academy sealers

Based on this informative exchange, I see both sides. Based on my judgement I'd have no problem asking Academy Sealers to work on my driveway.

 

Too bad we don't have cement driveways...

 

Bear-
You're right....just consider me a cranky, dissatisfied, unreasonable customer who doesn't know what he's talking about and we're done.
This subject was listed on the forums (I didn't start it) so I responded.

 

Cliff,

I understand why you are so disgruntled. Here is how I read the sequence of events.

When your wife brought up the raised areas our crew told her that they should evaporate.

You assumed that we were lazy in as much as we did not smooth them down at that time. If we had tried to walk back on the driveway, it would have ruined the job.

You understood what we said about the raised areas to mean they would disappear. We never meant to imply they would disappear.

You called and said you could not live with the excess on the brush marks.

I came back out, looked at the driveway, called you back, and scheduled a free reseal for your brush marks.

On the day we came, there was a car in the driveway. I apologize that rescheduling that recoat slipped from my mind. It was not an intentional act. We do over 4000 driveways a year, and sometimes if a record is not put in the correct place in the database, it just never comes up again.

You bring this matter to my attention on this forum. I apologize and offer to do the reseal.

I have seen a lot of hard work by you for this community. You are active and I believe it is to the communities benefit to have active people in the community.

You have read the facts in your particular situation that you hired the wrong company that does not follow up. You have ignored my posts offering to make it right. I am not sure why a neighbor would campaign so actively against a company located in the community. If you don't believe it will make a difference, your wrong. I just can't believe that you are so stubborn, as to not maybe rethink your analysis. You think we were blowing you off, I have re-explained the facts, and offered to make it right.

Is it possible that your analysis is wrong. Is it possible that non-rescheduling of your free recoat was an anomalous honest mistake. Is it possible that our not fixing the problem right then and there was because we could not walk back on the driveway and not because of laziness. Your assumptions on my responses imply that you do not believe my sincerity, and to that I take great offense.

I would ask you to re-examine the facts. You posted on this forum, because you are trying use your experience and conclusions to inform others about whom they should choose. You have stated 3 times in your communications that you would go with my old company. You have never rethought your position. I appreciate active members of the community, but not only are you affecting my livelihood, but your reading of the facts are wrong.

I would greatly like to redo the driveway as promised. I am not sure why you are content to be dissatisfied. I could redo the driveway for you Friday, Monday, or Tuesday. We ask that you stay off the driveway for 24 hours. Please let me know at nilswarga@hotmail.com which day you would prefer. No one needs to be home for us to do the work.

(To all others reading this post, I have been doing driveway sealing for 13 years. We have already done over 130 residents in Broadlands alone this year, and almost 3000 total this year. We always answer our phones and if there is ever any issue (a rare occurence believe it or not) we will gladly take care of your problem. We will never let down our neighbors. I look forward to serving this community for a long time. When you call, in all likelihood, you will be dealing directly with me.)

I hope to conclude this matter.

Sincerely,

Nils "Bear" Warga
Owner
Academy Sealers
21364 Chickacoan Trail Dr.
Resident for 6 years

 

Hey Bear, I would hire you in a heart beat, but my driveway is concrete. I believe in supporting community businesses.

 

This is a very emotional issue for me, and I appreciate the support.

Lets move beyond words and look at actual evidence. Just out of curiosity, I went by to look at the "Perfect" driveway across the street from Cliff.

Academy Sealers did 21454 Basil Ct well over 4 months ago. There is one noticeable mark that Cliff has been mentioning on the middle left. I am not saying it is perfect, and I have offered to reseal it.

The other company Cliff is promoting did 21455 Basil ct yesterday. Look at the cracks and the consistency of the sealer and the brush marks.

When comparing bear in mind that 21454 was done over 4 months ago.

I honestly can't believe that the Homeowners Association President is going out of his way to turn business away from my company. Anyone curious as to the validity to either arguments should take the 5 minutes and let the evidence speak for itself.

Words are just words, my friends and close neighbors trust me. Now if you don't know me you can actually see what the results are of thetwo arguments.

I am trying to be nice but I still can't believe what has been said.

Again I apprciate all the support from the level headed people.

