Grounds One

We have a huge yard with lots of trees and the team did an excellent job clearing out our yard. Very dependable!

Grounds One is the single worst contractor I have ever worked with--and that includes dozens of them. Please do not let them near your house. Long post. I hired them to:- -- clear 10 inches of sand out of my backyard -- it's one the lake, protected by a seawall, and the huge flood of 2018 had dumped a lot of sand. All that grew in there was tough nasty crab grass and other grass that looks like but isn't grab grass. -- to fill the bottom of the yard, by the seawall, with river rocks-- to clear a concrete walkway and a small paved patio --- replace the sand with soil and plant thyme across the yard, to cover it. I made it clear I wanted coverage and was happy to pay for it. -- plant two cherry trees and two plum trees in my front yard. Again, I made it clear I wanted them to fruit this year, so happy to pay for larger trees. -- install a gate by the side of the house The Results--- they sprayed the grass with something the grass really liked! it perked right up! but they did bring a machine and ripped out the top layer, so yay! Even though it is, of course, all growing back from the roots they didn't clear. But it's meditative practice, to rip out bushels of grass each morning. -- Then they cleared about two inches of sand, left eight of them, and added perhaps half an inch of soil. Tbf, the manager had told me they'd leave "a little bit of sand to mix with the soil, for drainage." It's a beach now. -- they planted forty thyme plants (good looking! the nursery they work with is good!), which covered about five percent of the area to be covered.-- they planted two five foot cherry trees, neither of which bloomed -- they planted one plum tree, with was full of blossoms - just lovely! but they couldn't find a pollinator for it. Lots of blossoms. No pollinator. No plums. -- they kinda did clear the walk way, though they only got to the edge of it on one side. The other side is in the sand. But you can see it (or you could! stay posted for more). They cleared some of the patio but decided "good enough!" at some point and left the rest under (a lot of!) sand. -- they brought river rocks! but they were so tiny they would have all dropped through the drain in the seawall. Bummer!-- the brilliant solution they settled on was to install a drain cover with tiny holes. The first east wind this spring, the tiny holes clogged with algae, and my yard is now three feet under water and rising. Because the water can't drain back into the lake. When I told the manager, she insisted that I hadn't paid for the drain cover so this wasn't their responsiblity. In the meantime, every plant they planted and every plant I planted to make up for the plants they didn't plant is now underwater. But it's not their fault - because they didn't charge me for the drain cover, you see! -- they did install the gate! at first, it was too low and got stuck. But after arguing with me for a day that this wasn't true, they relented, came back, and raised it. The gate is good! In sum: my house on the lake is now my house in the lake. If the water ever drains, everything will be dead, and the walkway and the patio will be covered again in sandy sludge. Will my basement survive? Probably. The folks who waterproofed it are really good (everydry -- recommend!). Grounds one will argue with you to the death every time you point out how they messed up--or their manager will, the crew was actually very pleasant, nice guys who were clearly under orders to do a two day job in one day. I dont' blame them. They are fully committed to the idea that the customer is always wrong and that the customer's satisfaction is of absolutely zero interest. Nothing is their fault, nothing is their responsiblity. If it were just the rudeness, ok. If it were just the incompetence, not great, but if they were at least nice about it? But surely, they're cheap, you'll say? No, they are not cheap. Not one little bit. Just all around terrible, gruesome, horrible, no bad company. Do not hire. Do not even think of calling them. Thank me later.

after several emails back & forth, they just ended up saying I wasn't in their service area

Installed drip edge, replaced section of downspout, and properly pitch gutter.

Called 3 times and left message with receptionist. No return calls. I have used Jacobs Ladder in the past with some service being good and some being a little spotty. I was told by Jacob a while back that they couldn't get good people to do the work. They grew really fast via good reviews on Angies List and they couldn't keep up with volume and subsequently quality fell off. They started off as a basic handyman service and grew to taking on remodeling jobs, roofing etc. They just can't keep up. Time to find a new handyman service.

I had a small leak in my roof over my bathroom that is an addition. I found Jacob's Ladder on Angie's List & scheduled an estimate due to the good reviews. I specifically scheduled a time over my lunch break and made it clear I needed Jacob out then as I had to return to work. He was almost an hour late. Upon inspection, he told me that my roof was in very poor shape (I moved in a year ago & was told the roof was only 10 years old), and suggested a full roof redo. I was not interested in redoing my whole roof so he suggested a large area over my bathroom. He took pictures & seemed to do a thorough inspection. Once I received my quote, after a reminder email several days later, it was unspecific in the exact area he would reshingle. I called and left a message with his secretary with some questions. He never returned my call. I recently had several other contractors out & they all said my roof was in good condition with the exception of the bathroom addition, and I only needed a section repair. I last spoke with Jacob over 4 months ago, but after my recent contact with other professional contractors I feel that Jacob was dishonest & unreliable. I cannot recommend.

