Upton, Inc. Landscape & Construction
About us
We are a full service landscape/hardscape design, install, and maintenance company with more than 20 years experience in our craft. We provide a minimum 3-year warranty on hardscape/poolscape/paving stones/masonry/concrete/asphalt/base installation (walkways, patios, fire pits, driveways, steps, walls). We are ICPI & NCMA certified-which are the governing bodies that promote best practice methods based on Engineers recommendations (please don't use stone dust as base material and/or bedding sand). We are a Techo-Pro Contractor & Nicolock Hardscape Pro Contractor. We can completely transform your yard from start to finish..and for the DIYer, we can provide specific services to assist in any stage of a project such as excavation, base installation, and include comprehensive instructions and guidance to carry out the remainder of a project so that looks as if the entire project was professionally installed. Exclusively for Angie's List Members: we are currently offering a 5% discount on labor and machinery costs for all projects valued at $2,000 or more. In addition, we offer Tree Removal, Stump Removal, Lawn Installation, Drainage, Excavation, Planting, Fencing, Year-Round Landscape Maintenance, Gutter Cleaning, Dumpster Service, Topsoil and Mulch Delivery, Certified Playground Fiber Installation, Fruit Bearing Tree Planting, Brush Clearing, and more. Contact us for a quote or consultation!
Business highlights
Services we offer
Asphalt, Bluestone, Brick, Concrete, Drainage, Driveways, Excavation, Grounds Maintenance; Landscape Construction/Installation/Renovation (incl. ; Paver/Hardscape Installation (ICPI, Gutter Cleaning, Lawn Installation, NCMA Certified, Nicolock and Techo-Bloc Pro); General Construction, Paving Stones, Planting, Retaining Walls, Steps, Tree Removal and more., Walkways
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
---|---|---|
79% | ||
6% | ||
9% | ||
0% | ||
6% |
This is really sad because they did a good job, just unreliable scheduling and unresponsive communication. The one good thing is that they have not charged me for the 1 mow, which is fair considering how they blew me off.
Update - The showed up the day after I initially posted my review and mowed the lawn (the job they do is good). Still waiting to hear back from them on a question.
They specialize in larger landscaping projects, and we were not able to move forward with a larger proposal, but we will as soon as it is within our budget.
"In regards to the estimate-all estimates are very detailed and include specific costs for specific materials. When changes to materials are made before or during work begins, it can and usually does affect the cost. In your case-the material you selected added cost. These changes were brought to your attention. According to the contract we both signed, the project start date was 10/23/13, the end date was 11/30/13. The project was interrupted by approximately one week due to an early and unusual high winds snowstorm which resulted in down power lines and closed public roads; much of the southern CT was without power-including my residence for three days. I apologize for not contacting you in the days following the storm. We did resume work the following week but at no point did weeks go by without any work being done. As expected and explained, many parts of your projects were very time consuming and detailed-which may have seemed like little progress was being made at times. The paving stones in your driveway and walkway took approximately 7-8 days to install. The mini excavator was not needed for this process, but we typically do not remove machinery if it is still needed to finish another part of the job. Also, no damages were left by said machine. Your disturbed lawn areas were left as promised. We did work on two Sundays with your permission to try finish the project on schedule but two aspects of the project remained outstanding at the promised end date-an asphalt apron by the roadside, and grading disturbed areas. As a courtesy, we purchased and installed sod immediately adjacent to your new paving stone driveway at no additional cost to you. All work was finished within the following week."
At this point the house next door is being replaced, and the owner has promised to redo the lawn when the house is finished because of truck and people traffic.
