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Concrete contractor accused by neighbors of delaying, never finishing work

Posted at 4:58 PM, Jun 07, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-07 21:24:48-04

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LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Two neighbors in the same development are accusing a local concrete and landscaping company of not completing contracted work for months, after being paid thousands of dollars.

“I hired him the first part of January,” Pete Gonzales said, showing Denver7 the contract she signed for a backyard renovation.

Gonzales hired The Outdoor Room and owner Miguel Hernandez to pour a concrete patio and walkway, build a stone wall, do landscaping, sod, planting, and more.

“I paid him a total of almost $24,000,” she said.

A concrete patio and some of the paths were poured, and part of the stone wall was built. After that, Gonzales said the problems started.

“He always kept claiming he was going to come out and finish the work and have a crew here," she said. "I never saw a crew."

After three months, Gonzales said her backyard was “still all dirt.” She said she fired Hernandez in April.

“He did that to one of my neighbors as well,” she said.

Just down the street, Contact7’s Jason Gruenauer met a single mom named Vicky, who told a similar story. She said she paid The Outdoor Room $20,000, and after a two-tiered cinder block wall was built in her backyard, the company stopped working and stopped communicating. Months after she hired the company, she said she fired them as well.

The Better Business Bureau has multiple other complaints levied against The Outdoor Room, which they’ve graded an “F” and lodged a “pattern of complaint” against. That, in part, reads: “Consumers allege delivery issues, claiming that after the business collects the deposit, the business does not return to finish the work. Consumers also allege service issues, claiming the business' service is inferior when work is performed.”

“That’s bulls***. It’s not true,” owner Miguel Hernandez told Denver7 over the phone in response to those allegations.

In two separate ten-minute phone calls, the owner of The Outdoor Room claimed that weather and permitting had caused delays to both projects.

“If it’s raining how the hell do you expect me to finish the job?" he said. "And it's muddy. How does that happen?”

Both women have begun taking legal action against Hernandez and the company.

“This can't happen to any more people," Gonzales said. "It’s gotta stop. Something’s gotta be done about this."

When asked if there was anything he would like to say in regards to the news story, Hernandez responded: “Yeah it’s just f****ing stupid. That’s what it is. F****ing stupid.”

The business’s BBB profile can be found by clicking here.