A & J Retaining Walls Co

It went well. Good job!

It went splendidly. The job was done in a very industrious manner beyond ANY work that I have personally viewed. The workers were so dedicated to the job that we soon realized what a value we were receiving on our investment. There was a certain amount of labor required to get to the point where Jas could assess what had caused the original wall to collapse. This was a part of the job that I retained A&J for. Jas then scaled back my ideas for how to prevent another collapse of the wall, counselling that while a whole lot more money could be spent on attempting to prevent another failure, there was not a corresponding amount of guarantee that spending a lot more money would really be effective. He was confident that adding about $1500 of materials and labor to his minimum estimate as opposed to my desire to spend thousands more was prudent. He said the $10,000 wall may never fall down, but the $5400 wall would be many times stronger than the wall that failed, and that would be the route he would follow if it was his money being spent on his property. What more can I say? The work was completed in three days and we are both satisfied and impressed!

Supplemental report with better pictures...

Jas and his team did an excellent job and we would highly recommend them. We provided a drawing and photos of what we were picturing and they executed it perfectly. Jas's recommendations helped us save money by using existing rocks and cheaper materials than what we were originally planning to use, but still resulted in the exact look we wanted. They were flexible when we decided to add a few more components to the job as the project was underway. The crew was always prompt, cheerful, and cleaned up the area before leaving every day. Jas and I stayed in touch throughout the project, which was important considering how substantial it was. We wouldn't have changed a thing!

I called them because they had pretty high ratings on Angie’s List. They came out fairly quickly which was a good thing. The bad this is that once they came out they didn’t seem overly interested in the job. I think that’s why they gave us such a high bid.

Jas and his team did an outstanding job in all respects. The job was done on-time, and with no changes to the original bid, even though there were a few surprises that would have opened the door for a change in price. The quality of work was outstanding. Each time I look at the "before" pictures I am amazed at what a fantastic improvement the retaining wall made to the appearance of our town home complex, let alone to our overall well-being as a result of stabilizing the top of a steep slope. More than a month later, passersby still comment about what a wonderful improvement the retaining wall has made to the appearance of our complex. And all of the owners are elated. If I were to have a similar need in the future(it won't be at this location), I wouldn't bother to get competitive bids. I'd simply call A & J. They are extremely fair, extremely competent and extremely courteous.

They were competitive in their bidding, professional throughout and completed the whole job in four days. They even doubled their crew size on a Saturday to complete the job before the rains returned. They talked about all the costs upfront and kept them within our budget. They showed up on time and cleaned up every day before leaving. The wall looks great and they stand behind there work. I wish we could give them an A+

Fine, just the loop didn't get closed somehow.

We developed a pretty detailed drawing of backyard project and interviewed a number of contractors before settling on A&J. Jas was not the cheapest, but he was the only person who actually listened to what we wanted, discussed the proejct in detail and gave us absolute confidence that the results would be exactly right. There were no headaches in the bidding process and Jas was very responsive on email and tolerant of all of my questions. I made sure that everything that we talked about was adequately captured on his formal bid so that it was crystal celar what the work would be. Scheduling went fairly smoothly, but given weather and other projects they got started a couple days later than originally planned. The work went very quickly; removing a couple of fence panels so that they could bring a bobcat into the backyard, they had the sod removed and the yard graded on the first day. They then got to work on a small 3' retaining wall for the patio, brought in fresh topsoil and worked both the landscaping and the paito at the same time for a total of 6 days. I checked in with the crew a couple times a day, asking questions and re-assuring myself that everything was going smoothly - it always was and anytime I had a concern, they tackled it quickly with professionalism and no grumbling. Did I mention that they cleaned up and swept the driveway every day? The patio, walkways, cedar chips for the dogs and fresh sod ("from Oregon, with less clay than the washington stuff" says Jas) just look fastasitc and were exactly what we envisoned. I can't say enough about these guys - you will not be disappointed! Worth every penny and then some.

Mr. Singh came to the house as scheduled and gave me a bid for repair of failing mortar for my parking area and front walk. Crevices formed by mortar that had chipped, or washed out, between the bricks were becoming dangerous for walking. The work was performed as scheduled with a reasonable delay because of our abnormally wet September. His crew was very nice and worked hard. After the job was finished there was quite a bit of concrete residue left on the bricks. Mr. Singh suggested I might wait for weathering and normal traffic wear to take care of it naturally but suggested that he could pressure wash and use a chemical as they would for a large contracted building job. I thought about it for a couple of days and decided that I did want the cleaning because I hope to put the house up for sale and do not have time for the natural process to occur. Since I had already paid the balance owed on the job I was slightly concerned that when I called back there might be a delay on the further effort it would take - I have had bad experiences before. But, Mr. Singh himself came out within 2 days and did the cleaning I requested. He is a very honest, professional and nice person. I would definitely recommend his company.

