The Ground Crafter, LLC

I first contacted Tom back in March of this year. After calling a few times he agreed to come out on a Saturday to review the project and work up an estimate. It is a weekend home and I had to make an unplanned trip up to meet with him. I called him on Friday afternoon to confirm the appointment and drove up from Chicago. Saturday morning and hour before the apointment he called to cancel because "he got a computer virus that had him totally dead in the water". It seemed odd because he claimed it was an issue for a few days and he couldn't put off fixing it any longer but he hadn't mentioned anything about it on our call the prior day. After a short time (and a stop in the rain) he called back to say he could make it over after all. We met and went over ideas and plans and he said he would send an estimate in a week. After 2 weeks I emailed to see where the proposal was. He said he should have it in a few more days and also advised that he would no longer be able to start in June but more likely July. After another week we had a rough quote for the deck along with the landscape work. We told him we would move forward with the deck only and all of a sudden he realized he forgot to include hauling away the old deck as well as a few other "add ons" that added $1,200 to the cost. After finally going back and forth it was now the end of April and I still didn't have his final proposal or contract despite sending constant reminders. It wasn't until the END OF MAY that he finally had answered all questions and we had a plan at which time we were pushing to get a contract and keep the scheduled install in July. I reminded him again on June 2nd and 8th at which time he told me he now couldn't start until October. I went over all the email exchanges to make sure I wasn't missing something but this guy is a total flake. Don't use him unless you're desperate or enjoy chasing someone for answers.

Mixed bag. Design and actual work relating to the actual landscaping and deck work were from good to excellent. Project, for the most part, turned out really well. However, the time management of the project, billing, communication with regard to any and all costs and cost overruns were the worst I have ever encountered. The project was initially scheduled to last 3 weeks- it took 8 months to complete (after starting 2 months late). They won the engagement based on costs that were incomplete or intentionally understated, were very secretive about the details of the costs ( when I asked him for a breakout of the labor versus materials on one of the projects he informed me that " he did not have to give me that information") . With a cpl of the projects the "proposal" included a total cost ( on a water fountain for example) but failed to provide the small detail that there would be significant additional costs to actually hook it up to the required electricity. In fact, this almost doubled the cost of the water fountain project and we would have passed on that if we had know up front. Much of the delay was a result of poor time management and the Company's lack of proper scheduling and acquiring the necessary permits and approvals. Much of the cost overruns relates to them doing their own electrical and plumbing work, which in my opinion they are not qualified to do. They "do it themselves" instead of hiring qualified licensed electricians and plumbers. They clearly led us to believe otherwise in the proposals. They say they do that in order to "save the client money". It does anything but- they may charge a few dollars less per hour, than a licensed electrician or plumber may charge, but I takes them twice as long to do it and they charge for this on a hourly basis. The only one that walks away with savings on this one is the company- customer gets screwed. Overall, I would make the following suggestions for someone considering to hire them: 1. Only hire them to do what they do best; the landscaping and design. Insist they hire qualified and licensed electricians and plumbers to do that work. 2. Do not let them do the landscaping lighting. Although we were happy with the arrangement of the lights- they just left the wires ( many of them) laying on the top of the ground ( in the flower beds) or on top of the stone with not attempt to bury or hide them in any way ( very unprofessional). 3. Make sure the proposal includes all costs including the electrical and plumbing work to make them operational. Be aware of undisclosed costs that have not been included in the proposal. 4. Get a time completion commitment and insist on a discount if it turns out to be a lot longer ( like 3 weeks to 8 months). 5. The guy that did the carpentry work on the deck ( sorry don't remember his name) was excellent. I would make sure I got him again. 6. Make it clear that they are to bring their own tools and not help themselves to yours ( like brooms, shop vacs, etc.) 7. When you catch them with a "mistake" on the billing make sure you follow through to make sure they make the correction. In some cases we "caught" them with obviously excessive hours on electrical work ( said it was a "typo" ) and, even though they apologized and said they would adjust the bill- it did not happen until we refused to pay it in a billing dispute at the end of the project. We are still not sure if our problems were because off pure mismanagement ( especially the billing and time management issues) or if there is a degree of dishonesty involved. I suspect it is a little of both.

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The project went excellent. The crew worked very hard and were pleasant to have on the property. Everything was cleaned up daily before they left. The project took approximately 6 weeks.I would say Tom Auer is creative with design and has great attention to details. Our project turned out beautiful and we are very happy.

The crew showed up at 7:30 am and worked to between 6 and 7 pm. They completed the project in 3 and 1/2 days. The crew was very polite, helpful and respectful. Tom Auer was on top of the project and we are very pleased with the results.

The project was a huge success! We are very satisfied with the work Tom and his team did. Tom was very easy to work with both during the design and construction phases. It took a while to get it all completed but we were not in a hurry and it was certainly worth the wait. Quality and attention to detail was not overlooked. Fence posts were all set in concrete. Fence posts are 4x4 pressure treated wrapped with 1x8 cedar veneer. Wire fencing was trenched 15" below grade. Fence is 7' tall with a 6' double gate in front and 4' wide gate near rear. A pergola was installed along back of fence and topped with split rail cedar. We can't wait to start planting in spring! Tom also added steps and a gate to our existing deck. Now getting to our side yard is so much easier! Again, very satisfied.

They said they'd be done in three days and they were completed on time.

.Tom Auer did an outstanding job for us. He and his crew started the project earlier than expected, which was a real plus for us. They began in April and finished in May. Tom's enthusiasm and creativity made this project an adventure for us. He was open to any suggestions we had, which resulted in our collaborating to create a one-of-a kind water feature. Originally we were just going to go with a ready made feature. When we didn't find anything that excited us, Tom showed up one day with an interesting slab of stone he had found and talked with us about how he might fashion an interesting water feature with it. He stood it in the ground at the end of the day; it rained that night and the stone fell and broke. We decided to go to a stone yard and look at granite remnants and presented that idea to Tom. He was more than willing to go to the stone yard and look at what we selected. From there, his creativity took off and he talked about using corten steel as a frame. The rest is history...a really unique water feature that we can enjoy on the patio, or just by looking out the sliding glass doors of the family room. If we leave the doors open, we can hear the water through the screens. Tom had an idea for flooring on our upstairs deck, which is a future project. We are very pleased with how it went from start to finish.

It went well. I had to wait a bit to get started because of other clients but once it was started he stuck with it and was present every day. Some of the days even in the rain. It was a large undertaking in my mind but the finished product, design, and look was everything I was hoping to achieve. It turned out beautiful. HIs communication was excellent which I consider to be very important. I don't like to be left in the dark and never was with Tom. I could not be happier with my choice.