I paid $275.00 for a Transferable Roof Warranty and never received it or got information on how to get documentation. Called numerous times got no response from Jacob.

I have no problem with the work, materials, cost and the professionalism of the repairmen. Chris, especially, headed the team and they were prompt, efficient and reliable. The workmanship and finish product met expectations. My problem was with management - Jacob in particular: didn't return calls to answer questions about service and costs relative to quote, voice mailbox was full, and when asked for a painting quote, he (Jacob) gave one without even seeing or measuring the project.

The actual work went well; the workmen were prompt, neat in their work, organized, flexible in handling some of the issues and very knowledgeable. My problem is with management: no return phone calls, voice mail was full, the project estimate was missing an important item (credit applied), and finally, when asked for an additional estimate to cover painting, the operations manager and I arranged for site meeting. That was overruled by the owner; he sent a sight-unseen estimate that covered the entire house versus the specific project I had in mind.

Jacob and his crew were very kind and understanding. If I had questions they were right there to answer them. After work was completed Jacob checked to make sure everything was done to my liking. Would highly recommend them and would hire them again.

We had Jacob's Ladder do 2 different jobs for us, about 4 months apart, and we were beyond pleased with their work both times. Jacob and all of the workers we dealt with were incredibly professional, prompt, knowledgeable, and professional. They worked quickly without cutting corners, and the end products were beautiful, as you can see by the pictures below. In the bathroom, they installed the barn-style wall paneling, the vintage dresser being used as a sink basin, the sink and fixture, the antique mirror, and the light fixture. In the kitchen, they installed the wooden ceiling beams, made repairs to the wall and ceiling, and painted the ceiling (The repair and paint on the ceiling might not show in the pictures as I believe I took them before that part was finished, but rest assured that they did a terrific job.). I absolutely plan on having Jacobs Ladder do more work for us because I know I can trust them to do the job right!

They showed right as scheduled, did the job quick and very professional. Replaced our leaking shower drain in our upstairs bathroom.

Jacob was very knowledgeable, and made some great suggestions to my plans. His employees were also very neat and professional. I decided to make some changes along the way and Jacob was accommodating.

For any home owner a kitchen remodel is one of the toughest things to do. Jacob's Ladder was prompt every day and worked **** ** our kitchen, of course in an older house there are plenty of issues behind the walls. They took out preexisting souffets, repaired flooring with water damage by our doors, removed old cabinets, fixed drywall, took out old vinyl tile flooring, replaced flooring and cabinets, installed new appliances. Process from start to finish was approximately five weeks. I would definitely hire again for our next project.

Jacob and his guys treated me with respect, they were professional at the work they did for me. I will call him next time I need work done on my house. Very reasonable price for the work I had done.

Jacob was very disrespectful to my husband and myself. He gladly accepted the work but when it came time to provide. He was no where to be found. His employees stayed in touch with us along the lines of our contract and even apologized for their bosses actions. Later I found out he fired those employees because they would not provide him with morphine pills!! I was stunned and shocked but I decided to reach out to Jacob once again and he was no where to be found. I also decided to hire a different company and will be filing a lawsuit against Jacobs Ladder.

Never called me despite several phone calls

Not well they didn't respond for 2 months

They never replied to multiple emails to provide a quote.

Excellent workmanship. Very neat. Very thorough! Attention to details.

Very well and gentleman was very polite and professional

It pains me to write this as I had previously reviewed Jacob's Ladder with an A grade. This time, I couldn't neither get an estimate from him nor an honest "I'm sorry, we're too busy to do your work." I called and left a message--no response. I called a 2nd time and Jacob answered, explaining his partner had just quit, but he made an appointment to come give an estimate. He did come as scheduled, but then no estimate followed. I called; he said they had been cyber attacked, but he had the measurements for the job and would get an estimate to me. I asked about how long and said to give him two weeks. That was over a month ago and I haven't heard back. Just the courtesy of an explanation that he couldn't take on another project would have been fine. I told him I wasn't in a hurry, but I expected the courtesy of a reply.

Poorly. Never received a follow-up call.

Not so well. The crew was very nice but I had reservations about whether they knew what they were doing. They cut the tower in the middle but apparently not all the way through. As one of the two man crew pulled on the rope they attached to it, the top came swinging down like a pendulum and punched a hole in our aluminum siding. Our company contact, Mike, responded immediately. He sent a siding person over on Monday which was the next business day. This person removed the piece with the hole in it, patched the hole under the siding, and replaced the piece matching the color to our old siding. He really knew what he was doing, but when you pry up aluminum siding, it is going to show it. So the strip of siding above the repair is a little bumpy and wavy, but unless we wanted to replace the whole section of our house, it was the best we were going to get. The siding is old, we feel like we can't expect too much. They fixed it quickly and as good as could be expected. Not thrilled about the wavy area, but the problem was handled with integrity which counts for a lot. I will call Mike again when we have a project.

They were professional and got the job done in half a day.