As noted above, we had to replace a large retaining wall in the front of our property. The street slopes and there is about a ten foot drop from one end of the property to the other. A&J worked with us to design and build a two walled terrace on the lower part of the property so that neither of the walls exceed four feet in height. A&J provided estimates on a variety of materials including rocks and various man-made blocks. We chose to use a man-made block called Pisa II and are quite happy with the choice. This seemed to us like a fairly large project (about 82 linear feet of retaining wall, up to 8 feet in height at the low point between the two terraces) but the crew at A&J were very efficient. We are very happy with the job and would recommend highly them.

We had a retaining wall built of railroad ties about 20 years ago. The railroad ties were rotting out and the whole wall, as well as the fence we built, was leaning heavily into a steep ravine. We met with four contractors and received bids from all of them. We really liked one contractor?s ideas, but he was by far the most expensive. A & J Retaining Walls gave us a bid that seemed reasonable in comparison to the others, so we checked them out on the Better Business Bureau site and on Angie?s list and they were highly rated on both. A & J also seemed to guarantee their work longer than the other contractors. They were able to start the job right away, and once they started they worked extremely hard to make sure the job was done on time. I had the opportunity to observe them working on numerous occasions, and it seemed obvious they knew what they were doing, and they didn?t cut any corners. This was a difficult job because the wall needed to be built on a steep slope, and they took great care to make sure they were setting the foundation on solid ground. We also needed to have a fence built on top of the retaining wall for safety reasons and to keep our dogs in our back yard, and Jas, one of the owners, had a great suggestion to pour a 6? concrete cap on top of the retaining wall that he could set brackets into hold the 4x4 fence posts. We were so impressed with the quality of work being done that we asked A & J Retaining walls to give us a bid on another retaining wall on the other side of our property, and we ended up having them do that work as well. Overall, we are very satisfied with the job Jas & his crew did. We have had many compliments from our neighbors on how nice the retaining wall looked, and also how nice the new fence looked. I would highly recommend A & J Retaining Walls. We made several upgrades to the project once we were started, and the additional charges were fair and reasonable.

Top notch professionals from scheduling, delivery of materials, installation and followup. It is obvious they take pride and satisfaction in their. We got a quality job at a competitive price. You could ask for more. Highly recommended.

After much research and several quotes we met with Jas and knew we found the right person for the job. Jas is very honest and straightforward with his approach, and quickly found the right solution for our situation. There is no BS with Jas, and that was very refreshing. We wanted a cost effective solution, but something that would still look nice. Jas offered several options, and was more than willing to answer questions or give his opinion if needed. Jas gave us a date when the job would start, and called the day before to let us know they would be there. Jas and his team are incredible efficient and obviously started the job with the end in mind. As with most jobs there were a few issues he ran into, and he always called to see how we would like to progress. Jas was always on site during the job, and made great effort to be clean and work around our schedules. The wall was finished in 5 days. Jas met with us at the end to make sure the wall was to our satisfaction.

Very well. This was a very large project and we were told along the way, what would be done on the given day. They asked questions when they had, didn't just go ahead and do the project their way. They made suggestions when necessary and did an amazing job of keeping public areas safe and clean during the construction process. I love this company because they truly are a one stop shop. It was nice to work with someone who can do so many different things.

It went very well. The crew was on time and worked hard throughout the two days. They were very pleasant and responsive to questions we had. We would absolutely hire them again.

I added several last minute items to the estimate which Jas had no problem undertaking. The crew did a wonderful job and looks fabulous. We will have many years of enjoyment with our new patio. I will be looking to have Jas and crew do a retaining wall project in the front yard in the future.

We recently bought a new house with a fairly steep backyard that was extremely difficult to care for and was covered with a poor lawn and extensive English ivy. The hillside was held by very old timber pilings covered with ivy. A and J first visited the site and provided several options that would increase usable garden space and safely retain the slope. After consulting with a number of other companies, we decided to retain A and J, and they provided an estimate which turned out to be very accurate. They arrived when expected to do the job, and they worked extremely hard for four days. All the workers were extremely polite, careful, and hard-working. It could not have been an easy job, but there was absolutely no complaining or negativity. The wall itself is beautifully constructed and aesthetically pleasing as it steps up appropriately to suit the contour of land. A and J finished the job in a timely manner and left the entire property completely cleaned up.

Jas is fantastic. Our back yard had a pretty good slope to it (to the point that a kiddie pool has a shallow end and a deep end) and we wanted to level and stabilize the yard. Jas and his crew showed up promptly on the first day to remove brush and prepare the foundation for the retaining wall. That work was done faster than I thought possible. The thing I liked in working with Jas is that he was really great about communicating with me regularly about progress on the wall. The foundation for the wall needed to be on native soil, which lead to having to dig a little deeper than we were originally expecting. In spite of that, they got the site prepped and started laying the wall by the second day. The wall was going up fairly quickly, but they had to pause for a day because Mutual Materials had run out of the brick we were using (in part because of the change in the height of the wall); again, Jas handled all of this clearly and professionally. In fact, because of the lost day, he brought his crew out on Saturday to finish our job. I can't overstate how happy I am with the work that he and his crew did. They were incredible. I have emailed pictures to Jas if you have questions about the work. I give them the highest recommendation.

