Skinner Overlook Landscape & Design Inc

Skinner Overlook did an outstanding job.

Skinner installed our irrigation system about 8 years ago and each year since they have continued to winterize and turn on our irrigation system. We had no issues in the past. This weekend water suddenly started gushing out of the external irrigation emergency valve so much so that it leaked into our basement until I was able to turn off the irrigation valve. I called first thing Monday AM to have the problem addressed. The call did not get returned. I called again Tuesday AM and someone came out later that day to tell me that he couldn't address the issue. Derrick said that he would speak to the technician to have the repair and winterization scheduled and get back to me later that day. He never called back. When I called the office the next day, the admin told me that they were booked and couldn't help us with either the repair or winterization.

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Horrible. I hired Skinner to do a yard clean up and some plantings for my mother's yard as a Mother's Day gift. I made sure to make it very clear to the company that it was a gift for my mother, and that all invoices should be directed to me. My mother was so upset with the job that was "completed" so I went to look at her yard. It literally looked like nothing was touched. I had to call the company and explain to them that the overgrown weeds were not removed and the plantings were not visible since no clean up was performed or mulch was laid. Their response was that it was hard to tell what was a weed and what was a plant that should not be pulled. I explained to them that was why I hired a landscaping business to do the work, that if they could not tell, what exactly was a paying them for? They assured me that they would be back on site first thing the next day. No call no show. I had to call them to see where they were. Said they would be on site with the owner and a in house florist first thing the next morning so make sure that the job was done correctly. They eventually showed up the next afternoon and I had to get on the phone with the worker to explain what I wanted done still since he had no idea. I called the office again, to inquire about teh balance, since I had already paid 40% of the invoice as a deposit and was told to "not worry about it." Cut to two months later, and my mother calls me to tell me that she received an OVERDUE invoice mailed directly to her for payment. I called the owner, Frank, today and was met with indifference and a mumbled apology only for sending the invoice to my mother, not for any of the other issues. When I pointed out that I was told not to worry about the balance when I called two months prior, Frank stated that he meant not to worry about the job getting done, and was then chastened for not calling them to let them know I owed them money!! Do NOT hire Skinner. There are plenty of other companies in the area. Go there.

I could not be more impressed with Skinner Overlook, the owner Frank and his team.  I rarely write reviews but this circumstance clearly deserves one.  We recently moved in to a new development and had landscaping that was commensurate with a basic builder's package.  Additionally, the base backyard soil was clay which did not drain and for which grass would not take.  Furthermore, we had no trees as the area had been clear cut to build the house. We decided to do a complete overhaul and met with several providers ultimately selecting Skinner Overlook.
We selected Skinner Overlook based on our experience during the quoting process with Frank and his team.  Frank, the owner, personally met with us on several occasions.  In the first meeting he brought along one of his senior landscapers to help him do the initial assessment and hear our goals for the project.  After that meeting he followed-up in the next few days by bringing his in house landscape design architect to develop a complete plan including renderings, plant selection, and various ideas for us to consider. Frank and his team did this all on their own investment which differed from several providers who wanted to proceed with a design only after being awarded the work or having us put down a deposit.
While already price competitive for what we were looking for Frank and his team were great on iterations including changing plants in the design based on our likes / requirements. Additionally, Frank worked to ensure we were maximizing the budget we wanted for the project. In short, we achieved more than we thought possible with Skinner Overlook and more than we were going to obtain from other providers who quoted on the project.
I'll break down the services into the following:
1)  Backyard patio - Frank and team put in a large backyard patio with Techo Bloc pavers.  They were creative with their design to maximize space for various functionality (lounge seating, firepit, etc.) while limiting disruption to the overall yard to ensure we still had a good amount of open space for our son and dog.
2)  Side Walkway - we have a side door on the house and the team placed a walkway from the driveway to the side door in the same pavers as the back patio.  As this walkway had to descend from driveway to the side door since we have a walkout, Frank and his team used granite blocks to frame the walkway and also create steps where needed to handle the grade.  Overall really polished look that was above and beyond was was originally planned.  Additionally from this side walkway down to the patio paving stones were used to make traversing the grade (we have a walk out basement) easier and tie the two sections together.
3)  Lawn - our original challenge was soil that was primarily clay with poor drainage, poor grade and difficulty growing grass due to these conditions.  Skinner Overlook replaced all the soil (about a foot deep) mixing the clay with sand and new soil, regraded the yard, and laid down sod.  Overall drainage issues have been alleviated and we now have a nice sustainable back yard.  This work also involved working around our sprinkler system, replacing lines and repositioning heads.
4)  Landscaping - we changed all of the front flower beds and added some new beds as you are facing the house to move away from the builders basic overcrowded plantings.  Additionally in the back yard, several trees were planted as well as creating various flower beds to bring visual interest to the backyard which was clear cut when the house was built.  Overall about 100 plants were placed at various locations around the house.  Additionally, the team transplanted to better locations the previous builders basic plants so there was no waste.
Overall we couldn't be more pleased with the work Skinner Overlook did and would gladly recommend them.  We had a fairly sizeable project but have full faith Frank and team can do any project from small to large.  We will be using Skinner Overlook again for regular maintenance and any other services we need.

