Trusting the right company?

Bigmac1euro

So I’m getting my back garden which is mainly grass converted to a patio for less maintenance with the dog etc.

I’ve sourced a company who seem decent, they’ve got 40+ 4&5 star google reviews going back 4+ years. Active Paving. I’ve only dealt with this company by phone and sound like men of culture but really nice. Has anyone any experience with this company?

They’ve offered a price of €6500 for the whole job. The tiles he’s putting in are granite.

I got stacks of quotes with porcelain being expensive and plenty of wasters with terrible work and finally settled on this company who only supply granite, they seem like nice tiles though. I’ve been advised granite is easier to lay and less labour and also much cheaper so I’m happy in that respect.

any tips or any recommendations I should be aware of?

mike_2009

Sounds like you've done your homework. What about asking to view previous work? Ideally visit a homeowner if they are amenable / view photos if not. Check their company with solocheck.ie or similar to see if they have any judgements against them, time company in existence for, regular accounts lodged etc. Ensure you get specification in writing and are happy, correct any gaps / mistakes. Clarify if price is ex-VAT. Are you happy with their plan for drainage? Ask where they are doing work currently and do a driveby to see how they handle waste / how tidy they are - that's a good sign if they are careful not making a mess and cleaning up after themselves. If possible, be there, supply coffee/tea/biscuits regularly, and be on hand if anything looks off and call them out on it straight away. Will boss be onsite or just at start/end? Check their insurance policy - have them produce it (It's a back garden but what if they damage your house with plant/deliveries etc). Hope this helps!

Bigmac1euro

Thanks for the informative response Mike.

The boss told me he’d be on-site everyday.

He also advised they start at 7am and he then brings his crew for breakfast every morning at 9am, which they would then eat on-site.

I’ll check solo check so thanks for that. In terms of other work a lot of the reviews on google show photos of their work which seems decent to me and especially in comparison to some of the other guys. Company is called Active Paving.

The VAT thing will be my next question for him I suppose. The granite is sourced from Kilsaran and I have a book to choose from which I’ve already made up my mind.

Emmah82

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118648092#Comment_118648092

Hi @Bigmac1euro ,

I was wondering how you got on with Active Paving?

Am on the look out to get my garden done also and have been given ridiculous quotes so far.

Was about to give them a shout to call out to me.

Bigmac1euro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119201861#Comment_119201861

I’m happy with the work. The guys started at 7am and worked until 7pm.

garden finished In the one day. I’m very happy with it to be honest.

The price was reasonable too no messing.

standardg60

€6500 for one days work? Laying a patio in one day would be a big no no for me, i've seen work that was done in a day after a year or two and it is usually a disaster, subsidence and weeds galore.

I'm assuming no concrete was used?

One patio i had to re-lay the homeowner said the website/facebook page had glowing reviews (including theirs)! They review their own work.

Bigmac1euro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119212699#Comment_119212699

They worked 12 hours so I’m not sure id class that as one day and also it was 4 people. The garden is almost a perfect square and there was no design just the same tiles throughout.

The garden was dug up, tree and shed removed and some rubbish and old tiles which took them only 2 hours which I thought was impressively fast.

They worked very efficiently and barely took a break.(not sure that’s a good thing) but I witnessed this as I work by the window in my house and could see them most of the time. I honestly never seen builders working as efficiently as in every man had their job, I’m thinking they were getting a bonus to finish in the one day.

The work in terms of the way the tiles were laid was really nice the lines looked really good the way the tiles are laid compared to some of the other work I seen. No puddles gathering after heavy rain either so no issue with drainage so far.

I had 4 people quote me and pricing was completely up and down. 1 guy was about 22 another was a complete chancer obviously wasn’t professional, and then the 3rd guy wanted 12k and it would take a week.

A family friend also used the guys that did mine a year and a half ago and they are still delighted with their patio. No issues to date. It was only after the fact I found this out and we were actually commenting on how good they were.

In terms of reviews I thrawled through their google reviews and a lot had photos and seemed legit you can see the google accounts and how long they’re active etc I’m well aware of spoofing reviews working in IT. I also ran a check to see how long their website was active which was 7 years so this seemed like a reasonable length of time.

Price came to 5900 all in.

In terms of weeds I don’t see why a little maintenance and some chemicals won’t help to be honest if it happens.

As for subsidence only time will tell.

I’ll be sure to report back but considering family got it done 18 months or so ago and no issues I’m fairly happy.

Bigmac1euro

Here’s some photos before and after. Well 1 before shot. Please ignore the horrible fences at the back which are now gone.