In the past several months I've had a lot of stuff around my house that had to be taken care of. One of those things was to install a new water treatment system (septic) system, that left my backyard a nightmare--it would need a lot of dirt, along with spreading and leveling it. A change in homeowners insurance required that I get it taken care of, and NOW.
I started looking online for suppliers and prices. The first one up was a big box supplier that had their prices listed online. But I wasn't sure how much dirt I would need to do the job. A couple more lines down the search results was Backyard Landscape. When I saw the location, I realized I had driven by the place several times and had been curious about them. Now was my chance to find out what they were about.
When I called I immediately noticed two things--first, they actually answer the phone, and two the person who answered was very pleasant. Good start! I explained my situation, and when I told Tony the big box price he said, "I can get you three times that amount of dirt for the same price." Yeah, I was stunned! Then he quoted me a price to come out, spread it, and level it. He also told me he would be the one actually doing the work. Another point in their favor--no worries about trying to explain something to another person down the chain in the company.
When could they do it? Tony understood this was related to keeping my insurance coverage, so he didn't want to make a promise he couldn't keep. He told me he would check with his supplier for the dirt, verify the schedule, and call me back. That was where Backyard Landscape really came through for me. Tony called me back, when he said he would, and gave me a firm date to both deliver and spread the dirt. And it was just three business days from the day I first called. And that is EXACTLY what they did. All promises were kept and on time!
The work looks great. As I said my yard was a mess full of sink holes, tire tracks, ruts, and hardly passable. Now it is filled in, smooth, and Tony even took care of leveling the dirt just the way I wanted around a couple of trees in the backyard. It was only then that he asked for payment. It was also then that I found out Tony was the OWNER of the company.
To say I'm pleased is an understatement. I've already asked Tony to estimate what some gravel work would cost, and intend to get quotes on sod to finish off the backyard. I've found a company I both highly recommend and intend to use in the future.
NOTE: I have posted a few photos showing what the backyard looked like right after the new water treatment system was installed in January, and what it looks like after Tony did the work. (It looked even better before it rained--within a couple of hours of Tony finishing the work!) I wish I had some pics of how it looked right before Tony did the work--between January and May several sink holes had opened up, ground had settled and so on. Because as bad as the photos from January look, it looked even worse before Tony got started! read more