We hired Total Lawn, Inc. after reading reviews on Nextdoor and Google to install sod (8 pallets)…read morefor us. The quote from late January included killing/removing old grass, light grading, use of manure, sand and topsoil to prep for sod installation. The total was $10,200 and change. We've never spent that much with one contractor on any work we've done to this home, this was a huge investment for us.
I had a discussion with him on the day of the quote that I hoped the yard would not be bumpy and 'seamed' looking when they were finished and I was told it would "be smooth as glass," direct quote. Great!
The prepping was done on a Friday (a little over two weeks ago), all went really well. I remarked to him how great it all looked! The sand, manure and topsoil were spread over the lightly graded front lawn, and rolled flat. The sod was to be put down on the following Monday and Tuesday. Bad weather for Friday night (the day the prep was done) had been in the forecast for days. I knew this, I assumed he had planned for it and knew, as a professional, if the work they were doing was appropriate given the forecast. I was wrong. The entire yard was washed out, the sand, the manure and topsoil--most of it anyway (see pictures.) I was not so concerned, at that point, because he was the professional and I felt sure this would be his issue to fix. I sent pictures and the reply was, "I was afraid of that." I guess I should have then asked, "Then why didn't you wait?" but again, I felt he would handle the problem created by known, forecasted bad weather. And again, I was wrong. We were sent an invoice to pay an additional $500 of $635 to replace the sand, re-grade, and smooth out the yard again. I disputed this and told him we had not budgeted for it, but I was told it was my responsibility and he would not absorb the cost as prices had increased since the original quote and the job was already tight. Possible increases should, I believe, be factored into a quote that is given 2-3 months in advance. I guess not. I agreed to pay so the job would be finished and we would have a lawn, but I did so after saying none of it was our fault and I guessed we were just "screwed." The re-grading of the yard did not look like the first grading. It was not as smooth as the first time, before the rain. When the sod was laid, it looked (looks) raggedy, uneven and full of seams, naturally. It looked nothing near 'smooth as glass.' I told him it did not look as good and he was dismissive of my concerns.
Once the sod was laid, they rolled it and he has rolled once since then. The sod is still uneven, his comment was it is uneven due to different grass heights. I disagree with that. When he left he told me to call/text any questions. I had a few regarding irrigation and lawnmowers-which he gave us suggestions. He told me, in what I perceived as a terse manner, that I could hire someone if I wanted to monitor the moisture, he was not around to do that (which we never expected or asked.) Then, he sent me a very unprofessional text message, after I asked about the irrigation in the one overly moist area of the yard. This effectively ended our communications as I had never been spoken to like that by any contractor. We are now on our own with our $10K lawn to figure out the future watering and as to what issues we might encounter or look for. We were given no instructions beyond the initial watering schedule and the name of a 'chemical guy.'I've since had a couple of other companies come out. They say, with work and patience, the grass will most likely survive. What appears to be a larger problem is the grading left a couple of low spots where water is accumulating with no way to escape. We will eventually need to go to the expense of having the lawn leveled so that it is not damaged by fungus or insects from being wet.
Based on our experience, we could not recommend Total Lawn, given the unprofessional attitude towards me and the fact we paid in stress and dollars for poor planning and poor judgement. For our situation, we chose the wrong landscaper. Maybe others have had a different experience, maybe there were underlying causes we didn't know that led to the poor judgement with the weather. I do have texts which substantiate all that I've honestly written in this review. Take from this what you will. Since posting this review elsewhere, I've heard from others who've had a somewhat similar experience but have not left a review, unfortunately.