Nils "Bear" Warga
21364 Chickacoan Trail Dr
Owner
Academy Sealers
Resident for 6 years

 

your professionalism on this board hasn't gone unnoticed Bear- and it goes a long way to forming opinions of you and your company! great customer service is more than getting it right the first time- it's admitting to errors and going above and beyond to correct them.

i hope Cliff allows your company to reseal the driveway and we hear the end of this saga, since we've now heard the beginning and middle...

if we ever need a seal, you'll get our business.

 

I have a concrete driveway. It was a bad pour and has had cracks and pitting from almost day one, despite *never* using ice melting agents on it and we park inside the garage 98% of the time. You can also see the gridwork which is rusted up by the garage.

Our builder says it's fine and the problems we have with it are because we used rock salt on it within the first year.

We went back and forth with Engle about this the first three years we were in the house and finally just gave up.

I don't want to think about what it's going to cost for us to replace - the entire slab is crumbling so it's not possible to simply patch and repair. There are no gigantic craters in it yet so we're putting it off for now. It's just one of many of what I consider "major" repairs that we need to do on the house because of problems in construction - such as a complete master bathroom renovation thanks to water behind the walls....

 

I don't know that much about the maintenance of concrete driveways. From what little I have seen, there is very little you can do other than fill large cracks. I have seen some light coatings desidned to cover concrete, but I think that was semi-decorative mainly for concrete walkways. You could call a private concrete company, but they likely would try to sell you a new driveway.

I definitely don't know that much about concrete, but if I had to take a guess about the right action in your situation, it might be to see how long you can live with it. Hopefully someone else can chime in with a more experienced opinion.

Bear

 

Concrete was Re: academy sealers

We moved in back in 2000 and have had driveway problems from day one.

My dad is a contruction engineer and when he was visiting once, he showed me how we simply had a bad pour because the concrete problems weren't simply confined to the surface which they would be if it was a problem with salt. Our entire slab is crumbling and the substructure is in such poor shape that patching wouldn't hold and would end up separating from the base.

Our builder disagreed and stated that even if it was a bad pour (which they insisted it was not), our warranty covered nothing outside the house.

So, I'm just biding my time until we have craters instead of merely quite large pits.

 

I moved into my house here just over a year ago and already have a creeping crack started in my concrete driveway. From what I gather, I should be able to fill it using a thin mortar or epoxy...but I'm going to wait until it hits a relief crevice first. Pisses me off...we don't even park in the driveway, only the garage and it never snows here so no salt.

 

How come most of the Parthenon is still standing after 3000 years but the concrete the builders install starts to deteriorate after a few years?

Bear

 

Because it is made of limestone and marble rather than man-made substances.

 

FWIW a few years ago we were looking into getting a stamped concrete patio. While studying the pros and cons of concrete I learned there are two types of concrete. The type that's cracked and the type that is going to crack.
We chose brick

 

I think the issue with all the cracking concrete around here is the speed at which it's done, and poor foundation work done beneath the concrete.
We had a concrete patio poured 6 years ago by Perfect Pavements and it hasn't even begun to show a hint of cracking anywhere.

 

Bear-
I will consider your offer. Am I stubborn? At times, yes.
You mention my role on the HOA. At no time did I ever bring this into the conversation. I only gave my perspective as a customer. My "signature" has my HOA role on it on it, but I have it so when I discuss what the HOA is doing, people know my position on it. Also notice that I made no attempt to post anything negative on your other post in the Advertiser's Forum.

You make a good point. If someone wants to compare driveways, they can. I looked at theirs again just now and would have been happy if mine came out the same.

Based on the forum responses it is doubtful that I have hurt your business.
I, too, like to support Broadlands resident owned businesses as much as possible. That is why I gave you a try this year instead of staying with Collegiate.

 

bear,

Academy Sealers sealed our driveway last year, and your company's work was top notch. We were very pleased, but we had no idea that you were a Broadlands-based business. Now, we're even happier to know that we supported a reputable neighborhood company.

Also, I was glad to see your authenticity and honesty in dealing with a customer's complaint here. You handled yourself professionally in the face of a public airing of criticims of your business. That makes me even more willing to do business with you again.

 

I have been to the Parthenon, I have ran thru the Parthenon and I can tell you all it does not look all that great. It looks like a ruin!!!!!!

Lee

 

Academy Sealers sealed our driveway last weekend and it looks great. I've used "both" the companys and I was very pleased with Academy's work. They are cheaper and when I was talking to the people who came to do the work they were very nice. I would recomend them and will use them next year.