Get matched with top pavers and hardscaping pros in Kinderhook, NY

"Went well"

"Summary: Quality work for the most part, but may shake you down for more money to complete the job, so make sure that you get your contract in writing. Detail: I had just purchased a new home and needed to have an old retaining wall re-built on short notice, as well as have a drain installed due to some erosion causing the wall itself and the brick flower beds below it to become misaligned and lose structural integrity. I contacted a few companies including Eldi Landscaping. After receiving a rather high initial estimate in person of $16,000 to repair the wall, install the drain, and re-align the flower beds at the bottom of the wall, with a 10 year guarantee, I let Eldi know that I would compare his pricing to that of the other companies I reached out to and would let them know if we decided to go with them. He later texted me and lowered his offer to $13,800 to use new material, or $8,800 to do the job with my existing slate. $8,800 was a great price, we were strapped for cash from the new home purchase, and the stone was still in good condition, so I let him know we were on board with that. The work was started quickly and finished over the course of 3 days. The wall looks good and has been holding up well. However, on the last day he called me downstairs and told me that he wasn't going to fix the flower beds at the bottom of the wall unless we paid an extra $2000. I protested this and reminded him that we had discussed the full job being completed, including that section, and that he offered $8800 to complete the job without my prompting him for a lower price. At this point he essentially told me that he wasn't going to complete the job unless we agreed to pay him the extra money. I looked through my texts with him to find something in writing and realized that he was very careful to not mention specifics about the job in writing and kept all the details of the work that he promised would be completed to phone discussions. In the interest of not having them leave the job half done (while we were having this discussion, the wall was torn down and the hill it was built into all dug up), I stupidly agreed to pay him the extra money. I had offers from other contractors that were lower than the $10,800 I ended up paying, and went with Eldi because they offered the lowest price. I may have gone with another contractor if they quoted me what I actually ended up paying. It was pretty much my own fault for not getting our agreement in writing, but I'm a new homeowner without much experience working with contractors and I feel that Eldi took advantage of this to strong arm me out of more money than we agreed to. Additionally, when they left the job, they did not completely clean up, and filled one flower bed with small rocks (which is what we asked for), and the other with patches of grass, small boulders, and dirt that they had torn up from the hill while working. I later had to pay for a dumpster and remove all of this myself. As I said, the work itself turned out pretty good and was completed quickly. But if you end up working with this company, make sure that everything you need done, including a full cleanup, is documented in writing, with a specified price and signatures from both parties. Otherwise you may find yourself the victim of the classic contractor shake down that I unfortunately fell victim to."