Buying guide
The leftover-asphalt pitch, and other patterns.
Most paving complaints in the GTA trace back to a small number of repeating scripts. None of them are subtle once you know them, and they all rely on being decided in the next ten minutes.
The scripts
'We have leftover material from a job down the street.' Asphalt is ordered to the job. Genuine surplus is small, cooling, and not enough for a driveway. This line exists to explain an implausibly low price and to create urgency.
'Today only.' Real contractors are booked weeks out in season. A crew available this afternoon at a discount is a crew with no backlog, and in July that means something.
Cash only, large deposit up front. No receipt, no company name on the truck, no written scope. Nothing to point at afterwards.
A quote with no specifications. A price, a surface type, and nothing about depth, base or compaction.
Pressure to decide before they leave. The single most reliable indicator. No legitimate quote expires in an hour.
What the bad job actually looks like
Typically: little or no excavation, the new asphalt laid straight over the old surface or over unprepared ground, a single thin lift instead of two, no base work, and edges left unsupported.
It looks excellent for a season. Water gets under it almost immediately, and by the second or third spring you have alligator cracking, crumbling edges and a surface that flexes underfoot.
By then the phone number does not work.
Thirty seconds of checks
Ask for a written quote with excavation depth, base thickness and lift thicknesses. Watch what happens.
Ask for proof of liability insurance and WSIB coverage. Legitimate contractors produce these without hesitation.
Look for a verifiable business: a website, a Google profile with reviews, an address, a company name that matches the truck.
Ask for two recent local addresses you can drive past.
And decide tomorrow. Anyone who cannot wait until tomorrow is telling you why.
Questions
Is every door-to-door contractor a scam?
No, and some legitimate small operators canvass. The red flag is not the knock — it is the urgency, the cash, and the absence of written specifications.
What if I already paid and the work failed?
Document everything with photos and dates, and contact Consumer Protection Ontario. Recovery is difficult, which is why the checks beforehand matter so much.
Why are these crews so much cheaper?
Because they are not doing most of the job. No excavation, no base, no compaction, one thin lift.
Related
Keep reading
Free estimate
Questions about your own driveway?
We measure on site, probe the base and quote in writing within 48 hours.
Request my estimate