E & T Masonry Construction Co

E&T Masonry and Construction: «THE DUKES OF HAZZARD»
Myself and my wife relocated to the Austin area around 12 months ago.
Last year (May2009) I received a number of bids from construction companies for a large retaining wall project in my back yard (100 feet) — The bids all came in at around the same level and I opted to go for E & T Masonry and Construction as it seemed that both Patrick Dukes and his Father, Tom Dukes, really did know their business and seemed to be very honest and professional (I should have taken references !).
We did go through some negotiation to get the price to the right level and I accepted a reduction in the height of the wall in order to meet by budget (It was certainly not a cheap job!). They started work and told me that it would take approx. 2 weeks, although in actuality it took 4 weeks as the crew did not spend full time at the job site. I accepted this in return for the both beautiful and quality wall that I was expecting. Throughout the job, both Patrick and Tom were in communication.
Prior to commencement of the work I asked the questions of foundation and weep holes and they assured me that they knew what they were doing and that foundation would be good and the wall would last for many years — They made reference to a recent retaining wall project that they had completed in Downtown Austin, which we checked out and it looked good.
After 3 months of our wall being completed (which looked great initially) and we were seeing serious cracking and water pools on the upper level. I contacted them and sent pictures of the cracks. After about one week I got a response that states
«We recommended that a concrete footing be put down because we know that it could cause problems in the near future. As stated earlier, A concrete footing was suggested but was not agreed upon. Our proposal states a prepared foundation. This means leveling the existing ground and using mortar as a footing. The cracking could be due to the very dry ground. A concrete footing could possibly prevent that type of cracking in the future. We would be glad to give you a price to install a concrete footing as suggested and demoing out the stone and resetting it.»
I was shocked, as they were telling me that they knew that I would have problems — so much for a professional outfit ! I sent a copy of the initial bid documents and never once did it state that they would NOT put down a proper foundation, nor did they discuss it with me, nor did they tell me that they were not, I expected a proper foundation, as this is the strength of any wall. This is certainly a case of «beware the Tigers smile» — On the face of it, they seem to be very professional, but once they have your money — forget it, they are not interested in you or your issues with the job. I think of myself as somewhat intelligent, in that I would not pay a lot of money for a wall, when the contractor was telling me that it would cause problems in the near future. I eventually got them to contact me after six weeks of attempting to get a return call or e mail to discuss and meet at the job site. Eventually Tom Dukes came out and agreed with me that wall should have weep holes and also to «fill» the cracks. He told me that Patrick would be on it and get this done — This took 3 weeks … Tom Dukes eventually same out and filled the cracks and informed me that it was settlement and should now be okay !
THIS HAS CERTAINLY NOT BEEN THE CASE — THE CRACKS ARE WORSE THAN EVER — OVER ONE INCH ACROSS AND THE WALL IS NOW SLOPING AWAY, AFTER A PERIOD OF ONLY 1 YEAR.
I now have a wall that after 12 months May 2010) is cracked badly and I am afraid that it is going to fall down — now I must consider paying again to fix their poor workmanship.
Please learn from my mistake — Do not use E&T Masonry and construction for any job, there are far more «qualified» contractors in the Austin area that deserve your business. Do not be taken in and «duped» with perceived care and interest. We even had discussions that they would always be there if there was any issues and they stand by their workmanship — sure they do… I hope that both Patrick and Tom rest easy at night knowing that they have duped a trusting couple out of their money.
Beware — you have been warned …