Summary: After reading the positive reviews I can only conclude that they can do some easy things. They did not do a very good job, took a long time, did not complete the work, did not communicate well and were unprofessional. Left 2 broken sprinkler heads sitting in the yard as if they were just fine. I just turned on the sprinkler - geysers out of the ground. These guys are awful.
Details:
Alicia is personable and speaks well but don't let that fool you. While she responded positively to the additional things I wanted to be done, she apologizes a lot ... for good reason. She is not professional in her approach to business and her staff do not speak English or understand that the job site is NOT their property. She does not spend much time on the job site so if there is something you would like from them, such as to not park in your driveway blocking you into your garage, it takes a while to get them to understand they need to move. The project estimate was in a text message; I had to translate it into an understandable form and get her to acknowledge it, which took repeated attempts to get clarity. She called me at 10:30 at night wanting an incremental payment the very next morning by 8 am, in cash. I was charged more than the estimate once; it was later corrected when I pointed it out due to my having prepared a structured estimate from her text messages. Requests for immediate payment at odd times were the norm. I had to prepare receipts for the payments since apparently that is not something she does. Timing and expectations were not communicated clearly or timely. We discussed the project at length and I had to get a number of things confirmed in writing on my own initiative, going back to her repeatedly. She took no notes at any time as we discussed the project. The first grass installation had to be removed because the wrong type of grass was installed! Her staff is not professional. Since she is not around most of the day - I work at home so I was present 98% of the time during the project - the one guy on the job spent a lot of his time looking at his phone. Staff arrives at random. The staff does not arrive prepared to work. One guy spent multiple intervals sharpening tools with a grinder at my backdoor. He left metal filing grinding debris, mud tracked all over the patio, trashcan can drag away, old drainage pipe left in my flowerbed, etc. I told Alicia about her crew - no response from her. At one point all the outlets on my back porch were in use for their phones. Trees were put in okay with a new bed created. Removing plants and mulching went well (we'll see what was really removed next spring). A drainage line and box was installed and tied to the existing drain line to the street - that is okay.
The sod removal and new sod installation were not done properly. The sod removal was done by hand and not deep enough, leaving plant (weed) roots in the ground. Topsoil was not laid out prior to sod installation; the front yard got some subsoil distributed, the backyard had no soil put in for the sod at all. The sod was constantly walked on as it was being installed - "Do not do" for sod installation. The sod pieces were laid down with small gaps and in some places large holes were left where the sod did not line up. I have to correct that myself. By Dec 15, the project had been going on since Sep 13 and nothing had been done for over a month. When I requested status I was told "I will get back to you today"; days went by with no response until I asked again. I finally got fed up with these amateurish charlatans. The job was not finished, there was no apparent interest in finishing, just "will get back to you" messages that were never fulfilled. read more