SAM'S RETAINING WALLS & HOME REPAIR

As Sam did such outstanding work on the first retaining wall he did for us we had him design and build another wall with a beautiful patio. The terrain was very difficult and materials had to be carted down a very steep slope. The resulting patio blends wonderfully with our wooded hillside and showcases our home. Sam and his crew worked meticulously and efficiently. The result was well worth the investment.

Sam and his crew were very prompt, creative and respectful. Sam improved the layout of a collapsed support retaining wall that wraps around the lower portion of our exposed foundation wall (we live on a steep hillside). Sam's structural engineering experience was impressive, as was his creativity with redesigning the wall and stair access to our new space. Sam corrected the errors of our original "bargain" contractor. Sam knew exactly what to do, how much it would cost and how long it would take. We are very happy with his work, and would use him again in the future.

This is our second project done with this company and I am sure will not be our last! We love this company and Sam and his crew are the nicest people in the world to work with. I have hated the way the front of my house looked for years. Sam and his crew came out and tore out all the overgrown bushes and shrubs that we had in our yard. He tore out the sidewalk which was uneven and had cracks in it. He left the porch alone. He took stones/pavers and did an overlay over the porch. Just doing that totally changed the look of the house. We had an area by the driveway that was very uneven and even unsafe. He made that level so that now you could actually get onto the porch with a wheelchair (which is great for our later years!). He laid a new sidewalk that was nice and even. Then he put 3 circular retaining walls off to the side (we did have 2 of them which were falling down before this) where we can now start over with new flowers and bushes. The step that lead into our house had 5 bricks loose and needed to be tuck-pointed. Since they were already at the house working in that area, he fixed that for us for an extremely reasonable price. My house went from the worst looking house on the street to the nicest looking house on the street. Had a garage sale recently and I have to say that 90% of the people who came stop, looked and commented on my porch. I was so proud and very proud to say who had done the work for me. Not one missing detail is left out by the time they are finished with the job and all trash is removed. Sam has a small crew and they do all the work themselves which means you may sign a contract with him and have to wait a few months to get the work done, but it is so well worth the wait! When you sign the contract you don't have to put any money down either until about a week or so when he is ready to start. I love that about this company. I also like the fact that while Sam is on the job doing your work if you decide to want to add something to the project, he will do it right then. Also if something is not what you thought it would be, he will rip it out and make it right no problem. His crew is so friendly too, that I am trying to think of things I can have them do just so that I can have them come back out!! This is the best company for all your retaining walls, pavers, landscaping etc. you will ever find.

My backyard is beautiful!! I have had more compliments on my patio and fire pit. Neighbors come from all around my neighborhood to see the work. Everyone loves it. My son and his friends love the fire pit. The sitting wall around the pit is something he had not done before, but it looks like he has done a million of them. Sam was very polite and professional when he came out and gave us his bid and did our work. What I liked most about him is he knew exactly what we wanted even though we really didn't know what we wanted. We just sat and talked and told him what look we were going for and he did it. His employees were are very polite and professional and hard working. He has a small crew and they do all the work themselves, so you may have to wait for a project, but it is so well worth it. You will not be disappointed with Sam. Also what I liked is after he gave us the bid he did not pressure us to make a decision right away. And since he was a few months from doing the job we signed the contract with him but he didn't require a deposit down until like a week before he started. You will not get a more honest company to do work for you then this company. .

After looking on Angie's List and seeing all the good reports, I called for an estimate. I told him there was one job we were looking to doing this year and others for the future where we wanted an idea of how much is might cost. He came out and seemed quite professional and personable, we discussed several options, looked at the sample book showing projects he'd done, and he left us with estimates of the various projects. I called him after our tax refund was in and left a message that we wanted to go ahead with one of the projects (the steps and retaining wall in the back yard) and that we had modified what we wanted to do and would have to show him again. I also said we were wondering if there were any materials choices that might bring the cost down a little. I waited a week and was not called back. So I called again and left another message. After another week, I still had no response. So I came on Angie's List and sent an email through the link here. No response. I finally called for a third time tonight and again got only the voicemail. I am disappointed and annoyed. I now have to start from scratch again. He seemed responsible and professional when he came out, but the lack of communication is neither.

Even with some bad weather Sam & crew worked through it. Sam honored my wish that they not damage any more of my grass than necessary, right? His professional crew carried by wheel barrow dirt, rock, etc., to the area. When they were finishing I noticed the rock was not to "spec' so i called Sam and told him so. Sam immediately called his sources and had a quick delivery of backfill. Sam is the kind of person/company I would recommend to family & friends alike!

First of all, Sam, was quick to respond to our initial phone call for an estimate. He came with a list of references, a book of photos of his work and then began to talk to us about his ideas for a new wall. He designed a wall with curves and interest - steps that were wider and rounded down to our lower yard. We loved the idea. He began the work within two weeks of the estimate. He and his crew worked full days, every day, until the job was done. They also carefully moved a large tree and several boxwoods which all survived the trauma of being moved and are still healthy a year later. We were very impressed with this companies promptness, their hard work, their professionalism. Completely outstanding.