"I’m very sorry about your poor experience with regards to the sod lawn installation we provided. After reading your report, I reviewed our correspondence that we had prior to and during the sod installation. My goal is always to educate customers in hopes it allows them to make better decisions for projects on their properties. We had discussed installing sod in the middle of the summer and I did explain that it was possible to install sod during the summer-but that it required more time and resources on your end. I specifically instructed you in an email on July 22, 2011 that you should be watering 3-4 times a day. It sounds like your watering schedule of 2 times a day was enough since the sod did establish and the brown areas next to the road and driveway came back towards the end of the summer. It is very common for lawns to brown next to asphalt areas in the heat of the summer. We would have been happy to wait for cooler weather to install the sod but it seemed you were eager to have a new lawn and were willing to put in the extra effort to ensure that it would survive the heat. In regards to the condition of your lawn this year-any lawn, whether sod or seed, requires inputs (water, fertilizer, weed and insect control applications) throughout the year to thrive. The crabgrass likely grew where and when the lawn was stressed and will die out within the next few weeks. I am also unsure to what extent of stress or damage the “truck and people traffic” caused on your lawn or if your crabgrass was related to this issue. Please understand unless the contractors from your neighbor’s property renovation caused serious turf damage in regards to grading or soil compaction from heavy trucks, your lawn is not a lost cause. You may not need to have your neighbor replace it. I’d be happy to look at your lawn and provide my opinion. In any case, you can keep the crabgrass from returning next year by continuing to apply or having a licensed applicator apply a weed prevention application in the spring and summer (3) total for the year. The first application of weed pre emergent should be applied prior to soil temperatures reaching 50 degrees-another rule of thumb is prior to the yellow forsythia blooms. Most lawn programs recommend 1-2 weed pre emergents, but I would consider an additional application. This is something that should happen each year. Again, please let me know if you would like me to view the lawn and I would be happy to provide an assessment at no cost. Best, Shawn Upton"
Thanks!
We did receive other estimates and chose Shawn based on the fair price, his ideas for the patio area, his other excellent reviews on this website, and just a good ?vibe?. He has a calm and patient attitude and his work reflects it. He is very thoughtful and quite the perfectionist.
When meeting Shawn, we were drawn to his creativity. It is obvious in his manner that he takes his work seriously and enjoys designing with customers? input. We were indecisive about what color pavers to use on our project. He drove us to 6 different homes in the local area he had completed (one being the one who reviewed on 2/16/12 ? we were there when Shawn noticed the paver shifting and heard him say he would be back to fix it). Just the way he interacted with his former customers said volumes. He had a lot of patience with us and never seemed bothered by all the questions we had?that was impressive.
The project took about 2 weeks with weather. We received almost daily updates from Shawn on the project's progress. He was not onsite with the workers (who were all friendly) all the time, but did check their work at the end of each day. He also dropped by on a regular basis while they were working to check on the progress. When we called or had a question, he would call back the same day. He is NOT the type of contractor who has to be hunted down, only to get a call back days or weeks later.
The only con (if you could call it that) would be all the choices we were given?Shawn is very flexible, but gives advice freely (and we are very happy we chose the Fire Island pavers with his input).
You would not believe how good it feels to come home, get out of the car, and open our back gate to the sanctuary that Shawn created. I smile every day and know that we made an excellent choice and were blessed to have him work with us. It was worth every penny.
Highly recommend.
I then waited nearly two weeks for a quote, which I finally got by emailing Shawn multiple times. The quote was incorrect (did not describe the job properly), so there was another round of emailing to get a correct quote, which I signed and paid a deposit on.The lawn renovations went very well, but Shawn underestimated the amount of mulch needed and asked me to pay for the additional mulch. I was not happy but agreed. The drainage repair was another matter. The trench was dug, and the perforated pipe was on the job site, but a few days later I found non perforated pipe ad been installed, debouching above ground in an existing stone wall (VERY UGLY), about 20 feet further down the yard. I asked the workmen what was going on and they said they were doing what they were told to do and they filled in the trench that day.
As I wished to document my unhappiness at the way the drainage contract had been incorrectly carried out, I used email to contact Upton Inc. I asked Mr Upton to meet me at the job site (I live next door). He came, did not let me know he was coming, and went away again without contacting me.
A few days later, a worker dug a shallow (6" deep ) slot below where the pipes debouched and filled it with gravel. I then received a bill for the balance due on the job. I happily paid the balance Mr Upton requested on the lawn renovations and mulch, but withheld the balance due on the drainage job, as Mr Upton's actions were not what was contracted for, and had simply moved my erosion problem down the hill (indeed, over the course of the winter, I now have new erosion which is threatening a mature sugar maple and eroding the brand new lawn).
I wrote Mr. Upton with my payment, explaining why I had withheld the balance on the drainage job and asking him to meet me at the job site to discuss the drainage issue. I have heard nothing from him since and assume that he will not fix the problem. Interestingly he has never billed me for the additional mulch I agreed to pay for. Not sure what that's about, but I assume Mr Upton has walked away from this contract.
The lawn has wintered very well. In principal I am pleased with this part of the work, but I don't feel I can hire him again because of the lack of response to the drainage issue. Mr Upton needs to work VERY h****** communications and follow though, also on supervising his workers so that the work that is contracted for is actually done.
Licensing
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