Quality work at a reasonable price! Jas was great to work with, polite,responsive, and very professional hardworking crew. Lowest bid of the 5 bids I received

Owner Jas of A&J is a true artist in stone work. He knows what is necessary to construct a retaining wall that is both durable and beautiful. (Jas has an excellent portfolio of projects available on his web site.) Estimates were done professionally, and the best options were presented and discussed. The work started on time and proceeded each day until the job was done (approx. 5 days). Everyone on the team knew what they were doing and worked extremely hard to achieve a very attractive result. This job required some very large rocks, which were placed expertly by the heavy equipment operator. Minimal damage was done to existing plants. A truckload of topsoil was then distributed along the terracing which provided the perfect finish. Jas is an expert in rock and stone. He and his team are professionals and I recommend their work highly. Before finding A&J, I had discussed the work with 3 other rockery companies. All 3 companies (chosen from Angie's list) had trouble coming up with ideas about how to do the work. All of them bid higher to do less work. One company even suggested that some of the work we wanted was unnecessary! None of them had photos showing their work. We are very pleased with the job done by A&J. Prompt, courteous and excellent in work and cleanup.

We requested an estimate for the work done in early May. Jas was able to come out quickly and look at our project. He allowed me to be flexible with the amount of work I wanted done and what I was able to do myself and was very helpful in allowing me to keep the project under budget by recycling some material from the old retaining wall. He initially told me it would be about two weeks to schedule the job, so I was surprised when he called to say he could start the project earlier. We were heading out of town, so we decided to stay with the original schedule, but I was please that he was flexible. They arrived when they said they would and finished the quickly, hauling away all of the excavated material and leaving a beautiful new retaining wall.

A&J showed up on time Monday morning bringing equitment and started to remove fence and walls. Excavation began, materials were delivered. Drenches were dug for new drainage after reoval of railroad ties and they started laying block. By Saturday the walls were finished and they leveled the yard and spread topsoil. By 3:00pm Saturday they were done with clean up and equitment was gone.

The whole process for both projects (retaining wall then patio) went very well. We contacted Jaswinder Singh for an estimate. He was timely in his estimate and provided us with some addresses to drive by and see his work. He was very helpful in figuring out the design (and provided some critical suggestions which we appreciated), selecting materials, permitting, etc. We have since referred A&J (Jaswinder) to many friends, all of whom have been very happy with the outcome. We are currently planning to do another project with them in the spring.

In many areas, we are happy with the quality of A&J s work. The actual driveway pavers and retaining walls look great. In other areas the quality of the work was sub-par. The new steps had substantial gaps (2 ) at the base of each step. When we asked them to fix it, they added some concrete to the gap. However, it looks like it was applied by a 3 year old. Several transition points at the ends of walls or steps just stopped with no clear resolution. They later worked the landing so that it slopes at a precarious angle. We signed a contract with A&J at the end of July, stating that we wanted a safe driveway before our house contractors started in November. Jaz assured me that they d get to it early Oct. The first day A&J showed up with equipment to start work was after Thanksgiving, 6 weeks late. When A&J finally started, the first 2 days were spent ripping out tree stumps with a backhoe. My wife and I couldn t get to our house because of tree roots left in the yard. After ripping up our hillside, A&J did not return for 2 weeks. During this time, the region experienced the torrential rains. I called Jaz s brother Sukh many times asking where his crew was that day. I was told that they can t really work in the rain , contradicting what Jaz had told me. I stared a diary of the excuses that Sukh provided me. One incident particularly represents our frustration with A&J. At one point my wife and I moved out of the house. We told A&J many times that we were moving on a particular date, and that we needed unencumbered access to the driveway for the movers. A&J interpreted this as the perfect time to schedule a concrete delivery. I have photos of our movers hauling furniture up our driveway while avoiding the cement truck. Sukh seems unable to think more than 30 minutes ahead, causing us to scramble many, many times. This is A&J s biggest downfall. What we had discussed with A&J was usually not what A&J did. Since my wife and I weren t home to supervise their work, A&J changed many aspects of the design and did the work before we could see it. For example, we told A&J that we wanted to keep an existing rockery. We came home to discover the rockery gone, having been hauled away. Our original estimate from A&J was for $36,000. After some agreed upon changes, the estimate came to $40K. At the end of the process, A&J presented us with a bill for $40K, along with an additional bill for $13,000 for the extra work they had done. No change orders were ever discussed. This additional bill included additional rock/soil removal and retaining wall length. While we don t dispute that more work was done, the work was necessitated by A&J not following the stated plan. By removing far more of the hill than agreed upon, they created the need for additional wall runs and additional charges for hauling away rocks that we wanted left. The original 2-3 week job starting in Oct. became a 4 month job that started 6 weeks late.