Dean Bjorkstrand Inc

Dean Bjorkstrand did a good job with my regrading project. The work was completed in 2 days once they began. The process was painless from the initial consultation to project completion, and payment. There was some confusion about the final price, however Dean worked with us and we were able to come to an acceptable compromise. I can not give an A rating due to communication issues as there were huge lapses in communication after signing the contract to project completion. A tentative date was never set, even when I inquired. I was told they would complete it within a "couple of weeks." They also came out to the property for a final survey prior to starting the project without telling us and the only notice I had was after the fact when I was told he was there and that our project was to begin within the next "couple" of days. Then when they did start the project, there was no advanced that they were coming that day. As stated, the final product is very well done and I would consider using their services again, hopefully with some better communication.

Dean is very knowledgeable about landscaping and was willing to spend his time explaining the potential issues and fixes after we experienced water in our basement. We hired a different contractor who was more in line with our budget.

Dean was prompt and personable. Took only a few days after initial meeting to come up with beautiful landscaping solutions, giving some options, as I told him cost could be an issue. He came with a schematic drawing that very clearly depicted his ideas , was in color and even named the plants he was recommending. I really liked Dean's design but it was over the top for this neighborhood and too expensive for me. I think the cost was $100 for the bid and design which I think was very fair.

This is the second large project I have done with Dean. He's got quality people working with him and all went very smoothly. The only thing I would do differently is to have somewhat smaller rocks for the dry river bed, because it is an ankle twister walking on big rocks, and I wish that the grass that was chewed up was replaced with sod rather than seed.

We have used this business multiple times and have not been disappointed. One year we even had them shovel the snow off the roof. Dean is very knowledgeable and a great designer and does excellent landscaping work.

I bought a coupon for $600 for $1,200 worth of labor. Dean come over and was on time and seemed very knowledgeable. He had some good ideas and then sent me an estimate for around $5000. The estimate was not itemized, at all, so it was hard to figure out where the costs were, but I imagine he would have been able to break it down. Regardless, it was more than we planned to spend at the time, as we had just completed a very expensive interior remodel. I asked him if we could do it the following year -- he said "sure, anytime". When I got back to him this year, we set up a time to meet again. He followed up to tell me that the time had expired and I would just get the amount I paid. I understand that was in the fine print, which is common with these deals, but it is also common that the provider continues to honor them after the time period, especially if you have started the process. I just sent him a note to say it would have been helpful if he had mentioned that last year when he told me it was fine to wait -- it was just basic feedback and I was not confrontational. At that point he became really hostile and completely rude, sarcastic, disrespectful and condescending. He went on to tell me that he will never do a big deal, again. I'm sorry that he doesn't think it worked out for him, but if not for that deal, we would have never called him. If he hadn't treated me so poorly, we might have spent a great deal of money with him and, assuming he does good work, our neighbors with the same beach issues would have used him, too. It would have been really easy for him to simply apologize to his customer for the misunderstanding. He wouldn?t have had to honor any more than the $600 ? I wasn?t even asking him to do that. Instead, I have a really uncomfortable relationship with him and I don?t like him or trust him. It?s really too bad, because our initial meeting was very pleasant. I feel like he got burned by a bunch of customers only hiring him for the $1,200 worth of work and he is taking it out on me. I regret that I didn?t just have him start the work, get my $1,200 worth and then decide if I wanted to bring him back this year for the additional work. I thought deferring the whole project was more fair to him, and since he was open to that (without mentioning that he wouldn?t honor the deal), I assumed that since we started our discussions before the coupon expired, it would just carry forward. Still, I recognize that I didn't get the work done before the expiration and I accept that responsibility. I just don't accept the way he responded to me. Since he and I went back and forth, I sent him a note to say he should work directly with my husband, instead, since our relationship was now fractured. I thought that would be better to have a fresh start. He was very surprised that I thought our relationship wasn't good. Not only is he rude and a complete jerk, but he doesn't even realize it. That could be a big part of the problem. I stepped aside and had him deal directly with my husband. He sent another bid to do less work, but the cost was higher than the first bid. They tried to find some middle ground, but within a week, my husband was so annoyed with him. Dean denied that the prior bid included certain aspects that we definitely discussed. Anyway, by the time they were done talking, we decided to just have him send a "crew" to help spread sand on the beach. He sent one nice guy, but he came pretty unprepared to do any labor (didn't even have proper work shoes). Since Dean deducted the time he spent arguing with me and then my husband, we didn't have a full day of work out of this deal. One of our neighbors came over and helped us finish the job and we got more out of him (for a 6-pack of craft beer) than we did with the $600 investment in Dean Bjorkstrand. Dean said he will not do another Big Deal and I will not buy another Big Deal. I can see from the reviews that others bought the deal and didn't want to spend any additional dollars. Obviously, that wasn't what he expected and I get that. However, I planned to spend more money with him but then he behaved so badly. It was a lose-lose situation.