They were great and my grass looked much better

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While they haven't started the job yet we have high hopes and expectations based on the interactions to date. Frank is very professional, was patient through all the redesigns we wanted, had great design ideas, and was able to work within our budget. I'll review again once the job is done but so far so good.

The estimated price was about $1,900 and was competitive with others. We broke the quote up by project. The experience was very positive because he took the time to listen to us. He had some options for us to consider and spent time with us. They were right on time.

The person was very personable and easy to deal with. Very detailed.
Pricing is high for the snow at $100 per inch after initial 12 inch. maybe I understood incorrectly, but that would be like $3000 for plowing last years storm we had. That is just too much.
The biweekly grass cutting is a little high also. I selected another vendor from the List.

Andrew came out on or approximately May 23 for a free estimate for a new patio. Aproximately 210 sq. feet.
He was on time, and stated he'd and quot;have an estimate in a day or 2and quot;
I waited a couple days and E mailed Andrew to see if he came up with an estimate, or if he thought the job was too small. Andrew E mailed me back 7 days later to tell me the and quot;job was not too small, but they had people out of workand quot;.
Its June 9th and I still have not heard from anyone in the company. So needless to say, I will not use them.

Our 212 condominium complex signed a one year contract with Skinner Overlook to take care of all of our landscaping needs on our 18 acres of land. I found the landscaping crew to be polite, hardworking and professional. They are always sensitive to the needs of our 212 residents and our staff. I especially liked the communication with the main office. I never had to call them for anything as they would always contact me first. The main office would always email schedules in advance of any work. This would give me time to notify residents if needed. During last summers few wind storms they would call and ask if we needed any assistance and would arrive early and stay later during the massive cleanups needed after the storms.
The supervisor Adam would arrive weekly and ask if we had any concerns. the organized and well run Skinner Overlook. Company
made the landscaping process painless.
I highly recommend them to any one. We just signed a two year contract with them and I look forward to working with them over the next two years.

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The experience went well. There were a few hiccups here and there but Frank was great throughout the process. 
For example we had grading issues that allowed a great deal of water too pool in the yard after a large rain storm. He came back and re-graded the area to ensure that the pooling issue was dealt with.
I would highly recommend them again.

Frank came out to our house upon request to provide a quote on some arborvitae plantings to be done. He came out the day after our initial call and was very professional, walking our yard and explaining the different options for trees available. Frank told us he'd get back to us the next day with a quote and he did promptly via email. We also had 2 other landscaping companies come out and give us quotes too (which were similar but slightly higher) and we ultimately decided to go with Skinner because of their professionalism and the quote they provided gave us multiple options depending on the size and number of trees we wanted. The Skinner crew came out the next week and all the work was completed in one day. We had 11 arborvitae trees that were 4ft tall planted. Our yard was left in excellent condition and the work done was exactly what we wanted. Frank even called that night to make sure we were happy with the results...a very nice touch. As a side note, Hurricane Sandy came through 2 weeks later causing the 2 end trees to tilt slightly. We called Skinner and Frank had his crew come out and straighten the trees the next day at no charge. Overall we were very impressed with this company, their competitive prices and excellent customer services and will definitely use them again in the future.

