Day Spring Concrete & Building Services Inc

Ben and his outstanding team provided us with such a wonderful concrete driveway. From his timely arrival for an estimate on the day we met, throughout the entire process everything happened as expected and promised. Day Spring Concrete isn't your average company. When Ben and his crew say they care, it's is reflected in their professionalism and dedication to doing a job right. They clearly have a passion for what they do, and their work shows the pride in workmanship they have. My family and I couldn't be happier with the job that was done. The pricing was fair and the job was completed in a timely fashion. I also appreciate that Ben was able to still fit me in as we neared the end of the season. Although I'm not a concrete guy, I've been around the block enough times to know when a concrete job is done right or not. I was fortunate enough to be around for the entire process and everything was done right. From the amount of rebar, and how it was tied together. The rebar was elevated into the concrete pad correctly. Their attention to consistent thickness of the pad was given. Finishing the surface to a high level was completed and the cuts into the concrete were done in the correct window. Ben's Day Spring Concrete and Building Services receive 5 stars from my family and I, and are a company that I highly recommend!

Hire at your own risk!!!! Concrete is an expensive investment. The strength and integrity of our concrete was compromised due to Day Spring’s incompetency on multiple installation techniques. Ben holds his Journeyman concrete finisher seal, but in our case, did not uphold those standards and codes set by the jurisdiction in Alberta. After researching and talking to many experts in the concrete field, we are appalled at the number of things that went wrong at his hands. Not only did they pour too early in cold weather without regard for covering the concrete afterwards, but cut many corners to save on essential costs and only care about maximum profit. One example of this is no use of poly to protect our siding or lawn. That was a real mess left for us to clean up! Our in ground sprinklers were also damaged. The rebar was not chaired up anywhere, which meant it wasn’t encased in concrete mid-depth, which offers no reinforcement. COLD WEATHER PRACTICE: Concrete Alberta states when the average temperature drops below 10°C, for the first 7 days after pouring, it is considered cold weather and it must be protected. They did not! FLAKING: The flaking happens within days because of being over-finished or got too cold in the curing process. This can diminish the strength of the concrete by up to 50% CRACKING: in this case the cracking on the step due to rebar not being placed from slab in a continuous piece. Some fine cracking is normal, but this is excessive. RELIEF CUTS: should have been done only in green concrete, within 24 hours of the pour. The cuts Day Spring made 3 months after pouring and look terrible. “Concrete shrinks as it cures, and if cuts are made too late, the stress from shrinkage can concentrate at the cut edges, causing cracks to develop later on.” SEALANT No amount of sealant would have prevented these problems and is like “trying to overcompensate a dry cake with more icing” according to a friend in the concrete business. I paid extra for this at his advice. Sealant data sheet says it should be done over 10° and Day Spring did it at 4°, again knowing better but doing anyways because he assumes to know better than the manufacturer of the product. 2024-10-20 text from Ben Veitch: Yes, that's what data sheets say, but never practiced in the field. THICKNESS: minimum for driveways is 4” Even with shrinkage, ours measured at 3.5” or less at multiple spots on the perimeter. This is an issue, not only for strength in an area with freezing winters, but it also means it didn’t come up high enough; our front step rises more than the regulation code (4 7/8 to 7 7/8 inches). All of these points were proven by an engineer. Day Spring only offered a patch job, even after being told all of this. They threatened to counter sue me for defamation and slander for my factual review. We had no choice but to open a Civil Claim against them. We settled on a partial refund just to be finished with this whole headache. Day Spring claims to hold clients in high regard and satisfaction matters, but the actions speak louder.

What an awesome experience from start to finish. Ben was such a great guy to work with. He took the time to explain everything and answer all my questions throughout the entire process. I couldn't be happier with how things turned out. I recommend Ben & his crew to anyone. They know what they're doing!!!

UPDATE 9:14 6/09/25.Still no photo response to prove my claim as illegitimate as promised UPDATE 8:48 5/19/25 I have been updated by one of Ben's frustrated customers that they have been awarded judgement by Court of Queen's Bench This lends credibility to my review after him accusing me of it not being legitimate Where is his righteousness now? This shows he does not take care of his customers as he claims I am of the opinion that his rating has been kept high by him pleading to his church members and family to praise him by way of supporting him on this public forum Since installation more problems will be reported with more photos UPDATE 12:32 PM 6/13/24. I feel it is NECESSARY to qualify the undermentioned facts, comments and opinions are carefully stated after research, observations, experience, knowledge and contact with related authorities. I post this review after my first review has been brushed off, saying my review was not legitimate. I take offence as he has basically called me a liar. Ben has responded just like he has handled this whole affair. Not being able to take any responsibility for his poor and greedy decisions. Anybody that knows him is probably aware LOL! Of course the pictures were posted after coming to clean up the siding over a week after the pour because of Ben failing to own up. I decided to post a review Also,after Ben came back to do the sawcuts the next day he left without cleaning the siding. Maybe he didn't see it. LOL! seniors don't know any better? To our surprise, when he was notified that he neglected to clean up the siding he told us to do it. By that time permanent damage was done to our very expensive Hardie siding 3-4 ft. up the wall Obviously no care was taken. (as seen in the pictures contrary to his response of which he BRAGS. We tried to clean it off but after an hour and a half we had only 3 feet out of 70 clean Ligitimate claims contrary to his response as our concerns being illegitimate (note- in mine and other reviews) Starting with 1. leaving the job last fall, causing major inconvenience for 8 months( showing no consideration to us) 2. Trying to get away with cheating us out 1/2" x 1070 square feet of concrete. (I have pictures) 3. Aggressively try to collect over $1000 in labour charges for removing gravel to the level needed to correct the deliberate attempt of short changing us as agreed before starting the project. 4. Who's responsibility is the aforementioned. Mine? I hope Ben keeps responding without clearly taking ownership of this nightmare. He mentioned my beautiful driveway. LOL! I have lots of pictures to show the worst finish I have ever witnessed. I am 70 years old, have been in the construction industry since I was young. Retired. No longer making an income. I am very leary of the contractors taking advantage of seniors. I am willing to provide the location to anyone who private messages me to see for themselves. ORIGINAL REVIEW BELOW What a nightmare. Delayed the fall pour on driveway until it had to be left until this spring. Pressered us to go ahead before spring thaw. We agreed for 4 inches but tried to get away with 3 1/2 inches. Asked him to correct it. Sloppy work, left without cleaning up,damaged brand new Hardie siding. Left concrete slop and boot prints to cure on my brand new garage floor pad. Never finished edges where the driveway pour met the garage floor. To top everything we were surprised with over $1000 tacked onto the invoice. No mention at all of this during 8 months of communications. Would not take any responsibity for troubles he caused us. He kept saying he can't control the weather. The weather was not the issue, he just overbooked (greed?) and we were a casualty. We always listen to our contractors if they come to us and communicate issues and if legitimate we are happy to pay extra or accommodate them. After Ben yelling at my wife over the phone, being belligerent and and more than once texting me after 9 pm (we had to block his texts and calls) we decided to dig in our heels. First time in 3 years on this project. Beware!