Overall it went very smoothly. There were a couple of differences but they were addressed by Sam and taken care of. The job was completed in the time frame he quoted and it is exactly what we asked for. Sam, his foreman, and crew arrived on time every day and they were very courteous and polite - overall the job and everyone was very professional. If we ever have more work like this to do we would contact them again.

He came to our house to give an estimate. He stated that he would mail/email an estimate and give us a date that the work would be done. He never sent an email or mailed us an estimate. I called him on numerous occassions. He stated that it would be sent. Once again, he never sent the estimate. We were unable to wait any longer, so we hired another company.

I had been waiting weeks for a different company to give me a bid before I thought to use Angie's List. Sam called me back the same day, had a bid to me by Monday, worked around my schedule and finished the job beautifully the very same week. I couldn't be happier with the quality of work and the overall experience. I will definitely use this company again if I ever need more paver work done!

I expected to fix an erosion problem. I didn't expect to love it! We had the worst yard in the neighborhood due to terrible erosion problems--we had no grass to speak of, only hills and rocks. I showed Sam the problems, told him that I don't like the look of handrails but that I'm unsteady on steps, and that I prefer gentle curves to corners and hard angles whenever possible. Based on that information, Sam designed and built 7 gently curving walls, wide, beautiful steps with nice long landings in front and positioned the steps between or around walls in the back so I can steady myself. Not only did he fix our erosion problems, he also gave us the beautiful yard I never dreamed we'd ever have and an entirely gorgeous new outdoor living space! Sam's background as a Civil Engineer and so many glowing recommendations here on Angie's list convinced me to call him. His obvious knowledge, skills, confidence in his ability to deal with our erosion problems, a long list of references, photos of his work and his 10 year warranty convinced us to hire him. I'm so glad we did! He sketched out some pictures, gave me a bid on the spot, (with 10% off for an Angie's list coupon) and brought a contract over the next day. Three days later he and his crew showed up and went to work. I ended up changing the layout in the back a bit because I didn't want any of our wonderful new walls built on an Easement. No problem! Sam changed the planned location of the walls and designed an erosion barrier behind the main wall using natural stones that they dug out of the yard, raised the grade and straightened out the slope using some of the Ties from our original wall. It's beautiful! And the price didn't go up, either. They dug everything out by hand, instead of coming in with heavy equipment and making a mess. We did not lose even one tree. It's amazing to watch them start with shovels and pickaxes in the morning and end up with something recognizable at the end of the day. From start to finish, it only took them 5 1/2 weeks to completely transform our front and back yards, even digging it all by hand. These guys show up every morning at 7 and work all day. They don't leave you to go do other jobs, or sit around doing nothing. They all work hard and are very pleasant to be around. Every man on Sam's crew takes pride in his work. Whether tasked with digging a trench, hauling dirt or setting pavers, each one of them understands that what he's doing affects the strength, durability and look of the finished project, and it shows. Sam's price didn't change for every little thing, and only increased when I added a wall or changed something major that wasn't in the original bid. There are no hidden costs. In fact, because we already had the materials, he didn't charge me anything to set the flagstones in concrete in the front and the back, or for the paver landing at the top of one set of steps. When it's time to replace the driveway, we'll call Sam to build it in pavers. I hope to eventually put a Gazebo out back and if I do, it will be Sam we hire to build the base. Whatever hardscaping we may need or want to do in the future, it will always be Sam we'll hire to do it. I can't imagine ever using anyone else!

Stressed out over rotted tie wall, waiting for mud to seep through, plug my sump pump and flood my basement, I called Sam Smith for help. I knew when I spoke with him over the phone that I wanted him for the job. He was kind and genuinely interested in helping me. A few days later he showed up early to meet with me. Of the three contractors that I interviewed, Sam was the only one that brought a photo album filled with pictures of his work. Seeing the examples I was able to visualize what the stone that I selected would look like. With Sam's engineering background I got way more bang for my buck. He showed up at 7:00am each morning with his team. They were very polite, neatly organized, and worked well together. They removed the old tie wall and built a beautiful retaining wall. Sam slanted the concrete walk at the top of the stairs so the water would flow away from the basement. In addition, he built a little inlet for my sump pump. Sam is very detailed in his work and passionate. The wall not only looks amazing, but it is functional. As another reviewer commented, "Sam is a great guy."

They took out a large tie wall and replaced it with a retaining wall. They did by hand what everyone else wanted to do with large machinery, which would have torn up my yard. They also placed 4 yards of decorative rock by hand. The work that was done was on the side and back of my house which required them to carry and wheelbarrow everything by hand. They were great and I would use them again.

