This property was totally rebuilt with front and back yard totally cleared. I received several quotes for the project and Jose's quote seemed most realistic. The scope was to landscape as well as building a sitting wall , adding to a driveway, three patio slabs, irrigation and outside lighting. Financially I always knew where we were with the work and pay points. We had a number of changes (mostly outside lighting) and I clearly understood the extra cost. The results were outstanding. It's very clear this company has been in business for awhile. All the workers, staff and tradesmen worked well together. No drama. I highly recommend this company. Dennis read more

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We contracted Jose in 2017 to do our landscape all around our house. It was a brand new property. 5 years later and countless problems, and we are still paying for his shotty work. He installed a water feature in the front of our house that caused a leak in our main water line, which cost us $4000 to fix. The same water feature leaked for the first year and all he did was paint the wall instead of fixing the problem, and we paid for it. The second water feature has a leak that still hasn't been fixed. He wanted to charge a fee to come out & fix his shotty work. In addition, we had some concrete installed in our courtyard, and the concrete was uneven. We are installing tile in the same area and had to pay an extra $2000 to get it fixed. Highly disappointed in Jose's work, and wouldn't recommend him to anyone. read more

Available "24/7" Jose Castro and his crew are the best. We hired Jose a month ago after interviewing 12 "irrigation" contractors over the last six months. (Seriously!) Jose is honorable and does everything he says he will do - and more! Other contractors described their solutions to our water problems as using PVC pipes, but Jose came in with 4-inch pipes, 7 catch basins, a second French drain to the street, and so much more. His guys can do everything needed - and correctly. We had to remove parts of our beloved flagstone walkways to install the pipes. The new flagstone work is impeccable - so much so that we have hired him to add another 800 square feet of flagstone, move a fence to finish off the rest of our patio, and make everything safer for our disabled family member. He has been working in irrigation for 40 years, and it shows. He can identify and offer simple solutions to complex problems that have impressed the other two contractors working in our yard this month. PLUS, his communication skills are remarkable. He even answers texts and calls on Sunday... If you want your project done right, Jose is your guy! read more

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Jose is very responsible and professional throughout the whole process. He come to the site twice a day in person to monitor progress. He also provided very nice design suggestions and is always patient to answer any questions. Great price for the great work and we become friend after the business read more

My wife and I recently purchased a new build here in Otay Ranch in Chula Vista CA. Our backyard was a big project as our backyard space is over 14,000 sqft which was all dirt. I spoke to several landscape design company's and they were all either way too expensive or they didn't have the experience or credentials we were looking for. That is until we found Exterior Designs Landscape. Jose Castro the president of the company came to my home and took the time to review what our vision was for the backyard. We walked around the backyard going over detail after detail while he listened and took notes. We spoke about the best types of grass, privacy hedges, irrigation systems, the look and feel we wanted etc. This man knows what he is doing and it shows. Jose has over 40 years of experience with landscape design and he was able to walk me step by step through the process and phases of the job. Jose and his men are professional and HARD WORKING. They worked through all weather conditions to make sure the job was staying on target time frame. They were on time every day like clockwork until the job was done. Jose was on site and frequently communicating to his team as everyone worked as a unit. They were all extremely mindful of the current health situation as they all wore masks everyday without me telling them to. All in all these guys are PROS. They have turned my backyard into the dream oasis that my wife and I were looking for. We still cant believe how beautiful it all turned out. This is a A+ company and Jose Castro is an A+ man. Go with them! Literally all my neighbors did! read more

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Still in same house . Never listed it . I do have a cousin who visits from Colorado although I had no intention of moving there . The ad shown was the the one listed when I purchased the home in 2016 . I am unaware of " all insurances " he is talking about as I received no insurance money for his shoddy work . I just had to eat the loss . read more

Jose and crew were fantastic throughout the entirety of our backyard remodel. I've dealt with many contractors and Jose is the only one who showed up all the time and on time, followed through with his promises, changed things as needed, gave us great insight into potential future problems and stuck within our stated budget. Him and his crew came every day, they tore out the old backyard concrete, lawn, plants and sprinkler system and installed a completely new backyard in less than a month! This completely surprised me happily. He has a ton of happy references you can contact as well (not just these other two weird yelp reviews - one for another business and one written by someone with only one yelp review!). Highly recommend him and his work! read more

