' is the excuse we were given.) And the sidewalk to the porch has an incline instead of the step we discussed, which could prove deadly come winter. We agreed to every upgrade that was suggested to us, bringing the cost to almost $9,000, but the mottling, poor finishing, cracks, and missing step were as gratis as the Western edge, which can barely be seen with the rain damage. ('It will even out in a few months' we were told.)
It is a family-run business. Both Dad and Son are friendly and charming, with calming words but no redress beyond a reseal after the rain. (It rained again within a few hours, so the reseal was ineffective.) If I had it to do over, I would not have a driveway installed in April, and I would not gamble on D&M bringing their best game.
P.S. Dan, the owner, asked me to wait until September before posting my review of the driveway they installed for us this past April, to give the mottled finish time to 'even out', so I waited. Here are pictures I took today, almost 5 months after the installaton. The mottling, sloppy finish, and wide joints are still evident. The cracks along the sides of the joints are partially hidden by fill, by they are still there, not getting any smaller. I still consider our choice of D&M Concrete a disappointing mistake. read more