We contacted Green Design Group/Charlie R. (GDG/CR) because we wanted to convert our front yard from lawn to drought-resistant/low water plants & spruce up the backyard. We'd already been approved for the rebate for the turf removal in the front and unfortunately, a couple other groups we contacted failed to get back to us or were too busy so we were facing a 6-7 week deadline. CR and Victor S. (VS) came to our house and we paid them $2,500 for a design. A week later, they came back with the design & the total cost, which was over $40,000. We'd received some soft quotes in the $25,000 range, but CR assured us the work would be great & we'd be happy with the end product. We gave them another $1,000 to start the work. Below are the main issues we experienced. I will preface this review by stating about 90% of the problems were due to faulty irrigation work.
1. The work they said they did wasn't done. Toward the end of the process, I asked VS several times to make sure each drip line was working properly. Each time he said it was. The problem was even though the entire work took about 6 weeks, the irrigation people were only around a couple days per week. And it's sort of understandable because they can't do irrigation work until other work is done first. However, I work from home & I was able to see what happened & I just had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right because even when they did show up, they didn't stick around & I never saw them make any final adjustments.
Sure enough, after the entire job was "finished" & we gave CR the final check, I went out & checked each area & some drip lines were shut off, others were turned all the way up, and some plants didn't even have lines attached to them. I bought 100 flags from Home Depot so I could mark each area that needed to be adjusted and about half way, I ran out of flags because there were so many that weren't setup properly. I contacted GDG and VS came out the next day and he and I adjust each and every drip line. It took me about 5-6 hours total to flag each plant & for VS & I to correct them.
I also asked VS to make sure the irrigation was setup so the existing trees in the front yard were getting enough water. Again, he assured me they were. However, my once lush jacaranda tree now looks like a cancer patient after a couple rounds of chemo (see before and after photos) and this was the first year since we've lived here (5 years) that purple flowers didn't bloom on the tree.
2. The cost. Again, we'd received soft quotes in the $25,000 range & we paid GDG over $40,000, excluding the $2,500 design fee. During the process, if we wanted something different than the original design, even if it was something minor, CR said he'd have to create a change order so we kept almost everything as is. However, we wanted to move an existing tree from the back to the front instead of just chopping it down because CR wanted to plant an avacado tree in its place. Again, CR told us he'd have to provide a change order since moving the tree wasn't something he originally contemplated. When he sensed this was starting to annoy me, CR then suggested instead that I purchase the planter beds & mesh for the backyard & GDG would do the work for free. We agreed & a few days later, when it actually came time to move the tree, it took 2 of their workers about 30 minutes total to dig the hole in the front and then dig the tree from the back & move it to the front. The total cost of the planter beds & mesh was about $350. So I essentially paid $350 for 30 minutes of labor.
Later on, when it came to do the irrigation in the back, we found out that due to the way my sprinkler system was configured, they couldn't change to drip as they planned. So we ended up going with porous hoses & kept the system intact, with the exception of moving a few sprinkler heads. The total cost to convert to drip was to be $1,000. Since that wasn't done, I contacted CR & asked the cost be adjusted since the work wasn't going to be completed. CR first refused, but when I reminded him how much I paid out of pocket for just 30 minutes of labor, he relented & reduced the final cost by $1,000.
3. After VS & I adjusted all the drip lines, I commented the plants in the parkways didn't look like they were going to make it & if there was anything that could be done. VS said they miscalculated how big the areas were & how much sun each area received & I could cut the hose & extend the coverage. They made a mistake & they never fixed it. Instead, they just left it for me.
Bottom line, we paid a lot of money & expected a certain level of work and accountability. We feel we were either over-charged or they under-delivered. Work that was supposed to be done wasn't. I have zero confidence in the irrigation system they left behind & I don't know if my other plants, ones I haven't checked in the back, are getting watered. It almost feels as if we paid over $40,000, but ended up with a DIY project. read more