NeSmith Landscapes

Here's why we regret hiring NeSmith. We hired him because we were having erosion and drainage issues after having a pool put in. We paid the deposit, but never got a design as stated. I told my wife to trust it'd work out, but she was skeptical to start off being told one thing and getting another. They came out 2 months later in Sept 2020, and worked for 2 weeks basically every day. A few days in, they cut our internet cable. I called NeSmith when his crew didn't do anything about it, and he told me I needed to call Comcast. No apology or attempt to correct his mistake. The Comcast guy said NeSmith's crew didn't "call before you dig, so this is what happens." I told his crew twice where our front gate exit wand was buried, but they cut that buried wire too. NeSmith's response was "we're not responsible for personal utilities" even though we identified it per the contract. He didn't offer to pay for his mistake or even dig the trench for the new exit wand wiring. There was no apology or recognition that he made another mistake. I didn't want to spoil the relationship over $160. A few days later, they had a stump ground next to our pool, shooting large amounts into the pool staining it. I told NeSmith twice that this required 3 hours cleaning and water treatment for stains, but he didn't appear to acknowledge either statement. The crew laid the bedding pine straw without fabric, then claimed it was a misunderstanding. When the job was finished, it looked nice and I was impressed, except for how they decided (without any conversation or agreement) where their job ended and they left the rest - leaving some piles of dirt, large dead trees, the Comcast line they pulled up, thrown debris, etc. We paid all his invoices same day and even his additional charges that should have been part of the job. Unfortunately, the irrigation system clogged up in multiple heads just a week later, followed by a zone getting stuck open. I called NeSmith on both issues, but only received instructions for me to fix it myself. This cost me 3-4 hours of my time, and appeared to be from dirt in the system from installation. Soon after, our front yard flooded from rain, and our gutters overflowed. His company ran our front gutters into pop-up drains in the middle of the yard, instead of downslope toward the creek like they were originally, and his company buried 3 of our drains completely. My wife notified him of these issues and he didn't respond. I tried to modify their work putting 10 hours into it, to lessen the flooding, but it was way too bad. I notified NeSmith of how frustrated I was getting with how this was improperly installed. I finally realized hiring him was a mistake. His response was that everything was done correctly. I sent him videos of the buried drains and flooding, and his response was "I'm sure they didn't do it on purpose." He finally said he would come out in a week to look at it. At that time, he decided they needed to run the gutters the way I had originally told him, toward the creek. 3 weeks later, after multiple requests, his crew spent less than 1 day cutting in a 90 foot drain (the way it should have been done originally). He stated they would sod it the following Tuesday. Another 2 weeks later, multiple inquiries asking when this would be done with no response, the week before Christmas, and with guests coming, I told NeSmith I needed to know if they would fix this before Christmas (they would be closed for 2 weeks) or I would be forced to replace the sod myself and charge them back what they charged me for the service. No response from NeSmith. His wife, however, decided to call me and said they would not be coming out until Jan 4 due to sod availability. I told her that was unacceptable and that I had already checked and the sod was available at the nurseries, so saying it wasn't available was not true. She said they wouldn't pay me anything. We continued a very unpleasant back and forth. His wife soon followed up and said they had a couple guys that could put the sod in that Friday, and she had miraculously found sod. I apologized for the exchange we had (to mend the relationship), but the apology was not reciprocated by either of the NeSmith's. That Friday, 2 guys came out and threw down "dormant" sod on the 90 ft mound for 1 hr. I told them it wasn't possible to mow the 90 ft mound with a 3 inch height difference, but they left it. Our front yard was so embarrassingly awful I spent another 10 hours trying to fix it. The sod NeSmith brought out was old and dried out. No one from NeSmith has checked on how this was done or followed up. For these reasons, I don't think NeSmith provided sufficient supervision, communicate well, or took responsibility. I paid $25k to have a beautiful new yard. Instead, I have a 90 ft gash and serious drainage issues we didn't have previously. I've spent at least 40 hours trying to fix these issues, and the yard still needs more work.

We were thrilled with the work done by NeSmith Landscapes installing pavers on the deck around our pool. They transformed the ugly, cracked cement into a beautiful paved deck. All of the work was done on time and Jerry NeSmith was very responsive to all of our questions and concerns. We could not be happier with the work they did and how beautiful our pool deck looks now. We highly recommend them and would use them again for other landscaping needs.

Work was done in the time frame allotted and the end result exceeded expectations. The workers were professional and experienced.

