We hired Pantera Landscape for a major landscaping and hardscaping project at our Reno home, paying $75,098.89 in total. Their initial verbal bid came in $20,000 lower than the final price, which they raised after their design team produced the renderings. (Felt like a bait and switch.) The project was estimated at three weeks and ran closer to 4 months, off and on.
The workmanship problems are significant:
- The front steps had to be rebuilt three times and still are not code-compliant. The third rebuild happened after a month of using the steps, when the tops started falling off -- a serious safety issue. Even after the third build, the steps are uneven in height (up to an inch difference in places). We have hired another company to fix them.
- Retaining wall caps are uneven and sawed off; multiple caps were not secured.
- Uneven retaining walls throughout.
- Mid-project, they mismeasured the distance of the top retaining wall from the house by several feet, leaving a significant slope despite plans calling for level terraces. They did not take responsibility until we showed them the plans and pushed the issue. They did finally come through with a fix, which was to build a fourth retaining wall.
- Sprinkler system was botched and part of our lawn is dying. Danny and Jesus said they could not prioritize a fix for several weeks because they didn't want to make other customers upset.
- Decorative rock installed too thin; weed barrier is visibly exposed throughout.
- Glue residue left on the front door and on wall blocks.
- Exterior lighting has multiple lights that don't work.
When we raised the defects, the response was to blame "unforeseen conditions" and "site conditions" -- that is, the slope of our yard (which was the entire reason we hired them to build terraces) and a gas line at 12 inches (which is standard code depth and discoverable through the legally required 811 utility locate). Neither qualifies as unforeseen. If site conditions were a concern, they never should have taken the job.
Our last text (requesting they cover the cost of the new contractor we hired to fix the issues) went unanswered. We have filed a complaint with the Nevada State Contractors Board.
In our experience: limited skills, and no accountability when problems surfaced. If you're considering Pantera, get every specification in writing, document everything with photos, and pay in much smaller increments. I don't recommend hiring them for complex jobs. read more