STEWART'S LANDSCAPING

It was unsatisfactory. We hired Stewart Landscaping to install catch drains at the end of our drive and install irrigation pipes from them and the back downspouts to go out to the back of the yard to avoid erosion. Initially, we were going to have a retaining wall built, however Preston suggested this would correct our problem while the retaining wall would not. Stewart Landscaping was impatient to start. because (we later found out) they borrowed and rented equipment some of the equipment needed to fulfill the contract. They did not wait until the yard was marked for utilities although I told them, repeatedly that, although Stewart Landscaping received a message that the utilities had been marked, I had not seen anyone there to mark them and they clearly had not been marked. Preston Stewart, who was the project manager, said his crew knew where underground lines were, and since they were not marked in the backyard, there must not be any lines there (we had the utilities marked the previous September for a fence installation and I knew there were lines in the backyard). They proceeded without the lines being marked. As a consequence, they cut our cable line, which prevented me from working from home for three days. I did the calling around (which the project manager should have handled) and requested (and got) an emergency marking. This turned out to be a good thing, as they were digging right where there would have been a much bigger issue. Second, the project manager did not notice our drive through gate at the back of our property when creating his plan. dTherefore, they had to tear a section of our fence down, charging us for their labor. My husband had to help, so we were able to get them to reduce the cost of the fence teardown. We assumed their equipment was too large for the gate, so did not question the plan closely enough. Preston Stewart, later on one of the trips back to try and fix their work, observed they could have used the back gate. Third, they did not plan for enough dirt to spread, which I observed and mentioned early on in the process. They told me they'd had to borrow equipment to haul dirt; they did not have time or the money to get more dirt, so they would "made it work." At no time in creating an estimate or when we signed the contract did they reveal they would have a time constraint because they had to borrow or rent equipment to fulfill the contract. When they left, we were assured our problem was solved. After they finished, we had significant rain event. The water rushed down the drive and quickly overcame the catch drains, which floated where they were seated incorrectly, effectively sending a significant portion of the seed and dirt downtime hill into the far backyard again. After calling and sending pictures of the floating catch basins and the drain lines having o run off coming from them, they showed up without prior notice to work on the issue. My husband had to leave work at the last minute to be here to discuss the situation. We continued to experience problems and they returned again, this time without project supervision. They also did not bring equipment with them - including shovels, therefore borrowed ours. They told me they spread more seed, although I have no way of knowing whether they did or not. We had asked to purchase additional grass seed mats but they “forgot” those too. After they left, we continued to water as recommended; we cut down branches to expose the area to more sun as recommended; we even spread additional seed on our own. Nothing grew due to the drought and we had to stop watering because what dirt remained was washing down the hill again. Beginning in September when we were preparing to start seeding and watering again, we repeatedly contacted Stewart Landscaping to come back out to see the drain pipes are exposed where they buried them, but they are tellings us they are "too busy" and we are at fault for not continuing to water during the drought (again, we stopped because we could see the dirt running down the hill continuing our original erosion issue). Now, WE are correcting the issue ourselves because we are tired of excuses and an unwillingness to see the result of their unsatisfactory work. We dug out the pipes and discovered they were not buried deeply enough - the proof of which are the very large rocks and tree roots we've discovered. Additionally, we also discovered in places that the pipes were running uphill, preventing the flow down and out of the yard. We've dug up the entire area on one side with shovels, reseated the pipes in a downward flow and recovered them - all in a weekend with three people. We have dirt being delivered so we can put the recommended five to six inches of dirt over the pipes, as should have been done the first time. I would not rehire this company to do anything.