The new shed/garage is to be about 16ft square - 25m^2. I built up
block walls to floor level, then contemplated the prospect of mixing
2.5m^3 of concrete and laying it. I am "none the better for being born
so soon", and my chief tamping-beam assistant isn't as strong as she
once was. Access to the site is a bit awkward, and there's a chance a
ready-mix wagon driver might have baulked at it, which would have left
me with 6 tons of concrete in the road, 70 yards from the garage base.

So a Yellow Pages advert for "Fast Mix of Derby" ("exact amount mixed on
site, laying service available") seemed an attractive idea. £340, which
was about £65 more than Ablemix's price for supply-only, didn't seem too
bad for 2.5 cube of C25, though I hate the whole notion of paying people
to do jobs for me.

It was a disaster: the mixture was pure guesswork, and despite many
entreaties, the mixes varied from runny to sloppy (to put it
technically). They didn't care how much of it they splashed or spilled
(over my decent block paving). When the leader of the pack tried to
level it (with a tamping beam that wasn't long enough to reach from side
to side) it was so pudding-like he made no attempt to compact it. By
the time he'd "levelled" it to within a yard and a half of the near
edge, there was so much free water even he didn't dare add more
porridge-like concrete till he'd borrowed a bucket from me to bail out
some of the excess water. By the time he'd finished, almost the whole
of the surface was under water.

They kept a tally of how many mixer loads they had used, and claimed
that each load was 1/3 m^3. I had wacker-plated the whole area many
times, both before and after sand-blinding, and had gauged the depth as
accurately as if I'd been block paving it, so I knew exactly how much
concrete was needed. They claimed they'd used far more than 2.5m^3, and
wanted an extra £58. This was a complete scam, which they presumably
usually get away with.

By this time the bozos were attempting to clear up by sloshing the odd
barrow of water over the block paving. They didn't even have an intact
yard brush.

They rang their boss, and I had a short and unpleasant conversation with
him. I paid them the originally agreed amount so they'd go away.

Four hours later, it was still far too wet to float properly, but it was
getting dark so I had to do the best I could. The surface is now soft,
sandy, and loose, and I'd be surprised to get 10N/mm^2 on a cube test.

Yes, I know I should have been more demanding from the start; that I
have all sorts of theoretical legal remedies, and that it serves me
right for not doing what I've always done before, and mixed it myself,
to my standards. But I didn't, and now I just want to get the garage
built and move on. Fortunately it's a storage-only garage and shed, so
it won't get a lot of traffic.

The firm again: "Fast Mix of Derby", also trading as "Barramix" (sic) of
Nottingham, based at Hoveringham.

Never again.


--
Kevin Poole
**Use current month and year to reply (e.g. )***
Car Transport by Tiltbed Trailer - based near Derby

Autolycus wrote:
The new shed/garage is to be about 16ft square - 25m^2. I built up
block walls to floor level, then contemplated the prospect of mixing
2.5m^3 of concrete and laying it. I am "none the better for being
born so soon", and my chief tamping-beam assistant isn't as strong as
she once was. Access to the site is a bit awkward, and there's a
chance a ready-mix wagon driver might have baulked at it, which would
have left me with 6 tons of concrete in the road, 70 yards from the
garage base.
So a Yellow Pages advert for "Fast Mix of Derby" ("exact amount mixed
on site, laying service available") seemed an attractive idea. £340,
which was about £65 more than Ablemix's price for supply-only, didn't
seem too bad for 2.5 cube of C25, though I hate the whole notion of
paying people to do jobs for me.

It was a disaster: the mixture was pure guesswork, and despite many
entreaties, the mixes varied from runny to sloppy (to put it
technically). They didn't care how much of it they splashed or
spilled (over my decent block paving). When the leader of the pack
tried to level it (with a tamping beam that wasn't long enough to
reach from side to side) it was so pudding-like he made no attempt to
compact it. By the time he'd "levelled" it to within a yard and a
half of the near edge, there was so much free water even he didn't
dare add more porridge-like concrete till he'd borrowed a bucket from
me to bail out some of the excess water. By the time he'd finished,
almost the whole of the surface was under water.

They kept a tally of how many mixer loads they had used, and claimed
that each load was 1/3 m^3. I had wacker-plated the whole area many
times, both before and after sand-blinding, and had gauged the depth
as accurately as if I'd been block paving it, so I knew exactly how
much concrete was needed. They claimed they'd used far more than
2.5m^3, and wanted an extra £58. This was a complete scam, which
they presumably usually get away with.

By this time the bozos were attempting to clear up by sloshing the odd
barrow of water over the block paving. They didn't even have an
intact yard brush.