Exterior Designs - New backyard lawn and patio - Landscaping Near Me

Contacted Jose to quote a front yard. His response time was impeccable. We went out for several quotes, and found that we trusted Jose to do the job. They were out the following day to start the job. His guys did an amazing job, Jose was on the site everyday to make sure things were going as planned. The job was just completed, very happy so far. We definitely recommend Exterior Designs. read more

José is the best landscape contractor I've ever used. I've never had a project done so professionally from proposal stage thru completion. His design concepts were executed by his team perfectly, on time, and on budget. And I was very impressed with his team's professionalism and experience. They were the best. I can recommend José without reservation. Hire him. You won't be disappointed. read more

Don't waste your time. He comes out to review the project being requested and then starts to ask about doing other things. Well I was clear I only needed drainage. While reviewing the site, he kept just saying "yes"...I ask a question, and he says" yes" - yes what? It was a Thursday afternoon. He said, "well tomorrow is Friday, so quote sometime next week." I never got a quote, and on the 2nd week, checking back about quote and then mentioning we are adding a few items to the list. He kept texting me, he could come to visit on Thursday. And then I text back, I still haven't received a quote for the drainage, be good to have that. His quote was a laughable 6 digits. That's right - 100' of drainage $xx,xxx. Hmmn, guess he didn't want to do the drainage job but was quick to want to come back out. Can't imagine what his quote for adding things would be. read more

Jose Castro, the principal of Exterior Designs, and his teams did a wonderful job on our landscaping work. The job was a big one, involving front yard, back yard and two side yards, as well as coordination with our pool contractor. Throughout the entire process, Jose communicated very well with us. He let us know what to expect and when to expect it; he always asked if we had any questions about the process. Jose also offered excellent suggestions as to quality materials to use in the hardscape installation and along with his suggestions as to appropriate trees and flowers. We highly recommend Jose Castro and Exterior Designs. read more

Call to see if this guy wanted to buy some sago and roebelenii palm trees from my back yard that are over 10 years old selling them real cheap this guy told me you need to pay me to take them out pay you trying to help you out gave me attitude Saying why you calling me then read more

We engaged Exterior Designs (Jose Castro) for major backyard remodels at two different homes in 2010 and 2013. Collectively, the projects involved complete yard demo, extensive hardscape work, installation of retainer walls, built- in BBQs, outdoor fireplaces, patio and covers - along with associated electrical, irrigation, lighting and drainage work. In our experience... Jose was professional and fair. He keeps his word and, if you have any concerns or issues, will work with you to resolve them. I never had difficulty getting ahold of him or experienced unreasonable delays in hearing back on messages. He was personally involved in our project. He was almost always on our job site in the morning to kick off the work, and would call nearly every night to check in. His team was great to work with...very respectful, hardworking, friendly, etc. They showed up when expected, they worked, they always cleaned up and they left. Big landscaping projects are moving targets, so you will find things you want to change. Jose is creative, and has a good eye for things - he'll offer ideas but he lets you make the decisions. He is also flexible - just work closely with him to scope any changes or additions clearly so he can provide an accurate estimate of the cost. We strongly recommend you consider Exterior Designs for your project. We selected Jose for our first job in 2010 out of three bidders and, when we needed another yard done a few years later, we just went directly with Jose. We were very pleased with the outcome in both cases. read more

The old adage is true. You certainly get what you pay for. They completely destroyed my flower beds while they were cutting my lawn. They left without saying a word. What's worse, they sent me a bill charging me for clearing up the weeds in my beds. I couldn't believe it! When I called to demand an explanation, they denied any wrongdoing and demanded payment. What a joke!! read more

I hired Jose Castro Exterior Designs to transform my yard from the problematic grass to drought resistant plants better suited for my low maintenance and needs. Mr. Castro presented me with complete design ideas, cost and time frames. His strong work ethic, attention to detail and willingness to accommodate changes in the middle of the project are second to none. He followed up on any and all concerns the moment I raised them. The final product exceeded my expectations. highly recommend Mr. Castro and Exterior Designs if you want the work done right and to your specifications. read more

