Queensland tradie smashes concrete driveway following pay dispute

A Queensland tradie has divided the internet after he was filmed smashing up a concrete driveway he poured days earlier, over a pay dispute.

A Queensland tradie has destroyed his hard work, smashing up a concrete driveway he poured days earlier in an alleged act of revenge over a payment dispute.

In a viral video shared on social media, Logan concreter Jesse Crowe was filmed shattering a concrete slab with a pick axe after a homeowner allegedly refused to pay the agreed price.

Jessie told 7News he negotiated the $6000 job, claiming the homeowner paid a $2500 deposit but wouldn’t budge on the final amount after a dispute over rubbish removal fees.

However, the homeowner claimed the pair agreed the job would only cost $5000. She said she paid a $3500 deposit and became concerned over the quality of the work.

In the footage, Jesse and his team are seen swinging pick axes and tearing up several chunks of the concrete slab outside the home.

“Should have paid,” a man behind the camera says in the video.

“Now it’s going to cost more to get it all dug up, taken away and poured again.”

Jesse and his team smashed the concrete driveway days after it was poured. Picture:7News

Using pick axes, the men hacked several chunks out of the concrete. Picture:7News

Speaking to 7News, Jesse said he didn’t enjoy having to destroy something he had just built.

“It comes to a point where you’re in the trade for a long time and you’re doing the right thing by people, and they don’t want to pay at the end of the day, so what are you gonna do?” he told the outlet.

“Didn’t want to pay, this is what happens.”

The homeowner alleged she was threatened after she complained about the job, telling the outlet the workers did not lay mesh like she requested and she wasn't given a quote for additional rubbish removal fees.

“They say ‘you’re paying now … or we will smash the concrete’,” she said.

She claimed she would have paid the tradesman, but they refused to finish the job.

“I was treated as a thief, as a crook,” she said. “They did what they wanted, not what I wanted.”

Jesse says the pair agreed to the $6,000 job. Picture:7News

The homeowner said she was threatened when she complained about the job. Picture:7News

The video, which was posted on social media days ago, has left the internet divided.

Some have come to the defence of the homeowner, claiming there were flaws in the work.

“The lady did the right thing,” one person commented.

“There wasn’t one control joint in there,” said another.

Others said they wouldn’t have paid until after the cement had completely set and it was clear there were “no cracks”.

“Gotta see the concrete go off before you know if it’s worth paying for,” one person wrote.

Viola and her family have lived with the damages driveway ever since the incident occurred last year.

She said they plan to eventually fix it themselves.