They rang their boss, and I had a short and unpleasant conversation
with him. I paid them the originally agreed amount so they'd go away.

Four hours later, it was still far too wet to float properly, but it
was getting dark so I had to do the best I could. The surface is now
soft, sandy, and loose, and I'd be surprised to get 10N/mm^2 on a
cube test.
Yes, I know I should have been more demanding from the start; that I
have all sorts of theoretical legal remedies, and that it serves me
right for not doing what I've always done before, and mixed it myself,
to my standards. But I didn't, and now I just want to get the garage
built and move on. Fortunately it's a storage-only garage and shed, so
it won't get a lot of traffic.

The firm again: "Fast Mix of Derby", also trading as "Barramix" (sic)
of Nottingham, based at Hoveringham.

Never again.

Sounds about right, the usual trick of 'that's your X metres, do you want us
to carry on mixing?' is nationwide, as is their ineptitude at A) mixing, B)
barrowing and C) cleaning up.

We've just laid (yesterday) 3.75m3 of ready mixed stuff, it went down a
dream and is now as hard as rock and perfectly level, most ready-mixed firms
will quote for barrowing in at around £20 per cube, yes it's more expensive,
but considering that you still had to barrow the 'we mix you lay' crap, it
may have been wiser to get ready mixed...as an aside, how much did you pay
for 2.5m3?

Autolycus wrote:
The new shed/garage is to be about 16ft square - 25m^2. I built up
block walls to floor level, then contemplated the prospect of mixing
2.5m^3 of concrete and laying it. I am "none the better for being
born so soon", and my chief tamping-beam assistant isn't as strong as
she once was. Access to the site is a bit awkward, and there's a
chance a ready-mix wagon driver might have baulked at it, which would
have left me with 6 tons of concrete in the road, 70 yards from the
garage base.

So a Yellow Pages advert for "Fast Mix of Derby" ("exact amount mixed
on site, laying service available") seemed an attractive idea. £340,
which was about £65 more than Ablemix's price for supply-only, didn't
seem too bad for 2.5 cube of C25, though I hate the whole notion of
paying people to do jobs for me.

It was a disaster: the mixture was pure guesswork, and despite many
entreaties, the mixes varied from runny to sloppy (to put it
technically). They didn't care how much of it they splashed or
spilled (over my decent block paving). When the leader of the pack
tried to level it (with a tamping beam that wasn't long enough to
reach from side to side) it was so pudding-like he made no attempt to
compact it. By the time he'd "levelled" it to within a yard and a
half of the near edge, there was so much free water even he didn't
dare add more porridge-like concrete till he'd borrowed a bucket from
me to bail out some of the excess water. By the time he'd finished,
almost the whole of the surface was under water.

They kept a tally of how many mixer loads they had used, and claimed
that each load was 1/3 m^3. I had wacker-plated the whole area many
times, both before and after sand-blinding, and had gauged the depth
as accurately as if I'd been block paving it, so I knew exactly how
much concrete was needed. They claimed they'd used far more than
2.5m^3, and wanted an extra £58. This was a complete scam, which
they presumably usually get away with.

By this time the bozos were attempting to clear up by sloshing the odd
barrow of water over the block paving. They didn't even have an
intact yard brush.

They rang their boss, and I had a short and unpleasant conversation
with him. I paid them the originally agreed amount so they'd go away.

Four hours later, it was still far too wet to float properly, but it
was getting dark so I had to do the best I could. The surface is now
soft, sandy, and loose, and I'd be surprised to get 10N/mm^2 on a
cube test.

Yes, I know I should have been more demanding from the start; that I
have all sorts of theoretical legal remedies, and that it serves me
right for not doing what I've always done before, and mixed it myself,
to my standards. But I didn't, and now I just want to get the garage
built and move on. Fortunately it's a storage-only garage and shed, so
it won't get a lot of traffic.

The firm again: "Fast Mix of Derby", also trading as "Barramix" (sic)
of Nottingham, based at Hoveringham.

Never again.

sad tale, thanks for the heads up but you shouldn't have paid :-(

.. wrote:

sad tale, thanks for the heads up but you shouldn't have paid

I'd have asked the bos to come down and sort it out at least. And if
you gave them a check cancel it.

I'd have asked the bos to come down and sort it out at least. And if
you gave them a check cancel it.

Not terribly good advice, as the company can sue on the cancelled cheque
alone and win.

"Colin Wilson" wrote in message
t...
I'd have asked the bos to come down and sort it out at least. And if
you gave them a check cancel it.

Not terribly good advice, as the company can sue on the cancelled cheque
alone and win.