In 2008 we hired Jose Castro and Exterior Designs, Inc. to completely transform our backyard which involved demolishing all of the existing hardscape, transplanting existing palm trees, and completely rebuilding the new backyard including flagstone and marble flooring, BBQ island, fireplace, patio covers, and seated benches as well as new irrigation, drainage and lighting. Before actually hiring Jose, he met with us on several occasions and brought hundreds of pictures from his past projects. These pictures were very helpful in that they gave us some new ideas many of which we then subsequently incorporated into the design of our backyard. Jose's team was very courteous, did high quality work and cleaned up at the end of the each day. Jose proactively called one or both of us almost daily to ask if we had any questions, comments or suggestions. Both of us work full-time and Jose was very flexible to meet when it was convenient for us (often on Saturdays or Sundays). We were very pleased with how the backyard turned out and hired Exterior Designs again in 2012 to redo the landscaping in our front and courtyard which involved demolishing all of the existing hardscape, transplanting existing palm trees, and putting in custom flagstone flooring and marble seated benches as well as new irrigation, drainage and lighting. Jose's policy is to always make the customer happy. We believe that an individual's 'true colors' come through when things don't go exactly as planned. Every project has things which come up unexpectedly. In these situations, Jose was always professional, of high integrity and stood by his 'the customer is right' policy. Jose took great pride in his work (and that of his team). In summary, we are very happy with the professionalism and quality of work by Jose and his team. We would highly recommend Exterior Designs and would not hesitate to contact Jose again for future landscaping work. read more

Jose and his crew did a fabulous job on our Palomar Mountain Cabin. He meticulously rebuilt outdoor deck and retaining wall. Although the property is very remote, this didn't impede his team whatsoever. Additionally, he had wonderful suggestions that I did not previously consider. I give him my strongest endorsement. read more

I purchased a new house in Rancho Santa Fe that came with no landscaping or fences. After completing an architect plan and approval from the HOA and RSF Fire Dept. I started to find a contractor to do the actual landscape construction. I contacted about 6 landscape construction companies and 3 responded. One of the contractors submitted a very sketchy bid that didn't detail the materials or other specifications on the architect plan very well and the other bid was also very poorly prepared lacking the construction details. Both of those contractors took several months to prepare their bids and contained numerous errors or omissions. Jose responded with a detailed bid in less than 24 hours. I wrote to him once asking him to add some extra words to the bid so his bid would match the architect specs more precisely and he once again responded back with the corrected bid in less than 24 hours. I wanted to make the right choice in selecting my contractor, so based on his detailed bid along with his response time, I selected Exterior Designs Landscape. I contacted Jose and asked him when he could start and he said in 2 days. I know how contractors work so I thought okay what's the catch? Well, he showed up in 2 days with his full crew and hit the ground running! His crew did a very good job and made steady progress and worked on Saturdays when there were weather delays. I am retired and I wanted the job done to my satisfaction so I was able to stay home on the contractor work days to watch the job and also met with Jose at least once every work day. We walked the job site daily, and I discussed with him my concerns. His answer was always we can do it and he always made good on his promise. This was our daily ritual for more than the 6 months it took to do a very elaborate full landscape job that included demolition, stone walls, walkways, 5 paver patios, lighting, irrigation, grading drainage, trees and plants, fences, gates, 3 water features, firepit, 2 porcelain tile patios, stone columns and natural boulders. His crew kept the jobsite neat and clean and removed debris from collecting. They stored their job materials and tools at the end of each day. Jose and his crew took precautions to not damage anything and did a very professional job. He thanked me many times over the course of the job for the opportunity to do this job and I believe he is very proud of the results and has posted over 100 photos of my landscaping on numerous websites. Everyone who has seen my landscape are equally impressed with the outcome and have given much praise and compliments. All of my neighbors say they want their landscape to look just as good as mine. Jose also helped shopped for many of the products used and brought them over to my house for me to select from and presented design ideas.I am also very satisfied with the results and much of that is because I spent numerous hours making sure all of the work followed the plans or make improvements to the plan as the job progressed. My advice is that if you want things done and look the way that you want, you need to get involved and work with the contractor. But all of that would not have happened without the cooperation and workmanship from Jose and his crew. Jose always said to me during our discussions that he wanted to make me happy. He made good on that promise also! Great job Jose and thank you. read more

Mr Castro and his team were hired to replace a fence in our backyard. They did an excellent job. Very easy to contact and communicate with my Castro. His team did a professional job and tended to our request. Excellent work from start to finish, fencing to painting and post work clean up. Would highly recommend Exterior Designs for landscaping work. read more

I moved into a new house and hired Exterior Designs to complete my front and back yard hardscape and landscaping. The project was completed over about 3 months in 2016. Jose gave me fair pricing at the start and the cost did not change through the course of the project. The quality of the work was excellent and I am very happy with the finished product. Jose is easy to work with and is a man of his word. I am happy to recommend Exterior Designs to other home owners. read more