Pavement, whether asphalt or concrete, is now a necessity for life. In a real sense it helps tame nature, and allows people to make essential use of land for driveways, buildings, patios, sidewalks, parking lots, pools and pool decks, slabs, and numerous other projects. As such, paving companies-paving contractors are generally in big demand.
The question is, how does an everyday layman or even a builder or property owner know how to choose a good paving company or paving contractor? Who, outside of people associated with the paving industry, knows about this stuff? Answer: Not all that many folks.
Choosing Paving Contractors/Paving Companies
Being a part of the Atlanta paving industry, I can emphatically state that it is essential that someone in the market for asphalt paving or concrete paving do a little homework first. Go online (as you probably are at the moment) and Google or lookup paving contractors within about an hour of where your work will be required.
Check out the websites of two or three paving companies that seem like a good match for your project. Investigate just a little, and then telephone a couple. Ask questions. Do they provide free written estimates? Are warranties available? If so, for how long? What is covered?
Dig deeper. Does the paving contractor provide a list of references or testimonials for past projects? Can you contact them, or somehow view the work? Does the paving company seem to have a good reputation with past and current clients?
What about local asphalt and concrete suppliers? Do they know these pavers? What do they think about them? Good? Bad? Okay? I think you get the point. Do not be shy in looking into the quality of work contractors deliver.
Another consideration is price. Are they competitive, or too cheap or too high-priced? (One can be as bad as the other.) If the paving company is too inexpensive, that could be a red flag for potential lapses in quality and durability. On the other hand, if the price or estimate is too high they might be solid, but out of your current economic price range.
When making decisions pertaining to hiring paving contractors, it is also important to compare apples with apples, and oranges with oranges. What does this mean?
Look at the details. What strength or type of concrete or asphalt is involved in each estimate? What about extras? How long will the job take? Are the warranties equal? How does follow-up work? Can the project manager be easily contacted later for potential questions or problems?
As someone that has been involved in the Atlanta paving industry a while, I can tell you that the last thing you need is to jump into the process without first having a talk with a few people, and doing your research. But, I can also verify that once you have done this, your chances are very good of finding a great pavement contractor, and establishing a worthwhile business relationship.
Peyton Stallings is the owner and onsite project manager for
PKS Paving. For more information regarding asphalt paving please visit our site.
http://www.pksasphaltpavingatlanta.com
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ReplyDeleteIt is important that you understand some things before you embark on paving your driveway. This is because such knowledge can prove very helpful in getting the best paving & masonry that you want for your property.
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