Technically yes. They would win the amount of the cheque but if you have a
valid counterclaim this would act as a set-off against that amount so in
practice the cheque doesn't really count for anything.
--
Dave Baker
www.pumaracing.co.uk

Dave Baker wrote:
"Colin Wilson" wrote in message
t...

I'd have asked the bos to come down and sort it out at least. And if
you gave them a check cancel it.

Not terribly good advice, as the company can sue on the cancelled cheque
alone and win.

Technically yes. They would win the amount of the cheque but if you have a
valid counterclaim this would act as a set-off against that amount so in
practice the cheque doesn't really count for anything.


Theres no way I'd have paid. I'd have said I've grave misgivings about
the concrete meeting the agreed spec and was going to get it tested
before paying up.

As far as leaving goes you can order them off the premises any time,
and if they wont go its trespass.

If they failed to honour their side of the purchase agreement, by not
supplying crete that was to agreed spec, nor fit for purpose, you can
in principle pay someone else to rip it out, cart it away and relay the
base, then extract the costs from the bodge merchant via the small
claims court. That they know you know this leaves them in a very weak
situation. Suing via small claims costs very little indeed, and a
signed expert statement and a video of you poking the thing apart may
be all thats needed for you to win. I'm assuming you got the purchase
agreement in writing before the job, but even if you didnt you might
still succeed.

If you go this route, they will probably suffer several blows: costs of
removal of base, including skip hire, re-lay costs, and the bad
publicity that will follow will cost them business too. So they might
if lucky settle for paying the cost of removal of the base. A court
summons would prod them to the reality of your case if need be.

It will of course harden over the coming week, but by how much who
knows. If it still crumbles when you poke it, after hardening, what use
is it. If this was laid yesterday, I would give it time, as even decent
crete is feeble on day 1 and 2.

If youre desperate to get the job done quick I suppose you could lay a
2" 3:! mix on top, preferably with 1% fibres. This will spread the load
and provide a tough surface. The fibres would greatly reduce the chance
of cracking and breaking. Plastic fibres are used now rather than
asbestos.


NT

Dave Baker wrote:
"Colin Wilson" wrote in message
t...
I'd have asked the bos to come down and sort it out at least. And if
you gave them a check cancel it.

Not terribly good advice, as the company can sue on the cancelled cheque
alone and win.

Technically yes. They would win the amount of the cheque but if you have a
valid counterclaim this would act as a set-off against that amount so in
practice the cheque doesn't really count for anything.

It would be a civil matter not a criminal one and if the offer to pay a
nominal fee for the effort involved (twopence say) or if a
counterclaim for damages went to the same court....

But when the firm attempted to substitute water for concrete, they
failed in their part of the contract. Stop the damned cheque.

wrote:

Never use the Yellow Pages for 'tradesmen', period.

rubbish.

.. wrote:
wrote:

Never use the Yellow Pages for 'tradesmen', period.

rubbish.

Not rubbish at all. You might find the odd decent one amongst the free
entries but there are so many bull****ters it's not worth the hassle.
It's a total lottery.

Decent tradesmen are found by recommendation and don't need to
advertise in the Yellow Pages to get work.

Colin Wilson wrote:
I'd have asked the bos to come down and sort it out at least. And if
you gave them a check cancel it.

Not terribly good advice, as the company can sue on the cancelled cheque
alone and win.
Yup. Issuance of a cheque is de facto and de jure proof of acceptance
of liability and satisfactory invoice..although a cancelled one, rather
than one that just bounces, is less so.

Dave Baker wrote:
"Colin Wilson" wrote in message
t...
I'd have asked the bos to come down and sort it out at least. And if
you gave them a check cancel it.
Not terribly good advice, as the company can sue on the cancelled cheque
alone and win.

Technically yes. They would win the amount of the cheque but if you have a
valid counterclaim this would act as a set-off against that amount so in
practice the cheque doesn't really count for anything.

Yes. That's a better answer than mine.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Yup. Issuance of a cheque is de facto and de jure proof of acceptance
of liability and satisfactory invoice.

No one in any bank I opened an account at ever warned me of that.

I would have said that the cancellation of a cheque in time would have
been enough proof to me the sods never got my lolly. And that's all I'd
need. Also I'd go around to the firm's site with a coachload of yobs
just to say hello.

I hope the OP wrote to his local paper.

Once the concrete failed you are entitled to refuse payment until
services are rendered properly.

"Weatherlawyer" wrote in message
ups.com...

you are entitled to refuse payment until services are rendered properly.

The OP is talking about concrete not rendering ;-)