In April 2018, I sent a request to Oasis Landscaping for a quote on a 10x18 concrete pad.
On April 28, I received a quote from Oasis Landscaping for $4000-$5000.
I advised that the quote was $1000-2000 more than other quotes and asked the Owner to visit the site.
On April 30 Thomas R visited the site and advised the cost would now be $3000 for a 10x18 exposed aggregate concrete pad.
Thomas added he would install a weeping tile system under the concrete pad to move water away from the foundation. Thomas advised he would do this for an additional $100.
I asked Thomas if I required brackets mounted to the foundation as the other contractors had mentioned it would be better support on a new house. Thomas advised he was unsure but did not think it would be an issue and that he would have to ask the Owner of the company and get back to me.
As Oasis Landscaping website was professional and had several reputable certifications I chose Oasis to complete the project.
Oasis is apparently accredited with BBB, ICPI, Homestars and Baeumler Approved.
I asked that it be done prior to May 15 as I had family visiting and wished to construct a 4x4 landing area with stairs off my backdoor on top of the pad.
We agreed I would pay $1500 the day of the pour and $1600 when it was finished.
Thomas agreed it would be done prior to May 15.
On May 15 Thomas and his crew poured the concrete pad.
I spoke to the cement truck driver who advised he had $400 worth of cement in his truck.
Thomas advised on site without prior mention that he would no longer be constructing the weeping tile system.
Thomas suggested he would now be adding standard black PVC pipe to my eavestrough and routing it to the rear of my backyard where he would bury the pipe.
After questioning the aesthetics and legality of this system I advised I would not be interested.
I observed inconsistencies in the pad immediately which I was told would go away after the sealant was applied.
I also noticed that the pad was over a foot short of the requested 18 ft.
The actual completed size was 16.10 ft.
It was evident they knew it was to be 18 feet as they had cut the area out and placed gravel to 18 feet.
Additionally, the pad was not square and being that it was 14 inches short it left me with insufficient area to complete my 4 x4 landing are off my back door as the post would now be off the pad and I would not be able to open the backdoor.
Thomas left the sight with large amounts of concrete in my neighbors back yard and front yard which they did not remove.
On May 16, I contacted Thomas and advised that this is not what I had agreed to as it was not the correct size and the inconsistencies were still present including footprints in the cement.
Thomas advised there was nothing he could do to which I asked to speak with the owner of the business.
At this time Thomas advised he was in fact the owner of the business.
I had three other cement contractors come out and look at the pad to which they all laughed. They advised that Thomas did a poor job of exposing the aggregate.
The contractors advised that since it was so inconsistent and not even the correct size I should have Thomas re-pour to the correct size.
On May 17 Thomas admitted it was a poor job and blamed the heat.
Thomas advised he would not re-pour and the “best option” he had was to “over-pour”.
Basically, he wanted to pour concrete over the existing pad and add the missing 14 inches width.
I mentioned that after speaking with other contractors they advised this is just a quick cheap fix.
They advised I would see a seam and that it would crack within 24 months as it would not be strong enough.
I again asked Thomas to remove the pad.
On May 28 (11 days later) Thomas wrote “I’m not trying to avoid you just playing catch-up” as he had not returned emails, text or phone calls.
Thomas then suggested 2 options:
1.)“Breakout the concrete and replace to the correct dimensions.”
2.)“Breakout the concrete – walk away –and chalk it up to a bad pour and we both go our separate ways”
I assumed Thomas would also be returning the $1500 I provided.
However, Option 2 would have Thomas keep the $1500 and I would have nothing to show for it.
I chose option 1 with the condition it would be done in a timely manner as he had already wasted 2 weeks of my time and I was unable to complete the landing area while waiting for him.
On June 1, I had still heard no response from Thomas and I asked to have it completed by the end of the week.
I mentioned that large amounts of concrete were still on my neighbour’s property and that I was getting tired of apologizing to them.
On June 3 Thomas replied that a new pad would be poured Thursday June 7.
On June 7, no one showed.
Thomas apologized and advised it would now be done June 12.
Obviously realizing he does not know how to pour concrete, Thomas suggested he could instead do a Roman Paver for $3500 (an extra $500).
I said that was not what I had asked for and that if he was not confident enough to do the job he should refund me the $1500 I had already provided.
He refused and said, “there is a risk with concrete” “you’ve lost time, I’ve lost money”
On June 12, no one showed.
