I have worked with Upstream on several projects. The most-recent in 2014 was a truly terrible…read moreexperience. The proprietor's approach to this (repeat) customer degraded from professional to adversarial. His obsessive need to be right leads to his engaging in many hours of acrimonious e-mails rather than spending a fraction of those hours of warranty work (saving him time and a customer). Also beware weather events that occur more than once-per-year being somehow defined as 'acts of God'. This is unfortunate as the work quality is satisfactory.

My family hired Kirk Wagner at Upstream Waters Landscape to finish the landscaping of our new home,…read moreincluding creating a path to the lake on which the house sits, lay sod in the backyard, plant seed in the front yard, and install some hardscape surrounding the house and in a firepit. The contract was a "time is of the essence" contract in early May because we needed all of the work completed by June 1. As of early June, the work had not yet started. When we arrived to inspect the partially completed work in late June, we found significant deficiencies. For example, the "path to the lake" was complete only about 1/3 of the way from the back of the yard towards the lake, the sod was incomplete, the firepit was incomplete and partly wrong, several of the plants were already dying, part of our gravel driveway had been destroyed from machinery, and the seeding had not yet begun. We had an amicable meeting and Kirk agreed to complete all of the missing pieces by the end of June and we agreed to pay some additional money for a portion of the additional sod that would be installed. It is now June 20. The firepit is complete. But only a small fraction of the new sod is laid and it is all dead. Many more plants are dead. And while the seeding has been done and grass should be growing, it is only growing in a small fraction of the front and side of the lot. Meanwhile, Kirk had told us all work was complete and in good condition and we should pay the final balance without looking at the work, as we were out of town. In our meeting today, instead of giving any timetable for finishing the project or any insight into whether grass would indeed grow (Kirk said bald spots could be addressed after 90 days, but 90 days is the warranty period, so he was essentially telling us to wait until the warranty expired), he said if we did not pay him the balance today (another $4900), he would take us to court. We have already paid $15,000 for his work despite it being substantially unsatisfactory. I'm extremely frustrated at his lack of professionalism and unwillingness to provide solutions for issues he has created.

Ian was great. Professional, knowledgeable, and clearly understood my needs. Took care of…read moreeverything on my list and answered all my questions. Expensive, but at least they took the job.

I made an appointment because I lost power in part of the house and have a wire glowing red hot in…read moremy circuit box. The tech called shortly before the scheduled arrival time, and a day after I made the appointment, to cancel and said a week later is the soonest he can be here. I called the main office and was simply told they couldn't do anything because "that's on the tech," so I should call someone else. Absolutely shameful customer service. Avoid this business.

Do you want to see how they took advantage of my 75 year old mother! The contract was for CLOSED…read moreWALL electricity. But it was going to be too much work, so they told my mom they didn't want to cut holes in the wall (they told her that in estimate they'd have to cut holes, that they don't fix) she had a contractor lined up to fix holes. They said they could do it so they didn't have to cut. After first room she told them she didn't like it. The way he explained to her in would be enclosed so she couldn't see wiring. We had old plug molding with outlets encased in a wood strip. She said like the molding he said yes. It is like a factory. Metal tubing wiring showing on outside of wall outlets sticking out of metal tubing like you'd see in a factory setting. If it lets me post pics I will add. She called in and complained. The receptionist said the worker thought she would be calling because my mom told him she didn't like it! They said they would be out on 21st of June to fix it. THEY CALLED HER AND ASKED TO COME EARLY to fix it on June 18th. No show! Then hour after window of time they were supposed to come They sent a new estimate via email and wanted to charge her additional 2700 to fix and then after she argued they said they'd charge her only for labor $1500. Duh wire is already there! I am so angry that this is what companies in U.S.A. have come to. They won't even answer her calls any more! She had a friend call and they answered right away. The owner was supposed to call her a week ago but of course he did not! HORRIBLE HORRIBLE company! Note these pictures are only of one room there are 2 more rooms just like this! Ruined 3 rooms!

I'm literally disgusted. We had major work done including entire home rewire and light…read moreinstallation. The service man I had Justin did the electrical, satisfactorily. However, he literally trashed every room he touched. We have recently remodeled our home with all brand new paint rugs and carpet. He left debris all over everything. There were so many black fingerprints all over the walls and the ceiling that I may actually have to repaint. I was told that there would be one hole in my wall and came home to four holes including an extra hole in the ceiling for no reason. I am just disgusted. While they gave a better price than four other companies, I would have opted not to have my house destroyed and have to pay for a few hundred dollars of repairs and possibly  paint. They also didnt put back any of the insulation they moved in the attic. They showed no care for my home whatsoever. I requested to speak to a manager and no one ever called me back.

Couldn't be happier with Tom. Not only did he reply right away with an estimate (sight unseen), he…read moreshowed up (early) the next day & confirmed the exact same price he originally quoted me. He did NOT try to sell me on extra work or things I did not need & did the job right there and then...and what a great job it was! I'm going to hire him again to come back and install a ceiling fan. Thank you Tom, wish there were more genuine, honest and quality people like you!

My experience was not a good one. I needed power and switch to two outdoor lights installed in…read moreposts that were originally part of a carport. It took him longer than he said to get power to the lights, there were no junction boxes so he attached the lights directly to the wires which left the lights wobbly and not straight. Then he called me out to see gobs of caulking around the lights so water wouldn't get behind the lights. It looked like I had done it. Then I found out that I had no power to my bathrooms. I called him back and he said it was probably a GFCI problem and he did offer to come out. I was not willing to have him work on the issue again. Although I think he knows alot about electrical I found out he does not have an ROC#. I emailed him and asked what his license number is and I never heard back. Got a quote from another electrican for 1000 dollars to fix my issues.

Great service, prompt responses. Very professional company who stands behind their products…read more Highly recommended!

Very polite people! Easy to work with. They do excellent work. Highly recommend Landscape…read moreIllumination.

I hired Howell Electric to handle the electrical work for my business remodel--all the outlets and…read morelighting--and they were fantastic. The crew was punctual, kept the work area clean throughout, and finished on time and on budget. No surprises, no headaches. If you need an electrician in the Niles area you can count on, these are your guys. Five stars, easy.

Professional and exceeded my expectations. Appointment was on time and talked about all the things…read moreI needed done. Follow through was spot on and done when I was even at work. Great company would Highly recommend