Sam removed an old railroad tie wall and the tree that was causing the wall to bow. He replaced the wall with a gray stone landscaping wall. All work was performed on time with minimum damage to the surrounding grass. He cleaned up very well and handled all required permits with the city of Ballwin.

We really liked him. He was very professional. We didn't go with him just because the work that needed to be done didn't look like our responsibility, but my husband liked him very much. He was very responsive. If there is a need, we would definitely use him in the future.

Workers arrived on time and were professional. Politely answered all questions or contacted Sam for answers if he was not there. Would highly recommend.

We have valleys and fields that should be treated with dirt and sod. They were on time and everything was fine. They e-mailed the estimate a few days later. It was for about $8000. That was very expensive. The other estimates that we got were within the same range. UPDATE: I gave the company an "A" rating for professionalism. They gave us a bid, answered our questions. I did not say I would not hire them again, nor did I say the do not perform quality work. I guess SHOULD have said that $8,000 was not in our budget for the near future.....

Minor issues he took care of right away.

Sam's Retaining Walls estimate was lower than the other estimates, and his portfolio showed a range of fine looking walls, so we chose this company to replace our rotted wall. Sam and his crew showed up the next week, did an excellent job removing the old wall, hauling it away and installing a new wall. I'm guessing the wall is about 3 ft tall and 30 ft wide, but I may be way off. They cleaned up well after themselves. They had a load of dirt delivered to use as backfill, but they didn't end up using it all. They asked me if I would like them to fill up a gulley (caused by rain) in our yard. I was delighted that they filled the wash-out gulley. I also had asked them to fix the pavers in our patio. When they started working on the patio, they realized that someone in the past had stuck a lot of the pavers in cement to combat the sinking problem. They painstakingly chipped off the cement off of each paver.

He was doing other walls on our lake and other home owners recommended him and he gave a competing bid which was higher and we accepted it, because of earlier owners recommendations. We are very happy with the retaining wall and the quality of his work.

It went very well. It always goes well; he's really good. He's always time and cleans up afterwards. Before he starts the project, he quotes me a good price. His prices were much better than the competition and his quality of work is very good. He put up a retaining wall in front of my home in 2003, then I tracked him down to do some work on my patio. If I had any more work that needed to be done, I would call him.

Sam and his crew were always prompt and very hard workers. They even worked on Saturday and Monday (Memorial Day) not even rained stopped them. I can't say enough about how hard of workers they all were. Sam does great work. We actually had a property line issue also and Sam was right on the money as far as where the property was.

Sam gave a prompt bid that was in line with what I had expected to pay. He and his crew arrived early every day and cleaned up after themselves before they left. Anything that I was not happy with or changes that I wanted was dealt with to my satisfaction. His quality of work was satisfactory and I am happy with the overall appearance. The entire job took 5 days.

The people that fixed the wall were very nice and very professional. They did a very good job and we were very happy with them. They were tremendous. The first company that we used was terrible. We priced around and their price was within reason. The quality was very impressive and they were really fast.

One of the best experiences we've had! Sam and his crew gave us the lowest price and did superb work from start to finish. They also are friendly, kind and honest. Sam is a civil engineer who loves the outdoors, which is why he is in this business. Being a civil engineer was added peace for us. He is well-versed in all sorts of things, not just retaining walls. He worked every day on this job with his workers, too, which we liked.Sam gave me seven references...I called them all and all raved, and now I know why. Here's what we had Sam's do: 1) When we hired Sam, we asked him to dig down 3 feet on a wall adjacent to the hill where the retaining walls were to be installed. When he began digging, he brought to my attention that there were several small cracks that ran lengthwise down the wall. He advised me to keep digging to the footings, where he would fill the cracks with hydraulic cement, cover the wall with roofing tar, cover the tar with thick plastic in a backwards-J shape, and then add drainage tile which would tie into the tile behind the retaining wall. This was good advice...which had been confirmed earlier this spring by several foundation companies. 2) Sam also broke up an old concrete apron in front of our tuck-under garage. He managed to find a way to make a replacement drain cover that works great (ours was outdated and there is nothing made to fit anymore), and the cement work he did was beautiful. Not to leave anyone out...his workers Greg, Jeremy, and Bob were fantastic, too. They all seem to be good friends, never intrusive but always friendly. They all work very hard. 3) Now to the good part.....the retaining walls Sam's company built are well-executed and really great-looking! We never knew the hill could look this good. He flared out the steps and made the wall look as though it was designed by an architect. And that was with basic Perma-Lock interlocking materials, nothing fancy. 4) Sam and Greg built steps up the side of another hill so I can get to a spigot on the side of our house. They used stones from when they dug out the other hill, and did a great job. They did a decent job on cleanup and we actually hated to see Sam, Jeremy, Greg and Bob leave. In fact, we are having them do more work digging a trench in our backyard for a drainpipe and who knows, maybe we'll have them for dinner. I do recommend that you buy donuts or have coffee or sandwiches for this crew, as they deserve every extra you are willing to give.