Hailey's Blacktop Service

My experience with Jason Peterson, Asphalt repair and replacement.

I have a 2600 sq. ft semi-circular driveway that needed to be replaced. Jason was one of four estimates I received, ranging from $6300 to $8400. Jason's was the lowest bid. My driveway is surrounded by Eucalyptus trees, so the roots caused some cracks, plus the driveway was 36 years old. Because I was concerned about the cracks, I asked Jason about Petromat, which helps retard the re-emergence of cracks after putting down asphalt. He assured me it was not needed. One other estimator concurred, but two said Petromat would retard future cracking. Internet research suggested opinions were about 50-50---half said yes, half no.
I went with Jason because he claimed to know what he was talking about and his price was the best. He arrived and did a good job. One problem area was in front of the garage, as our house is about 4 feet below the street level. Jason constructed a large berm in front of the garage, which did channel most of the water away and down the driveway. However, the area between the berm and the garage collected water, which sat right against the bottom of the garage door. The area between the berm and the street was not constructed well, overall, and allowed large puddles of water to collect after rains.
Three weeks after the driveway was finished, cracks began appearing in the asphalt. I also noticed three areas where the old driveway surface could be seen through the new asphalt. I contracted with Jason to lay down 2" of asphalt, yet on these three areas, there was only about 1/4 inch of asphalt.
I called Jason four times over a month to ask him to fix the berm and water puddling problem. He finally did return and worked on it, largely fixing the large puddling problem. The area between the berm and the garage was not worked on, so it remains a potential problem. This area is flat, not sloping away from the garage as it should.
I called Jason again, but he has not responded. I gave up.
Jason did indicate that the driveway should be sealed. He quoted me a price of $900. I had it sealed yesterday for $300 from a local driveway company.

Jason gets four stars for doing a good job initially. He loses one star for not doing the berm/garage area well. He gets one star back for coming back. He loses one star for not responding to my four phone calls over a month. He loses another star for not responding a second time for the area between the berm and the garage. He loses another star for failing to live up to the contract and laying down 2" of asphalt in three areas. If I could, I'd take another star away because of the flat area between the berm and the garage door, which, I think, is going to be trouble in a really good storm.
One last note: my neighbors (three doors down) also used Jason to do their driveway, just a week before I did. Their house is 8-10 feet below street level. They had all the same problems with water leaking into the garage I just described, only worse. Jason also failed to respond to their calls. They also sealed their driveway with the other vendor I used.
I would not recommend Jason for future customers.