We were trying to correct a sloped back yard suffering from years of neglect. Meetings with reps were all pleasant, punctual and professional. Hard-scaping (low retaining wall, steps along house) came out very nice, and the resurfacing/leveling is fine. Only issue is with the results of the hydroseeding. Perhaps I was expecting too much since the backyard is sloped, but after adding loam and hydroseeding, I was hoping to see something a bit more lush, with fewer bare patches and fewer weeds. They have come back to hydroseed a second time to try to fill in the bare spots, but it is still sparse in areas. I paid for ongoing maintenance throughout the summer, so this review is incomplete. Perhaps the best is to come.

Update: Bare patches still there, ongoing battle between grass and weeds. They have been out to apply weedkiller (as part of additional program I paid extra for), but jury is still out. They did do hardscaping very well: I was expecting something more from the loam and hydroseeding.

I have a plain house and neighborhood. They seemed to do more elaborate work that we wanted to do. We liked them but it was not the type of company we were looking for.

Overall, I would hire them again for basic yard work, but probably not for larger or more skilled jobs.

A previous contractor had ripped up my front steps and left because they were unqualified to complete work as agreed. They also left a big cement pile of mess. Skinner Overlook provided us with a reasonable estimate to complete the work. They completed work in 2 days which included cleaning up the work site.

We did not end up using Skinner. Main reason another landscaping company came up with a design we liked better and felt more comfortable with going with the company that did the design. Otherwise we would have chosen Skinner. They were very easy to work with punctual to appointments and was very knowledgeable.. I would bring them to look at another large project.

I called Skinner Overlook to estimate a job for a large scale patio renovation using stamped concrete. This was based on Angie's list recommendations. I called in early March of 2011 and he replied promptly. He came to my house days later to take a look and said he would email an estimate, sketches, etc. In the process, he began to critique the other things done in our yard, saying it was done in a shoddy manner, which we found strange and a bit off-putting.
22 days later he did not reply so I called to check in and his response was and quot;you had the unfortuante curse to be one of the first people who called for the season, so you got lost in the shuffle.and quot; I was essentially penalized for being prompt. I mentioned I called so early because we had a big family gathering in June and we wanted to ensure the work was done by then, to which he said and quot;oh this will take a good 6 monthsand quot;...my face dropped in horror. Then he said and quot;oh, just kiddingand quot;. I found that to be unprofessional.
In the end, we did not go with him because of this; I felt really unimportant. Plus he kept trying to sell me on expensive plants and greenery that I did not want at all. In the end, my $10,000 job was not worth his time so we went elsewhere and we got real brick over more square footage, for over $3000 less.

They had a reasonable quote. They were really nice. The guy was on time, but we found a cheaper price.

They listened and were responsive to what I was looking for and what I was requesting. They were local which was a benefit. They had a reasonable quote. They had the capabilities that I was looking for. I liked the work that they had done on other sites. The lawn looks great and it definitely lasted. I was very pleased with what they did. We went to a vendor that they used and picked out the plants. They came up with the drawing and it took about a month for the work. The experience was great.

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Their work was excellent. I would definitely recommend their work because they did good work. We got a good estimate and they were true to that. The one thing that I was disappointed with was with their communication. I had to contact them quite a bit. I had told them what needs to be done ahead of time. I felt like I had to remind and ask them as to when they were coming. They didn’t tell us what day they were coming for the hydroseeding. They didn’t explain to us about how to water it and other things. They didn’t water it right away. We have weeds in our yard and I am taking care of it. We didn’t have good water pressure and didn’t know how much we had to water. The grading is perfect. All the other work that they did was excellent. It’s just the grass that I am not happy with and also their communication. I am quite not sure about their pricing and I think everybody would be the same. They answered my questions but they weren’t as proactive like how I wanted them to be. I would use their services again but I would ask them a lot of questions.