NJ_Driveway
New Member
Three years ago, our asphalt driveway was replaced by a contractor with a concrete driveway for approximately $4k.
Within 6 months of completion, driveway began to crack severely and showed unusual signs of wear. Contractor was notified and asked to rectify the situation. Contractor offered to replace cracked sections of driveway, blaming the situation on bad batches on concrete. Contractor stated that driveway would be completed the following spring. Every few months from this period on, the contractor has stalled saying that he would complete the repair once his other jobs were complete. Now he has flat out denied he has any guarantee to his work performed and has offered only $500 to rectify the situation. This same contractor has indicated replacement of broken pieces of driveway would cause upwards of $1000.
I don't know much about the law, but is there some implied guarantee to the driveway even though there was no written guarantee? Since the payment was substantial and the driveway was surely intended not to crack or damage within a year of completion, is there any recourse on my part in small claims court? Is my situation actionable now that so much time has passed. I realized that if I ever had an opportunity to pursue this legally, it probably has passed statuatory limits. Please advise if I am mistaken, since Contractor deliberately stalled for probably this exact reason.
Thank you so much for any help in this matter.
Within 6 months of completion, driveway began to crack severely and showed unusual signs of wear. Contractor was notified and asked to rectify the situation. Contractor offered to replace cracked sections of driveway, blaming the situation on bad batches on concrete. Contractor stated that driveway would be completed the following spring. Every few months from this period on, the contractor has stalled saying that he would complete the repair once his other jobs were complete. Now he has flat out denied he has any guarantee to his work performed and has offered only $500 to rectify the situation. This same contractor has indicated replacement of broken pieces of driveway would cause upwards of $1000.
I don't know much about the law, but is there some implied guarantee to the driveway even though there was no written guarantee? Since the payment was substantial and the driveway was surely intended not to crack or damage within a year of completion, is there any recourse on my part in small claims court? Is my situation actionable now that so much time has passed. I realized that if I ever had an opportunity to pursue this legally, it probably has passed statuatory limits. Please advise if I am mistaken, since Contractor deliberately stalled for probably this exact reason.
Thank you so much for any help in this matter.