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While the start of the project was delayed, due to the rainy weather and other customers wanting more add-on work performed, all I can say is that good things come to those who wait! Jerry and Mike (the foreman) were very professional and excellent to work with. The job they did was second to none!
Of course, for this type of money you expect a good job, but I want you to know that I have been very pleased with the results! I chose NeSmith Landscapes both because of the Angie's List reviews and because of the portfolio on their web site. Expect to see my yard up on there in the near future, as the before and after difference is spectacular! Before, I never wanted to go outside to sit on the little concrete slab. Now it's hard to get me inside!
By the way, I added on the irrigation system less than one week before they were to begin work. When doing such extensive landscaping, owners (myself included) often want more than what was originally contracted for, which delays downstream projects. I have seen a couple of bad ratings due to this, but I take this as a positive, in a way. In other words, while the start of the project may be delayed, Jerry and his crew will do a great job and will work with you as soon as they are at your site. Given this, if you are in a hurry and need a rush job, I would not recommend NeSmith. If you are willing to wait, you will be rewarded with a great looking landscape and a very professional job!
Needless to say, I highly recommend NeSmith and will use them again in the future!

The original date the work was done on my property was in the fall of 2009 and early 2010. After receiving an email from this company on 9/5/2014 threatening me with legal action from a review posted in August 2014 from my experience with them. I contacted Angie's List to get their help in deleting the entire review so I could start over. At this point the only thing I can say is I regret contracting Nesmith Landscapes and I will not use them in the future for any of my needs that might come up.

The initial agreement was signed on 2/25/2014. Due to rain delays, the work was not started right away. When the sod was delivered there was not enough material to complete the job. Several days passed before more sod was delivered only to discover there wasn't enough sod to complete the job. Jerry NeSmith got additional sod from a local nursery, but when the work seemed to be completed, it was obvious that several areas of sod were dead. Jerry NeSmith promised he would replace the areas of dead sod as soon as he received another shipment of sod. After numerous phone calls, the sod has still not been replaced. I paid NeSmith an initial deposit of 50% of the job. I made the mistake of paying the balance owed on April 25, 2014 based on Jerry NeSmith's promise to replace the dead areas of sod.
The actual workmen for NeSmith did a good job with what they were given. They were polite and good mannered.
I am very disappointed with the way my yard turned out. If promises had been kept, I would be enjoying a beautiful front yard.

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The work went really well. NeSmith Landscaping was fairly backed up when we originally signed a contract. They estimated about 6 weeks; though, it took closer to 10 weeks before work finally started. This was probably the only annoying thing about working with them.
However, once work started, they were fantastic. We had your typical Florida afternoon showers that slowed down the project, but the group kept us informed. There was only one small issues when their tractor accidentally ripped up some of our pool pipers. In NeSmith's defense, those pipes were very close to the surface and no one knew that they were there (we all assumed that they were at proper depth and not 18 inches below the soil line). Once the pipes got redone, then it was basically smooth sailing.
We just finished our project with them and would definitely hire them again.

Worst contractor/handiman ever. He
over promised to get the contract to build a back deck and then went on
to construct a piece of junk that gets worse every day. A lot of the wood cuts
are off by a quarter of an inch to almost 4 inches where he had to jam
in shims. He promised that everything would be to code but he failed
there too. He met none of the requirements on the major points of the
Florida Code. Oh, about his over promise, when he realized that he was
unable to do the key point of the contract he promised to have someone
else do the job as a favor to him. When the bill came in at $475 he got
made and indignant that I would expect him to keep his word and make
good on the job.
NEVER USE NESMITH
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My Reply to Mr. NeSmith's Response of June 18th.

No, my review was not based solely on Mr. NeSmith’s promise to
repair the water damaged soffit. My honest review is based on two things.

First that he bold-faced lied to me to get the contract. After
I received his estimate I emailed him on 1/24/14 explicitly telling him that
the deck contract was contingent on the soffit being repaired and that I would
have to go to another contractor if he was unable to do the work. He came out
the following Monday and assured me that he could and would repair the soffit.
He did not want to put it in the final contract because he was not licensed to
do that work and I agreed because he was going to do it for no additional
charge.

I pointed out the damaged soffit to Mr. NeSmith when he first
came to inspect the project to prepare his bid and then on 2/6/14 he
re-inspected the damage prior to my signing the contract that same day.

Although he had twice thoroughly examined the damaged
soffit, sticking a flashlight in the foot long hole and poking the surrounding
wood structure for moisture damage, it was only after the completion of the deck
did Mr. NeSmith announce that the soffit was beyond his ability.

Apparently not ashamed to stack one empty promise on top of
another, and because I hadn’t given him the final payment, he assured me that
he would call in a favor and have a friend do the repair work as promised and
at no additional charge. It was only with that assurance did I write him the
check.

When his friend came out and told me that he would repair it
for $475 I called Mr. NeSmith assuming that he was going to make good on his
word. I was wrong.

