Howell Brothers Lawn & Landscaping

Great job done by Carl and his crew. Very professional, neat and well managed. We get compliments daily.

They did not reply to the two emails we sent. They must be busy but they at least could have gotten back to us to let us know they had no availability

I have lived in a Condo development in White Oak since 1994 and most winters there is little snow to worry about when it comes to shoveling and then there was that winter where we had 6 feet and it just so happens I was gone for the whole winter on tour with a theatrical production; but this year I found myself out there shoveling what turned out not to be the predicted 3 inches of snow but rather more than 6 inches. For a 65 year old guy every inch counts when it comes to lifting snow. I managed to get the driveway in front of my garage as well the Fire Lane next to my driveway all shoveled out down to the pavement. All the snow I shoveled was to the sides of the driveways, not in the road. Inside I went waiting for the plow to come through expecting that half of the snow on the street was going to end up in my driveway as well as the Fire Lane since they are both even with the road with no curb. I heard one pass and quickly went out and saw that, as expected, a whole bunch of snow was pushed into my driveways. I pushed it all now back to the center of the road, and waited. Well, as it turned out Carl had just made the initial pass and proceeded to make sure that all the snow was pushed to the ends of the street out of the way including waiting for me to push the snow from the two driveways into the street. He actually waited till I was done to make sure the job was done thoroughly. That has never happened in 20 years. Usually I wake up in the morning and there is a mound of snow where my driveway meets the road for me to shovel, the snow that had hardened through the night and was too heavy to lift. I found out it was the Howell Brothers Lawn & Landscaping. It made me want to go out and buy a house with a huge lawn just so they could landscape. If they are so meticulous about clearing the snow just think what they must do with landscaping. I couldn't recommend this company more, not by seeing their landscaping but seeing someone who just wanted to do an outstanding job. Something tells me that Carl "signs" his name to all his jobs, taking responsibility for a professional job.

All work was done quickly and professional , we have used the Howell Bros in the past to redo the landscaping in our front yard. I would give them an A plus.

The bushes looked pretty good when they were done. The workers talked on cell phones part of the time. When quoted a price I was told by the owner that he charged $40 dollars a man hour and it would take about two and a half hours and cost about $280 or $300; a little more if it took longer. So I'm figuring when it took a little longer, standard practice for work on homes is 10% +/- on a quote; standard contractual procedure. Another hour... okay... another 40 bucks. When they were done, we got on the phone and I asked how much, he said four hundred and some odd dollars. I just about fell over! I figured it would be around 300 or 330 dollars for the 3 1/2 hours it took them. He had said 280, 300 dollars or so; a little more if it takes longer. We argued on the phone and he told me he had a business to run and how did I think he was going to make any money. I told hime that wasn't my problem and that I expected him to stick to his original quote, plus or minus ten percent which is standard contractual procedure on an estimate. I believe he told me about 420 bucks when they were finished. I ended up paying $350, but not without great aggravation to get him to honor what he had told me; and then it was still more than it should have been. He also told me that if I didn't pay him what he wanted, he'd put a lien on the house. My lawyer has since said that he couldn't do that, especially since it wasn't in writing. Carl the owner was not at all clear in giving a quote. I feel he deceived me in his wording. I should have been told the price would be 240 dollars for two hours, 360 dollars for three hours and 480 dollars if it took four hours; not forty dollars a man hour. I feel he deceived me and did not speak the truth about his charges. I don't trust him or his company as far as I can throw them and would not use them again.