On June 19, I was out of Country and Thomas sent an email saying the new pad was completed, that the pour went much better than last time and that it should “dry the same”.
Thomas said he would return to clean the excess concrete that was still remaining on my neighbour’s property which was there over a month.
On June 30 Thomas wrote “although the process was painful” “I lost a lot of money on this project” “it went on longer than it should have” send me the remaining $1600.
I returned home and found the pad to be the correct dimensions however it was again inconsistent, wavy, had low spots, had divots and they had not cleaned the excess concrete off the side of the pad.
On July 4, I wrote to Thomas explaining my concerns as after first rainfall I noticed standing water on the pad due to the low spots.
Thomas advised due to the nature of exposed aggregate there is no ability to patch or fill the low spots.
Thomas began to send request for payment.
I advised that the agreement was $1500 at the start and $1500 when he was finished and that I did not owe him the additional $100 for the weeping tile as he was the one who decided he did not want to do it.
On July 10 Thomas had still not cleaned the excess concrete and I again advised I would pay him the remaining $1500 when the job was done.
Once the excess was removed I paid the remaining $1500.
Thomas asked that I E-Transfer the money to a private account.
No paperwork/receipt/contract was provided.
On September 15, roughly 87 days after the last pour I realized that the pad was now cracked from one side through to the other.
I contacted Thomas by way of email and text to provide photos of the cracked pad and to ask him if he actually stood by his work/product like his website claims.
I sent my question to the same phone # and email that he had been using to harass me for payment prior to the work being finished.
As of October 22, Thomas has not had the decency or basic business skills to contact me back.
I have kept all emails and photos exchanged with Thomas and can be viewed upon request.
The photos would have to be seen to be believed.
Do not use this company.
Update 2018-12-05 :
After a few months of waiting for Thomas R owner of Oasis Landscaping to respond my concerns he decided to reply via facebook messenger. I am not friends with Thomas on facebook. In his reply he threatens both myself and my son. My sons are 3 and 7 years old.
Homestars does not allow me to spell out the word he uses to describe my son.
Please find screenshot attached
- Approximate cost of services:
- $3,000.00
- Company Response
In response to Mr. Hayward’s complaint, the majority of his long-winded details are correct of the process that took place. However, he has left out some very important details, made some unfair accusations, and in the last week, has actually attacked me personally.
I would first and foremost like to address that Mr. Hayward has made absolutely zero attempt to contact me on this matter. I did not receive a phone call, an email, a text message (as he did have my cell phone number), connecting through either our Facebook or Instagram page, or an attempt to contact me through our company website. He did however copy and paste this review to 5 different sites.
We did pour a pad for Mr. Hayward that ended up being disastrous. The temperatures on the day of the pour were much hotter than expected, things cured up for us way too fast, we couldn’t float the concrete properly and things got away from us.
As this pad was exposed aggregate concrete, we were hopeful that when exposing the concrete we would still be able to achieve the exposed finish we were aiming for. That was not the case.
From the start, Mr. Hayward was looking for a deal. We gave him the lowest price we possibly could, and told him we would do things as they fit into our schedule, as we had not other projects in the proximity of his very northern Calgary home. The job was not paid cash, and was not wired to a private account, the payment was sent via e-transfer. Something more than half of my clients have done this season. I don’t appreciate the accusation of being shady, or working under the table.
As far as the wrong dimensions, Mr. Hayward was very unclear from the start. His initial inquiry said ‘ I am looking for a concrete pad approximately 10’x18’’. After we walked through the site, the pad dimensions were close to that, but finished in line with the end of a builder-placed ledger board. Mr. Hayward claimed he would build a deck-style landing coming off the back door which would finish in line the the end of this ledger. So we did the same with our concrete.
After the uncooperative finished concrete, discussion started about that to do next. This was a few weeks afterwards as Mr. Hayward was in and out of town, and hard to get ahold of.
I gave Mr. Hayward a few different options:
Remove the pad and re-do it for the same price
Remove the pad and we go our separate ways (we would keep $1,500 portion paid to date to cover excavation, extensive base preparation as this was new construction, foundation drilling)
Remove pad and install paving stones, for a slightly higher price due to materials differences.Mr. Hayward expected that should we break out the pad and remove it without continuing that he would be receiving a refund. Unfortunately that would not be the case as he would be left with something ready for another contractor to simply come in, form and pour a new pad.