I wouldn’t say that expecting him to keep his word is
“taking advantage of” him as he claims but if he has such low expectations of
himself I guess that I was “expecting something for nothing”, his word being
worth nothing.

Second, my negative review is based on something more
fundamental, the workmanship of the deck itself. How can he claim that it was
built to code when ‘code’ requires a permit and he refused to use the one that
I already had paid for and had on file with the city? Could it be that he
didn’t want to have a final inspection?

A few little things -

* Balusters are not permitted to be more than 4” apart, several are over 5”

* The bottom guard rail on the stairs is not to have a gap greater than 4.75
inches, it is over 12 inches.

* Support posts on the steps are not to be more than 5.5 feet apart, there are
only two, one at the top and one at the bottom , over 7.5 feet apart.

* The risers are off code.

* The handrail is off code.

* Support posts were installed already seriously cracked and splitting.

* Even his buddy when he came out to do the soffit work pointed out that there
should be 5 stringers on the steps where Mr. NeSmith only installed 3.

* Don’t get me started on esthetics, with all of the mis-measurements, bad miter
work, jerry-rigging and exposed lumber grade stamps the deck is no longer a place
for a pleasing respite.

And the list goes on so I will wrap this up with a simple
proposal. Mr. NeSmith is proud of his deck work and even boasts that it “is
built completely up to Florida code and in some cases better than standards.”
On that basis I would like to make this offer, I will pull that city permit and
have the deck inspected. If it passes, “completely up to Florida code”, as
promised, I will retract my comments here, write wonderful things on Yelp and
Facebook and I will even take out a business card sized ad in the Tallahassee
Democrat saying glowing things about Mr. NeSmith’s master craftsmanship.

However, if it isn’t “completely up to Florida code” he must
then refund my money so that I can hire a competent contractor to do the job
correctly and construct a safe deck.

And should he turn down the offer altogether we can accept
that his word is no better than his workmanship and just wake up every day
grateful that we are not him.

I had talked to various contractors and got bids ranging from $10,000 to $36,000.  With the various rules of Southwood, I was afraid I might not get what I really wanted and I didn't want to spend a ridiculous amount on a small patio.  Jerry talked me through what I was really looking for and what was important to me - the function.  I was looking for privacy on a corner lot but without a fence.  He drew up my plan and he took care of everything.  I was totally pleased. Jerry also went to the homeowners meeting where the plans had to be approved before anything was done.  Southwood has strict guidelines and with Jerry there, everything went smoothly.

It did take longer than I had expected, but that was due to rain which couldn't be factored into the equation.  I love the look and have gotten so many compliments on the job.  I am already adding more lights which Jerry is also helping to add.  I would heartily suggest Jerry NeSmith to anyone thinking of improving their landscaping area.

This crew was amazing. They were very dependable, knowledgable of their job and worked nonstop to get things done. One of the gentlemen came out on Saturday to finish laying the sod so it wouldn't dry out over the weekend. No one had to stand around waiting for someone else to tell them what to do or finish their area so they could begin another. I was extremely impressed with the quality of their work and the extent they went to clean up each day. You would never know they had been there except for the beautiful improvements they made. I recommend NeSmith Landscapers for any job, no matter how large or small.

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Fast and very good work

NeSmith's Landscapes transformed my home's yard before I listed it on the market in May of 2012.
When Jerry stopped by to survey my yard it was obvious he understood every aspect of his trade, as well as the real estate market.

He came up with a plan to use all that we had already invested in our landscape, stabilize it against erosion, and to add finishing touches to pull everything together and give the yard uniform character and flow.

The clean-up of our yard occured first. Much of it had not been trimmed in a year or more. By the time Jerry's men trimmed everything back we were amazed at how open and polished our plants and beds looked.

A panel of our fence was repaired and the color off compared to the rest of the fence. No problem at all. Our whole fence was pressure wshed. Jerry then planted a beautiful small magnolia tree and a small bed in front of the repaired panel. The whole fence looked consistent, clean and had great plants growing in front of it and on it.

Two large oak tree stumps were removed in the backyard. The area around them was prepared and sodded. It all looked like new.

The metal edging installed on our gravel pathway transformed it. It made the lines tight and clean all the way down on either side. The beds bordered with with the metal edging looked so professional. This added alot of curb appeal in the front and pizzazz in the backyard.

Our house sold the first day it was listed on the market. My realtor communicated how impressed the buyer was with our yard.

Jerry NeSmith knows how to create functional, beautiful and original landscapes like no other. He is equally adept at creating an area of interest from scratch, as well as breathing new life into that already planted. Most importantly, Jerry is honest, professional and courteous. His vision for our yard was clearly communicated up front, the price did not fluctuate and all was done on time and above and beyond the call of duty. I give NeSmith's Landscapes the highest recommendation.