Parker Concrete

Dave Parker and his crew took out pebble hardscape and installed a new paved driveway and pathway for our house. We were impressed with the work ethic of the crew, and very pleased with the final product. The project proceeded quickly and nearly effortlessly on our part. When any mistake was made it was readily fixed, and our yard was left in perhaps even an improved condition from prior to the work. We are happy to give Parker Concrete our recommendation for work well done.

Dave and his crew just completed a curb cut (AKA new driveway) at our house. Our house is on a busy street, so the permitting process was a total nightmare. Dave was super patient and worked with me to get everything in place before the work began.
Once the crew started though, they were lightening fast. The work looks phenomenal and I’ve already gotten complements (which is funny to receive on a driveway!). The «historic» concrete sidewalks they had to pour look really awesome too.
I can’t recommend them enough, Dave and his crew are really top notch!

I have never written a bad review about any service provider but my experience with Parker Concrete was so remarkably bad that I feel the need to share it as a warning to those considering hiring him. I have done about $ 350k of work on my home as an owner builder over the last few years and worked with about 25 different subcontractors. Some are certainly better than others, but Dave Parker has been the worst by a wide margin.
After some time into the job, Parker started to make a lot of mistakes, which made him work faster, which in turn caused worse mistakes. These included: breaking the same water line 3 separate times, putting walls in the wrong place, saw cutting a footing in the wrong place, ordering concrete for the wrong day, misplacing the steel in the wall and failing inspection from the city, pouring the new foundation in the wrong place resulting in the building overhanging almost 3″ over 4′, walls not straight, and the list continues.
It came to the point where every day there was a new and worse problem. To the end, Dave Parker would blame everyone around him — the architect for not drawing the plans clearly, me for not having reviewed his work as the owner builder, the framers for not curving the wall to match his concrete, even his own crew, but never assumed responsibility for what were clearly his own mistakes.
I was patient with Dave to the end, but his real colors shone when he opted to tell me that I had better pay him more or he’ll walk and his problems will become my problems. We had an argument and he was abusive and abrasive. He followed up with a substantial list of change orders and demands that were largely unwarranted or not possible to complete in a reasonable timeframe.
I was left with no choice but to fire Dave, despite the fact that he had received payment for work not completed. I had another contractor come in to correct most of his work and finished in a reasonable time frame.
To top it off — Dave decided not to pay his concrete bill, leaving me with an upcoming lien and the task of taking him to CSLB arbitration to collect what he owes me from this disaster.
After it all, I finally checked his license and he already has another citation. Be warned.

Gold Struck in San Diego!
Cliff Notes:
Hired Parker Concrete for Retaining Wall and Paver Yard
Parker Concrete provided excellent consultation services.
Parker Concrete did an excellent job and gave tons of freebies
Parker Concrete’s crew members found a massive amount of gold and returned it.
Repeat: Parker Concrete’s crew members found a massive amount of gold and returned it.
We are totally satisfied with the work done from top to bottom and would wholeheartedly recommend Parker Concrete for all services offered.
An honest company with impeccable morals and values. This was the best sentence I came up with to describe Parker Concrete since it’s hard to accurately describe them in a couple words or a sentence.
My terraced retaining wall recently failed and the top wall fell down. Our family decided that we should also remodel the backyard when we construct a new wall. I contacted several companies for bids. Dave from Parker Concrete came by and surveyed the work, drew a design for the patio, and gave me some options for the work.
The proposed wall is a 3 feet 6 inches engineered one, Country Manor by Keystone, which uses the Geogrid system. Dave had strongly advocated for a traditional wall using split face blocks, cement footing, and rebar since it is a tried and true system. However, we like the looks of the Country Manor wall much more. We decided to go with pavers for the ground. Stepping stones were proposed for the walk way from the back yard to the front yard.
Dave Parker and a crew of 5 guys came by and started working on our place in November 2012. The back yard had some personal items that needed to be moved. Dave took initiative and helped me move all the items. The crew started demolishing the wall and yard. They excavated the work area, moved loads of dirt from the slope, and prepared the back yard for wall and paver construction. The crew worked hard daily and Dave came by everyday to work or to check on the progress and make adjustments as necessary. Changes are common with every construction job but Dave was easily accessible in case we had questions or needed anything. Dave was clearly on top of things.
Things were going smoothly as planned. We were happy with the work so far but Dave wanted to spoil us. He tossed in freebies left and right so the wall and yard can look nicer. These items were expensive and we never bargained for it initially so Dave had no obligation to give us these freebies and lose profit. We have worked with many contractors and companies in the past and no one ever gave us any or as much free materials/​work as Dave did.
Things only got better from there. One morning Dave knocked on our door and told us, in a serious tone, that he needed to talk to us in private. We have never seen Dave so serious before so we were feeling kind of anxious and nervous. Dave bought in two of his crew members and he explained that something happened on the job which he has never experienced before. Dave continued to explain that the guys found something. I had no idea what he found so I just made a joke to Dave that he found gold. Well, joke is on me sort of since the crew really did strike gold. We were totally shocked when Dave showed us the gold he found in our back yard. Dave explained to us how the crew found gold and where they found it. We could only nod our head since we were speechless. It took awhile to let everything settle in. A couple days passed and we were still in awe and disbelief at what had happened and how people can be so honest.
The job was completed in the time frame that Dave estimated. We did a final walk through and everything looked fantastic. The installed drains functioned as expected. The Country Manor Wall looked sturdy and the pavers were gorgeous. The stepping stones topped off the project nicely. Dave’s crew made a staggered walkway with rectangular steps that were composed of patterned pavers. The employees accidentally destroyed a concrete stoop outside of our sliding glass door but they gave us an upgraded paver stoop when they rebuilt it so we came out on top once again.
The job finished up with a Phil’s BBQ lunch. We thanked the crew for everything.. It was a good feeling to do something for the guys to thank them for the extra work that they put into the job. This project really didn’t feel like a business transaction where you just paid for someone’s work and then went your own ways. It felt more like having a trustworthy friend come over to help you with a project.
In short, I wholeheartedly recommend Parker Concrete for all masonry work, retaining walls, and patios. I would hire Dave and crew for all construction needs if he offered it.
Thanks Again Dave, Leo (lead crew member), Jose, Goyo, Carlos, and Markx