Gibson's Grading And Construction

Our Driveway which is approximately 1500 sf was in awful shape. There were 8 inch holes, gravel was totally gone, and a slippery, muddy mess. David came out to quote the job and was very detailed in his pricing and what it would take to get the job done right. I asked him several questions and he answered quickly in a professional and friendly manner. I had called many landscapers and gravel suppliers and no one mentioned coming out to actually see the drive before throwing a random price my way, this was a red flag to me and I didn't want to use someone who didn't do a site visit before quoting the job. You can tell David and his father care about their product and their customer, I plan on hiring them again in the future when I need them. HIGHLY recommend!

Much discussion about what would work best and once we agreed on a plan, Gibson set out to implement the plan. He brought in dirt moving equipment, backbone and a helper to finish the job in about 10 days. Lots of labor in this job and heavy materials. Everything went according to our plans. Gibson was a great communicator and did not over promise on anything.

The quote was provided and was to include attractive rounded river rocks (large pebbles) to be lain after the drive was graded. David called me at work on the day the work was to occur, informing me that he was at the property and had brought "white rock" instead of what I had asked for and convinced me the other rocks would flow away with runoff. I was put on the spot and was keen to have to work done and agreed. It is completely my fault that I did not ask for another quote or inquire about the price difference between the two rocks. But the fact is that they showed up at my house with something I didn't order and convinced me it would be better without discussing the price difference. By the way, I have a minor understanding of hydro dynamics and have the impression that a rounded rock (that I ordered) would have a stronger aversion to runoff then a straight edged rock. So I am not convinced they were even correct. Of course I am not an expert and so I digress. The work they did looks great and has held up nicely thus far, but if they go changing things on you I would suggest being a bit more thorough than I was.

David and his dad raised the level of the driveways and graded them so that they directed the water away from the foundation. They also added french drains and catch basins to keep the water away. The basins and drains were then covered with river rock. They also added a pea gravel walkway between the driveways. The whole project was a massive undertaking, starting from digging up and resetting existing culverts and french drains to laying down several tons of road bond and river rock. Aside from being functional, the project looked great! It blended very well with the natural surroundings and the "lay of the land." As an added bonus, David, at no additional charge, took my existing solar lights and mounted them on posts that borders the driveways and walkway. Very nice workmanship and certainly a great value added! The little details that David added, like adding a step to the front porch, decorative roping between the light posts, just reinforces my decision to use him and his dad for my project. He communicated his progress every day and told me what work was planned for the next day. I will definitely use them again. I'll need to tear down and re-build a couple of wooded decks that the previous owner took some shortcuts when building them. Hopefully David will be available for this work!

It went great! In the past, other contractors have simply added more gravel and smoothed it over and this is adequate until the first rain. As soon as it rains this method simply washed away, with all the gravel just flowing down the driveway and off into the woods. Gibson Grading took a much different approach. Before even adding any gravel, they scraped and graded the surface to allow the water to flow at the appropriate angle and to the right spot! Then they added the gravel material which was different from what others had used. It seems to bond together better and not just wash away. lastly, they packed the gravel down. The result was a beautiful new driveway! But the true test was a couple days later when it rained hard all day!! The water flowed to one side, as the design intended, and off down the hill, without the gravel!! We are extremely pleased with the results!! From now on I will always use this company. Not only did they do a fantastic job, they are a small, local, family business that prides themselves on treating the customer with respect and doing top quality work. We couldn't be happier!!

They did an excellent job! There was a small snag due to mis-communication on our part and they fixed it in no time at minimal additional expense. The swings are in and they look great! Our kids are thrilled to have this new play space and we couldn't be happier with the work that was done.

David was exceptional! He did an awesome job with all the above mentioned work. He came for the free estimate and thoroughly explained everything to me and answered all questions I had. He gave me an estimated date for the project to start but due to a lot of rain, it was pushed back just a few weeks. David kept me posted regarding the date as I had to be out of town and made arrangements for someone to be here. He promptly arrived as promised. Extremely courteous, pleasant and knowledgeable. As I did have to be out of town during the first week of work, he provided me with frequent reports on the project via email and my dog sitter kept me posted with pictures. It was rather surreal as when I left on Tuesday I had an in ground pool and when I returned on Friday there was no indication that a pool had ever been there. David returned the following Monday and was able to remedy the black mold issue in two days. It took David and i a year to get together to do this project mainly because of my cut hours at work and then my schedule. However, because of the Angie's List reviews about David, I knew he was the person who I wanted to do the project. Very glad I did. I highly recommend David for your project and would not hesitate to hire him again; I would recommend him to my friends and family. Thanks again for everything David and sorry it took me so long to write my review.

