We hired Weekend Warriors to install a retaining wall, dry creek bed and patio. With a few major caveats described below, the final product was mostly fine. But getting there has been a trial, and based on that experience, I would not use this business again or recommend it to anyone. The two major issues are:
1. The work itself faced many delays, ranging from days to weeks. A few were a result of weather, which anyone can understand and expect with landscaping projects. Other delays were simply by choice, such as the company's decision to take on and commit time to subsequent jobs (including some in my subdivision) before completing work already promised to us. The consequence was that a job estimated to take a couple of weeks turned into months, until winter forced a further pause until Spring. A few plants, including a pot of tall grass and some ground cover, were also left unplanted, resulting in loss of the plants. By Springtime, freeze and thaw had thrown patio edge stones out of line because landscaping intended to support them was also not completed in the Fall. Although the basic job was completed in the Spring and the edge stones re-aligned, the sheer amount of delay and frustration involved in pushing for completion cast a pall over the whole experience. Enough delays, and you realize that whatever the excuses, their persistence itself is the problem. Very unprofessional.
2. The company cannot be trusted to honor its warranty, which is that workmanship is guaranteed against defect for a year. They did re-align the patio edge stones, and reset a few interior patio stones which had settled over the winter. They did so even though underground water movement, rather than workmanship itself, may have been a factor with the interior stones. One of the patio piers, however, also started to lean in just a couple months, and although the company owner promised to re-align it under warranty, he then disappeared rather than do the work. Through e-mails and phone calls I have pushed since late May to have the work done, but lack of response to all these attempts forces me to conclude now that he has no intention of responding or honoring his word. Hence this caution to beware of words that seem to say all the right things going in. A warranty is measured by action, not words.
An irony is that these comments, based in real experience over several months, concern a company owner who described himself repeatedly as a perfectionist, and as someone who takes pride in his work. Such qualities, too, are measured by actions. read more