Overall we are very pleased with the outcome of this project. Dean readily understood what we wanted and translated it into a beautiful landscape plan. The work was completed in a timely manner. and the workers were respectful of us and our property. The shrubs and plants survived the harsh winter and are growing and thriving and we like the change in our yard. The Fond du Lac stone walking path and stones around the gardens really add something to the property, and we like their natural look. An old cherry tree was accidentally damaged during the work. Dean replaced it with a fresh new cherry tree this spring.

A June deluge caused seepage in our basement. Before having our basement torn up to install drainage tiles and a sump pump, I decided to investigate an exterior solution first. Dean is a landscaper but he also works with drainage issues. He looked at the grade around our house and neighboring lots, at our gutters and downspouts, and at a rain barrel. His advice was to clean our (covered) gutters and move the rain barrel. He returned a few days later to clean the gutters (for an additional agreed charge), but after testing with a hose, he determined that it wasn't necessary. He walked around the roof and cleaned off the gutter covers (for no additional charge). I asked about installing a French drain or a rain garden but he said he thought the existing swale is sufficient. He certainly could have made more work for himself, but advised that the two measures he mentioned were sufficient to avoid future problems, and declined to charge any more. Craig responded intelligently to all my questions, and I trust his judgement. He probably saved us several thousands of dollars for unnecessary and disruptive work.

It went well. They had someone come out to plan the project, then sent a worker out to do the work. It was done quickly and cleaned up pretty well.

We scheduled our gutter cleaning about two weeks out. Our scheduled date came and went and they never showed up. My wife called the following day and spoke to Dean who informed her they would not be able to come for another two weeks. He explained that his clients needed to be flexible with HIS schedule. The kicker: When my wife asked if he was going to call us to tell us they would be TWO weeks late... his reply was "probably not."

Couldn't have been better or quicker!!!!

The project was completed in one day, and the results are exceptional.

The total result of the front yard was disappointing.It looks nothing |remotely like the pictures on Bjorkstrand's Web site.The project was very |costly for what was done.I resent it was suggested I give a positive |review,also, suggesting what to include in the review. It seems to me if it |were a job well done a great review would be automatic.

Service was very good. They were on time and answered all my questions. I would highly recommend them.

Dean Bjorkstrand's crew is reliable, effective and efficient, arriving as planned and getting the job thoroughly done. Careful placement of ladders and equipment resulted in no damage to plants and shrubs below. I recommend their service without any reservations.

Each project cost a certain amount and they were a lot more expensive than I thought that they would be. I was irked by the service as it was suppose to be for 12 hours of service and he said his drawing up the plans were 6 hours of the service. I asked what I could get for the six hours additionally and I basically could not get anything. They do window cleaning and I asked about them doing that and he would not do it as it was not part of the deal. He sent two guys out for 4 hours, as the time of the plans he added 2 hours additionally for that. The two guys trimmed some lilac bushes and they did not do a good job at all. The plans that he drew up were very nice but the other things that happened were not good.

The job went well! The showed up when they said they would. They were courteous and creative. We trusted their judgement about changing the size of the path from smaller to wider and they were right it looks so nice. We also went with their design for plants and layout. I can't say enough positive things about their work. The results are wonderful and easy to care for. We get many compliments from our neighbors. I highly recommend them and will use them again.

After a few consultations, we came up with a good plan. One of the reasons I used this company was because he was more enthusiastic about the project, and had several good ideas It was fun to throw ideas back and forth. He also gave ideas and advice on other little projects I'd be doing myself. ;-) I have a large garden in the front, but the side by the driveway was still just weeds and old rocks. It looks wonderful now. The other side of the driveway was mostly just weeds and dirt - now it has nice flagstone pavers and grass.