Davids assurance that my home was not in danger when my retaining wall collapsed was the best news I had. He was exact in his start time and completion estimate. The cost was what I expected and he gave a good Angie's discount. He repaired my front walk, as an extra, which I most appreciated. I would rehire him in a heartbeat. The cleanup and final appearance was more than I expected.

Our gravel parking area was in terrible shape. Most of the gravel was gone, and it turned into a mud pit when it rained. David was a great communicator, did an excellent job, and was reasonably priced. The pictures attached are a before and after.

Everything went perfect! David was a very nice guy, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to work with.

It could not have gone better. What a pleasure to work with David and his dad Joe. They did an excellent job and we could not be more pleased with the results. The entire process from quote to completion was smooth with great follow-up and communication. We are having them bid out another job on the house after such a positive experience. Thanks David and Joe

Mr. Gibson is a respectful, polite, hard-working, diligent professional. He is a true engineer but also an artist. He works carefully and assesses the situation as he proceeds. This was a difficult job because the previous owner had used sub-standard workmen and materials. The details were intricate, but because Mr. Gibson is an engineer, he figured out exactly how to proceed. He did the work on time and according to budget. I highly recommend his services. The results are structurally sound and beautiful.

When David arrived at our place he jumped right down into the creek to see and photograph the problem. He was able to determine and explain to us what had happened and what needed to be done. He emailed us his estimate and we agreed. A few days later he and his dad arrived and went right to work and were done in only two days. We are very satisfied with all the aspects of our experience with David and would call him again, if we need other work done.

I have dealt with several contractors over the years. I can truly say this was by far the best experience I have had. I contacted David through Angie's List. He responded promptly. I sent him pictures of my mud hole parking space (10'x30'). We agreed on a price. He scheduled me for the next Thursday. On Thursday he was here on time with equipment and Joe. Joe Gibson is his father. The two of them discussed what needed to be done. David assured me it would be fixed right. He had another job to go to, so Joe would be the one doing the work on my yard. Joe was a treasure. Such a hard worker, knew exactly what needed to be done and went at it. He scooped up the mulch, then leveled the area, and lastly put about four inches of gravel on it. I had metal around the edges, he made sure not to damage that. And David had said to fill up to the edge of my metal and Joe did exactly that. Got none in my yard. Plus Joe was wonderful to talk with. All in all GREAT experience.

He was excellent. He told me the job would take around 1 week to do which he was on point with that. He also emailed me everyday as to the progess of the job. He came back to check the drain system and followed up to make sure the drains were doing what they were suppose to do. He is very professional, nice, respectful, and a great person to work with. His follow up is very excellent. I would recommend him to anybody.

