Several weeks ago, I decided it was time to have a few landscaping projects done. I called EIGHT…read morelandscapers. The first one I called was an acquaintance of mine. I scheduled with him twice and both times, he never showed up. I then checked his Yelp reviews and I'm kind of glad he didn't show up. Another landscaper came to look at my projects but never produced an estimate or returned my calls, one had a sky high price, another told me he couldn't start until October so I just cancelled that appointment, and the rest just never showed up for the estimate.
Then I talked to Paul. Most of these landscapers I talked to were pretty gruff and had voices like they'd been gargling with gravel between cigarettes. Paul answered the phone and in his soft angelic voice, he asked about my projects and agreed to come out for an estimate the next day.
My projects were a scattered mish-mosh because we'd neglected the exterior of our home. While our home was featured in Better Homes & Gardens back in the 1980's, I'm not a "yard guy," so I did basic lawn maintenance and let everything other than the grass go to hell.
Paul followed me around my hillbilly yard and patiently listened to my ideas while offering a few of his own. By that evening, he emailed me an estimate with itemized prices so I could pick and choose the jobs that fit our budget for this year. I hired Paul and his crew to install a short retaining wall around our above ground pool, a small paver pad for the pool pump to sit on, and I also had them revitalize our kids' play area with landscaping paper and fresh mulch.
Just yesterday, I got an estimate for weekly lawn care from another landscaper (Paul's lawn crew doesn't work in my area or else I would have hired him). I asked this new guy what he would have charged for the projects I had done by Paul. This other landscaper was $600 higher on the retaining wall and paver pad, but $200 less on the play area. So, considering the overall price, Paul was very competitive and I came out ahead based on the one sky-high estimate I got earlier and the estimate this new guy quoted after the project was already done. I'm extremely happy with Paul's pricing and for what I got, I would say his price was beyond fair.
As for what I got... Regarding the quality of the workmanship, it's top notch. His crew came out and busted their butts all day long for two days. They worked through the rainy morning one day and had the job completed on time. In fact, the job was actually completed a week ahead of schedule because Paul had a cancellation and squeezed me in early.
On top of all that, his crew did a little extra work for free. I had a couple bald spots in my yard and they saw me throwing some grass seed. I didn't even notice this until they'd left, but they used some of the extra grass they pulled up from the retaining wall area to fill in a couple divots and bald spots.
The yard is looking great, the projects they completed look absolutely wonderful, and I'll never look for another landscaper again! Paul is now my landscaping go-to guy. As a Realtor, I don't often get clients looking for landscaping work, but he just replaced the guy I used to recommend (the one who blew me off twice).
In the end, I'm an extremely satisfied customer! His price was great, his timing was perfect, his finished products were beyond my expectations, and I'm very happy knowing that I've got a very reliable landscaping professional that I will feel confident recommending to clients!