I am a Santa Barbara homeowner. I had two large jobs done for me by Genesis Stoneworks. The price, the design, the workers, the overall results -- in fact, everything about the jobs -- were extraordinary.
I have a large backyard with a pool that had previously been paved with a thin layer of concrete by another company. (I was trying to save money at the time.) Over the years, the surface cracked and chipped, and it looked awful. It was time to redo the whole area but, this time, I wanted to do it right.
It happened that, 26 years ago, I had my driveway redone with paving stones (also called pavers) and they worked wonderfully. The work had been done so well that, after 26 years, the driveway still looked new with no problems at all. I looked for a company to do the same type of paving for my backyard.
I chose Genesis Stoneworks and I am satisfied for three reasons.
First: price.
Compared to the very large paving stone company that serves my area, Genesis came in with a significantly lower bid. Where the other company has a fake "discount" that they apply to their bid, Genesis' pricing is straightforward, honest, and easy to understand.
Second: workmanship.
The crew that worked on my jobs were well-organized and VERY skillful, not only at working with paving stones, but with drainage which is more important than you might think. Moreover, I could see that all the workers were happy. I know this sounds strange, but the workers were well managed and that they really liked working for Genesis, always a good sign.
Finally -- and most important! -- I chose this company because of the services provided by Daniel Gradin, the Genesis representative. Daniel is a lot more than a sales rep: he is an experienced designer who knows more about paving and drainage than anyone I have ever met in my life, and all his services were offered at no extra price.
Daniel (who actually draws on paper) spent a lot of time working on a design for me: measuring, drawing, and meeting my needs. When there were problems to overcome (you never know what you will find underground once you start to demolish), Daniel always knew exactly what to do.
As well as replacing the old concrete with pavers, I also asked Daniel to redo the entire underground drainage for the backyard and to replace an old underground gas line for me. He designed the plans for these extra tasks which, needless to say, were carried out perfectly. (As it happened, within a few months, there were many days of heavy rain, and the new drainage worked perfectly).
What surprised me was that, the price for all of this -- the demolishing, the brand new drainage, the new gas line, the paving, and all the materials -- was actually lower that the other company had bid for nothing more than replacing the concrete.
After I saw how good the work was, I asked Daniel to design another job for me, to replace a walkway with bricks in the front of the house with pavers, which he did flawlessly.
If you are thinking about paving stones, I suggest that you call Genesis Stoneworks and be sure to ask for Daniel Gradin. He is patient, experienced, and easy to work with, and you will end up with a superior result for a fair price.
One final note. You will remember that the reason I decided to replace the existing thin concrete with paving stones was that they had worked so well on my driveway. What is interesting is that, after starting to work with Daniel, I checked my records and realized that the work on the driveway, 26 years ago, had actually been done by Genesis. read more