Very nice guy, on time, and once we agreed to the work he did it very quickly. Had a couple of clean up items I asked him to do after the job and promptly came back and fixed it. I wouldn't recommend the Angie's list "big deal" which offerred 16 hours of labor for $600. Bought it this summer, and completely due to me I didn't have him do the work until this September. Pretty sure he spent the $600 bucks, and just bid the job with the $600 bucks gone. I figured the work he did was was 2 guys working for a day which should have been previously paid for plus materials which should have been no more than $500. I ended up paying another $1000, and his first bid was for more. I ended up getting one guy working for a day and still paying another $1000 (in fairness materials were $500). In my mind I just paid him full price for what the job was worth and it still wasn't cheap. The end result was good, but I can't help but feel the $600 for 2 days of labor was just a teaser to get bid a larger project. I'll never fault anyone for making money, but if that's what he charges for work I don't see myself using him for any further work. Don't buy the Angie's list "Big Deal"!

To be clear, I did not hire Dean to do work. I was concerned about some of the negative reviews, particularly about nickling and diming customers when they purchase a Big Deal, so I wanted to talk with him first. Sure enough, he wanted to charge $75 to come to my house (a 10 minute drive from his business address) and put together a bid. I've lived in my home for over 15 years, and hired people to do work ranging from a few hundred dollars to $75,000, and not one contractor has ever charged to put together a bid. I've paid for design services, of course, but a rectangular 15x20 patio would not merit a design fee. So Dean won't earn my business, Big Deal or not.

The deal is different from what I had thought. Essentially the contractor would like to start charge hours from first visit for estimate, which is normally free for most other landscape contractors. He hasn't performed any service yet. Just a phone call today.

I contacted Dean three years ago about having him do a layout for my yard. I had used him in the past for gutter cleaning and ice dam removal and his people did a nice job. His design was set up to be done over three years and included lighting and irrigation. He just finished the final phase last week and my yard is a showcase in the neighborhood. I have had many compliments. There is a nice mix of shrubs, flowering plants, perennial incorporating the plants I wanted left and not dug up, i.e. my rose and rhododendron area. I can now give away my lawn mower - how good is that! I will continue to use Dean's services as he is a thorough professional, always available in a timely manner when I call or e-mail, always pleasant. His workers clean up when they're done and I have never had to pick up behind them after they left. I would highly recommend Dean for any landscaping or other services one might be interested. I am very pleased with the work he and his staff provide.

The overall experience was fine ? with the exception that the Big Deal did not disclose that using power equipment was NOT included ? and that we would would only receive HALF of what we paid for (we would receive one day of work instead of two days). That was incredibly frustrating and very disappointing. The quality of the work was good. (However, I was surprised about how torn up my yard was afterwards ? my expectations in regards to what condition the yard would be in afterwards were not set.) The project details: We hired them to dig out a space for a paver patio and we paid extra for a load of Class 5 rock and sand for the base. The cost of the materials was $300 (average). They used a Bobcat to do this work and had it finished in the 8 hours. Since we paid for 16 hours, I thought they would also be able to the pavers, but because they used the Bobcat, we only got the 8 hours and we ended up installing the pavers. The work was good, the people were good. But the price and accuracy of the Big Deal left us not feeling good.

They were okay. I didn't pay more than the big deal purchase. They're just kind of average. Dean, the owner is very nice and professional. I felt like the workers were a little bit on the cranky side. Parts of the work were good but other parts weren't so great. They didn't split some of the plants that needed to be split. It was not done properly. I would probably not use them in the future.

everything was fine for the first few days, there was an issue with the worker putting decorative rock on black dirt without poly initially, talked with worker was not very receptive. I contacted Dean and he made sure the problem was taken care of and had someone come out in the following couple of days to redo the job with the rock. the patio was nice. Update as of 10/21/13: He came out to repair it but he does everything when I?m not home. I don?t think he should do work for anybody. He is totally unwilling to do anything. I had two other companies come out and check their work. They said they would have to rip out everything and do it again because they didn't put in any leveling sand. When I walk on it, the stones lifts up. There's no repair that was done because it looks exactly the same from when he came out.