Pros: Larry Davies stuck to quote; he’s got a great team of really nice, dedicated, hardworking guys; did a great job setting the catch basin and swaling the drainage area at south end of driveway; partnered with a fantastic asphalt company; his concrete guy did a super job with the pour and finishing the concrete pad for the new garden shed.
Cons: while “driving” the bobcat Larry demolished part of the southern fence, struck and damaged a second small fence to the west, and dropped a large chunk of old asphalt on the eastern fence. The 3 fences required significant repair afterwards. I have witnessed excavator operators doing demolitions and excavations with incredibly fine precision and no collateral damage. Let’s just politely say Larry is 100% not one of those operators. Also, the new asphalt on the northern end of the driveway is sinking, the butt joint was perfect when the asphalt company finished but now it’s clearly not lined up. We didn’t park on it for two months after and when we do park or drive on it we never stop at the butt joint. So not enough gravel and not compacted sufficiently, disappointing.
Verdict: if you need someone to excavate a wide open area and lay some drainage pipes/ pour some concrete, then get Davies Contracting and you’ll be happy. But if you need careful work done in a confined area and you don’t want 3 damaged or demolished fences and a sinking driveway, maybe think twice (or make sure you bulletproof the contract).