Ricupero Inc

I first contacted him in July. His partner did work for my sister's house and she thought highly of him. Initially, there was no response to my phone calls or emails until I left a message specifically asking if he had gone out of business. Dave said his partner just had a baby and wasn't answering his phone messages. After a few days, Dave showed up to see the work that needed to be done -- landscaping of a hillside and wall, because a large tree was removed. I also asked him to include a French Drain, because my basement flooded twice last Summer, so badly that it took out my water heater. First, he sent the estimate to the wrong email address, which was odd since all he had to do was reply to my email message to him. But, OK, he did call me back to find out why I hadn't responded. His estimate seemed OK, and since my sister was pleased with his partner I decided to go no further -- I'm very busy and don't like to mess with these things. So, I agreed, and he called me one night a few days later to say he wouldn't do the work until early September. I considered this odd, but thought it might still be OK, despite it being harder on my schedule that time of year. After he didn't contact me for the first two weeks of September, I called him. He said he just got married and was behind. OK, getting married is a big deal, but don't people still have to work? But, this is the kicker. In that conversation he told me he would do the work the FOLLOWING WEEK. .He told me he would call me the following Monday, and do the work on the following Wednesday and Thursday. I waited. He never called. So, I sent him email in mid-October, asking him to let me know what was going on. He never answered that email. If this guy would have been tiniest bit professional he would have told me he was too busy to do the work and I would have contacted someone else. Now, I'm left with the fear my basement will be flooded because I waited for this guy until this late in the year. Honestly, I'd love to sue him. It's awful to be treated in this way. How many people do you figure he worked for who contacted him well after I did, in mid-July, while I was waiting for him? I hope this business model of gaming the customer does not work out for him.

James and the crew were absolutely wonderful to work with. Very courteous, with a lot of attention to detail. James had a wonderful design for the project. Something we wouldn't have thought to do. Very professional. We definitely would hire them for future projects.

Everything has been top notch. They are real perfectionist. We had to do the job in 2 stages and the driveway part will be completed in 2 weeks. They did have to re-due a walk way, but they were very quick to fix that. They are doing a lot of work; they are also working weekends too. Everyone that works for them is very professional and I have been impressed with them.

James Broderick was the Ricupero manager for a large project associated with landscaping, stamped concrete patios, and ground lighting associated with a new inground pool. James did everything from the design drawings to operating the heavy equipment on days when it was needed. He and the Ricupero crew could not have been more talented, responsive, and professional. I wouldn't consider hiring anyone but James and his team for any future work. All we can say is thanks for excellent execution of a complex project.

This is the second job for which we've hired Ricupero's. Both times James Broderick did the design and was our primary contact. We got an estimate for the job in early spring but decided to wait until fall to do the job. In late July James contacted me to say they had some time in August so we moved up the project. The crew spent approximately 7 work days creating the 21' x 24' parking court and doing some minor landscaping around it. They excavated, brought in many truckloads of stone, placed steps down from the new parking pad to our lawn, poured concrete (with the help of subcontractors) brought in boulders, mulched, and seeded the grass that had been disturbed. James' original design called for perennials and trees to be planted around the parking court but we're waiting until spring to do that in the interest of saving some money now. Everything went well and we would be happy to hire Ricupero's for future work.

Ricupero's did a great job in getting the job done on time and with great attention to detail. They were very competitive for pricing and recommend working with James Broderick for any landscape design.

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Hairline cracks appeared in the patio during the MILD winter we had in Pgh.; I called in May 2012 about this b/c I didn't expect it to happen so soon, especially since we didn't have a very bad winter. Rick said he was working in the area and would come by to take a look. Never heard from him again. After a couple of follow-up calls (with no replies) I wrote him off as unreliable. Will not hire again and will not recommend. Too bad, because I was very impressed with him and his crew during the initial work.

The concrete steps and the initial phase of landscaping went very well. Everything was done very efficiently. We were happy with the planting plan that James Broderick came up with, and even happier when we saw it executed. The plan called for boulders as a sort of retaining wall and a variety of low-maintenance plants. Unfortunately, we had to wait a long time (nearly 2 months) for Ricupero's to come back and plant the strip along the sidewalk and add steel edging around the flower beds. I wish I had reviewed the contract more carefully and made sure that every item we wanted done was included. In any case, I wouldn't hesitate to contact them for future landscaping projects.

Contacted contractor twice and my calls were not returned!

Ricupero's Landscaping Construction was scheduled to give me an estimate. When I called the owner said that his son would give me the estimate on the following day. When I contacted them all they said was that the job would be a big mess and that they would come down to give me an estimate and they never showed up.