JW RUHL LANDSCAPE SERVICES INC

In my telephone message for Jim Ruhl, I clearly described the work needed. I did not indicate that I expected the work to be performed at a reduced cost. Jim did not return my call despite having sent me a letter just a few days before soliciting new business. Now I?m can?t be sure why he didn?t return my call, but I can only guess that he was concerned I might expect some type of concession. Instead of hiring Jim, I wound up hiring another company to do the work for just under $600. Because the posts were sunk in gravel, it?s normal for heaving to occur due to freeze thaw. Good practice in this area dictates that fence posts be sunk in concrete. It also seems that the pickets were of inferior quality since there have been no rotten boards on a picket fence I had installed by another company in 1997 around a small part of my yard to make a small dog run. Now I wasn?t surprised that Jim didn?t return my call, because the original work was unsatisfactory. The fence. two arbors, and a trellis were ?stick built? on site at a cost of about $12,000 (no pre-fab sections). However, the fence did not follow the profile of my lot as is customary for a site-built fence. To the unaided eye, my 150-foot deep lot appears level but there actually is a gradual slope from the front to back. I had expected that at its lowest point, the fence would be four feet tall. As the ground gradually sloped, the pickets of a custom fence are normally cut so that a level line is maintained and the gap between the fence and ground is minimal. Instead as the ground sloped away on the street-side of my yard, the gap between the bottom of the fence and the ground grew larger until it was nearly six inches. And at the rear of my lot on the other side, the fence is only about 3 ? feet tall at the rear. Given that I had two large dogs, I was concerned that the low height would allow them to easily escape from my yard. To correct the problem, Jim expected me to pay more than the original estimate. Weighing the cost, I decided to leave as is the fence on the inside of my yard that gradually dropped to 3 ? feet. However, I did have Jim redo the fence on the street side with the large gap above the ground. This required me to buy additional pickets because the original pickets had been cut too short. Since the pickets had been pre-painted, I also had to pay the painter to paint the additional materials. In a follow on project a few years later, Jim?s crew dumped waste rock and concrete at the rear of my yard without permission. At that time, his crew returned and removed the waste materials at no cost.

They are excellent. They know what they are doing and they always do a follow-up to make sure I'm happy. They work in a timely manner and they are all friendly and polite. They are a little pricey, but they are reliable and they do a wonderful job. I would recommend them.