We called David based on the strength of his Angie's List reviews and we found him to be very professional and knowledgeable about our extensive and varied drainage issues.Our house is situated on a steep hillside and I was very concerned that anyone without experience in dealing with such problems could possibly make them worse. David assessed the erosion issues around the house and made recommendations about how to address them. He provided a written estimate and contract by the end of the day. He was also very honest about the lead time before he could come to do the work, but because we were also planning to have new gutters installed in the meantime, I felt we could reasonably wait two months to get on his calendar. In my opinion, when a contractor has that much work booked, it says something about the quality of his work. David's intended start date did slide by a week or so, but that was caused by the amount of rain we had. Once he started the work, he maintained excellent communication about each day's plan, when he would arrive and what he'd completed and what he would start the next day. He was also very considerate about where he parked his equipment so it wouldn't impede our ability to get our cars in and out of the driveway on the days he was working in that area. Not only did David complete installation of the projects for which we'd contracted his services, but he also went the extra mile to repair some of the unforeseen changes to our property which resulted from the excavation. In extending a drain under the gravel driveway, I was concerned that several rotting landscaping timbers along the driveway which were already unstable and in danger of collapsing might actually fall into the roadside culvert. David said he would make sure those were replaced and that the driveway was stabilized when he worked on that section of the property. Not only did he replace the timbers, but he also brought in some very large rocks to re-line the drainage area and reinforce those sagging timbers on the hillside. He offered to do this at no additional cost since he said he already had his equipment in place and could purchase some rocks at the quarry along with other materials he was buying for our project. Not only did he fix this additional problem , but he made the whole area look better than it did when we bought the house. He also made a similar improvement around the area of the sagging cement slabs after I told him about my concerns that erosion was threatening the stability of our air conditioner unit. He did what was necessary to reinforce that area even though it was not in our original contract. Finally, David pointed out that we had a crack in one of the footers on our back deck and graciously offered to do a stopgap repair on that as well in order to keep it from getting worse. In grading David's work, I give him the highest marks with the single exception of price. I do think he may charge slightly more for his work than some other contractors, but I do believe his expertise justifies the higher prices. Not to mention he was so willing to include the additional 'fixes' to problems he discovered along the way once he started working on the property. He didn't attempt to hold us up for additional charges and that is something I greatly appreciated. This gave me a sense that I was dealing with a very fair, honest and hardworking person. That means a lot to me. Overall, David Gibson is someone who pays attention to detail and cares about his work and building his reputation. He came to address the problems we had, but while he was here, he assessed our entire outdoor area with an eye on what's necessary to keep a property 'healthy' for a lifetime. He was helpful in his suggestions yet not alarmist or overbearing. As such, I feel this is a person who treats my home as if it were his own while keeping in mind our budget restrictions and our need to address problems a little bit at a time. It's not often one feels they have a trustworthy contractor who can be a partner in helping them maintain their property for the long term. We look forward to contracting David Gibson for many of our home repair/construction needs in the future.

I found David to be a very personable and professional contractor.

David and his dad were awesome to work with the entire time - from start to finish. They answered ALL our questions - explaining several times whatever we asked. He and his dad have so much experience and it shows from the original assessment to the finished product. And they were both a joy to work with....David's dad is so nice and fun...we can't wait to work with them again. Trust me we will. If you have water issues of any kind, need grading or construction work - you should contact them immediately. Ernie and Bonni Sigmon

We contacted Mr. Gibson because of his high rating on Angie's List. He responded quickly after I left a message. He stated that he was booked for the next two weeks, but would contact us at a later date. We provided location information in anticipation of his help, but he never followed through.

David was very responsive from the start of the project to the finish. I really appreciated that I could reach him through email, given that it's often hard for me to get to the phone during the day. This was a tough job, given that when we started the project we weren't aware of the extent of the problem, but David was great from start to finish. The culvert that he replaced was made out of rusted-out oil drums that ran under the gas and water lines, meaning that he had to do a lot of hand-digging. But we are very pleased with the results and would definitely use Gibson Grading in the future.

The work went very well. They started and finished before the promised date. With the improved drainage pattern the work should last a long time. The driveway was ugly, now it is beautiful.

Mr. Gibson was friendly, willing to assist and very knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend him.

Before the work, heavy rain would leave standing water around the walls of our garage and dampness in the crawlspace below the house. Water would also collect on low points of the lawn because it was not properly draining away from the house. The original twenty-five year old drainpipes no longer functioned. The steep hillside had filled in behind the house in the years since it had been built and it was difficult to drive around to the back of the house because the driveway was narrow and sloped down towards the pond. The water that came down the hill should have drained to the pond but instead drained behind the house and seeped into the garage. After David Gibson graded the land, the drainage is working well and the garage and crawlspace have remained dry. We can easily drive around the back of the house and the rain that falls there now runs down toward the pond where it helps to keep it full. We are enjoying doing some additional landscaping with the rocks that were dug up during the grading - there was probably more rocks than there was dirt. As a bonus, the excess material is helping to shore up a steep bank on my driveway. David had the right equipment and worked carefully in very tight spaces and took the time to make sure we got what we wanted out of the job. We are extremely happy with the work he did for us and we would hire him again for any grading work.

The work went well and was accomplished on schedule. David kept me informed about the job as it progressed and offered several suggestions that improved the overall project. He was professional, courteous, and knowledgeable.

What a gem! David goes above and beyond and is extremely professional. This is the second job he has done for me and I can't say enough good things. (If I do he may get too busy to do more work for me). Seriously, you can't go wrong if you have David quote your job and do the work.