PRI of East TN, Inc.

PRI patched some areas of our asphalt driveway in May of 2017. After about three months, some of the newly patched areas were deteriorating. The project manager (PM) for PRI agreed to send a different crew to remove the deteriorating areas and make appropriate repairs. Our driveway had been patched previously, and I asked about ideas for repairing/replacing the entire driveway. He said that our driveway was an ideal candidate for their full depth reclamation process. They would remove the existing asphalt, add a cement mixture, and use this to lay down a new stabilized base. They would then pave over this to provide a better driveway. I agreed to this work. The equipment used for the initial part of this process was very large. Our driveway is fairly long, with a circle, and some close areas. I asked the workers if they did jobs like ours very often, and they said no- and that they would not do any more. Some of the equipment vibrated our house so badly that pictures on the wall moved, and a coffee pot (in a precarious spot) fell to the floor and broke. As the new base was being laid down, the PM said that it would extend beyond the paved areas, but they would back fill and reseed the lawn so that it would be better than it was before. After the paving was completed, they brought topsoil and grass seed, and the lawn looked fine initially. After a period of time, I noticed that the grass was not growing as it should. I found that instead of removing the concrete like stabilized base that extended beyond the paved areas, they simply put some topsoil on top. In some areas, there is only 1-2 inches of soil on top of the base, and this extends as much as five feet in some areas beyond the driveway. The PM was never very responsive about returning calls or emails (and has this reputation within the company), and would not return my calls after I complained about this. He said that they had done all that was required. I could usually leave a message with the owner, and someone would return my call. I talked with the owner once about this, and then he wouldn't return my calls. I filed a complaint with the BBB, and the company would not respond to them about the complaint. Some employees from Roadworx (who did the initial work) came out to work on the lawn after learning of the BBB complaint. They made some effort, but were not willing to do anything about the basic problem of the base extending beyond the pavement. This process is really not suitable for residential use. It may be fine for highways, etc., but (in our case) it destroyed parts of the lawn adjoining the pavement. On the positive side, the asphalt driveway seems to be holding up well. They made follow up trips initially to correct some minor problems, and the workers said that they wouldn't have needed to come back if the work had been done right the first time.