Keep in mind, we did this job for $3,000 after we had originally quoted $4,600. Mr. Hayward couldn’t get any one else to do the job for the $3,000 , so he would not be able to get anyone out to finish the second half of the work for $1,500 anyways.
Long story short, we broke out the pad and re-poured it. We got a much better result.
The new concrete did have a couple minor low spots, but exposed beautifully and dimensions were exactly what Mr. Hayward asked for. The pad was perfectly square (the same as the first one by Mr. Hayward doesn’t understand that his house is not square to his property line so things look a little bit off), and the exact dimensions we now had clarified and agreed on. When finished we applied a cure & seal sealer, and told Mr. Hayward that come spring time, he should apply a coat of a regular sealer.
Once finished everything seemed fine. Mr. Hayward was a happy, pad was better and we were on our way. We did come back couple weeks later to add some fresh soil around the permitter of the pad, as well as a small portion of excess concrete that was left out front. These were little items at the end of a job that did get missed, but we made sure to get back and get cleaned up.
Apparently Mr. Hayward attempted to contact me in the fall that his pad has cracked. As I have previously mentioned I have had no actual contact from Mr. Hayward.
Judging by the photo submitted into a few of these reviews showing the crack, the crack has originated off of the corner of the house where Mr. Hayward had a downspout coming right onto the concrete pad. Originally we had a plan to install piping off of the down spout. It was go out under the pad and draining into a dry well in the yard. Mr. Hayward advised us not to proceed with this drainage piping the morning of the pour as he thought it might be unsightly. This is something we do with every pad and walkway we install. Why spend money for a new surface, only to have an old downspout pouring water right on top of it?
It was to my understanding that Mr. Hayward would have the eavestrough and soffit contractors come and move the downspout. I have no idea when this happened, but I doubt it was right away as the cracking is in the corner exactly where this pipe was.
I have worked tirelessly to make Mr. Hayward happy on the only concrete pad we have ever had to breakout and redo. I lost thousands of dollars on this job, but I did everything in my power to make it right for him.
His request for a full refund is outrageous and will not even be considered.
Not one concrete contractor I have ever talked to will warranty concrete against cracking. I always try and up-sell paving stone because it is a better product and can be easily repaired. Calgary’s weather in particular is especially hard on concrete with our extreme lows in the winter, highs in the summer and chinooks throughout.
Unfortunately for me, Mr. Hayward did only include photos of the pad that was broken out on most of his review submissions. I have included photos of the second finished pad with this response.
Secondly, I now have a personal case against Mr. Hayward for his abuse of power in his line of work.
On November 28th, while leaving a Flames game I was heading down the platform to take the train home. I was stopped by a Calgary Transit officer who asked to see my train ticket and then asked for my ID. I cooperated an had no problem with this. I am glad they were doing their job.
The officer that took my ID proceeded to walk into the heated platform and left me out side with his partner where I waited for close to 45 minutes. It was approx. -7 and I was only wearing a Flames jersey.
Upon his return, I was presented with a ‘Cannabis consumption on a train platform’ ticket, which him and I both know, was fabricated. I do not smoke, anything, and did not that night.
I asked when the court date was as I would be fighting this ticket. At this point I was dressed as ‘Oasis landscaping’. I was caught off guard and asked how this man knew my company. To which he responded, and taunted, ‘I don’t know Mr. Oasis landscaping, but you should check your reviews. They aren’t very good, Oasis Landscaping’.
The officer and his partner walked inside and after close to an hour I was finally able to take the train home.
It took me a bit to figure out how this officer knew who I was, but after taking his last name and searching all my email histories, Calgary Transit officer Hayward, is in fact Mr. Blair Hayward who copy and pasted this complaint to a Facebook review 6 hours earlier.
I have a formal complaint into Calgary transit about Mr. Hayward’s abuse of power, and I have my lawyers looking to harassment and defamation charges.
If there was any chance of my further cooperation resolving Mr. Hayward’s concrete pad, he blew that chance when he illegally detained me and issued a fabricated transit ticket.
As of Dec 13, 2018 Mr. Hayward has now edited his review to show comments made in anger, after his abuse of power and fraudulent ticketing. Thomas, our owner reached out and apologized for these comments, only to be further harasses on social media and our Oasis review sites.
Mr. Hayward has yet to try and contact Oasis, or Thomas directly to try and resolve the issues.