McKechnie Associates Inc

This is an update to a previous review. Paul is now on site, the work is slow but it is underway and so far the quality looks good. Originally the project was supposed to be completed in April and we are now hoping for September, but I know Paul had unexpected labor shortages to deal with, and in the end he showed up and did some of the decking work himself. Communication has improved as well.

Paul came to us highly recommended, took our $15k deposit, and disappeared. We've heard from him once to explain the initial delay, but 5 weeks later we still haven't seen or heard from him again, despite reaching out multiple times over email, phone and text. We also discovered that he has not pulled a permit for our project with our town, even though the planned start date was nearly two months ago. I don't know what's going on with Paul, but I'd advise anyone else to steer clear. I will update this review when and if we reach a resolution.

We couldn't be happier with the company and the final project. The design encompassed extensive natural stone walls,  natural stone steps to the pool area, new and existing plantings, fencing, hardsape patio, a water feature and all necessary materials to complete the job.
Paul presented a design that blew us away.  We had other companies provide us their ideas, but non came close to the creative concept that McKechnie Associates provided.  The nice thing about it was their price was inline with the other estimates received.
The McKechnie Associate employees were polite, extremely accommodating and true craftsmen.  We were kept informed of the project status throughout the entire job.  
The dos would be to get estimates and ideas from accredited, knowledgeable companies, not just companies that claim to design and construct. McKechnie Associates is a Registered Landscape Architect firm, and their knowledge of land slope, drainage etc. is what made the project work.   We couldn't be more pleased.  Our neighbors and friends are amazed at how our yard was transformed.

The work isn't finished and I'm hoping that Angie's List can help take this work to its completion.
 
I'm writing a report now because Paul McKechnie, Jr. owner
of McKechnie Associates Inc has given excuse after excuse for why the work is not complete.
The work began 7/30/12; I was encouraged to think of it as a 3 week project
although he said hoped it could be completed in 2 weeks. It is now 9.5 weeks
later and about 1/3 of the project needs to be done the first time and many
items need to be redone because of sloppy and miss-planned work. Paul is now
using the excuse that a gate hasn't arrived to further stall his completion of
aspects of the project that don't involve the fence. This is a gate that I'm
having to purchase over and above the contract quote because of poor design -
he is a landscape architect and was working with another one I had hired that I
will write a review about when this project is finished. Both architects were
on the property many times before the work began; both failed to notice or
mention that the location of the gate in the plans would not work. When the
fence was being installed, Paul and his fence installer made a "judgment
call" to place the gate in a different location without talking with me
about it first. I was told by both architects that the fence came from a
distributor in Bridgewater. When I called the distributor to ask about the
warranty on the fence given the poor quality of the installation, I learned they
never did business with this company nor with Cedar Post, his fence installer.
Taking this information back to Paul, he then told me the distributor was in
Rhode Island. He also first said that the installer didn't cut (shorten) any of
the fence posts; a few days later he told me they cut one. In addition, I now
have soda can size rocks and some salad plate size rocks under a few inches of
top soil - it was supposed to be 3 inch stone fill with at least 6 inches of good topsoil. I called in my landscape
architect about this. She came out and next thing I know the rock fill was being covered
with topsoil. She said she has worked with Paul for 18 years and although she
was supposed to be my advocate, she acted as if she was his saying these larger rocks would improve drainage and not stopping the work until this issue was resolved. There also are chunks of asphalt, an old rusted wrench, some plastic utensils and bottles, and large chunks of roots mixed in with the fill now on my property.  Although Paul is a
landscape specialist, the shrubs on my property that were supposed to
be transplanted were treated like they were going to be trashed even though the
contract includes their care. The first day, one of the hottest this summer,
they were left bare-root on my property. When I asked why they were not wrapped
in burlap as he said they would be, he told me that the soil was so dry that
most of it dropped off the roots when the back hoe dug them up. I asked him why he didn't water them first or
ask me to water them before they arrived - after all he is supposed to be a
specialist in this type of work. The crew was supposed to water these shrubs as
they sat out of soil in the hot August weather - I saw them do it one day. I've already lost one shrub
and a couple more have leaves dropping off. They scattered grass seed and
fertilizer but didn't rake it in - so I did and I added another 20 pounds of
seed throughout the next several weeks of their inactivity. Now that the measly
amount of top soil has settled (it is supposed to be 6 inches  but it
isn?t), I have rocks scattered throughout my yard with grass trying to grow
around these lawn-mower dangers. I?m supposed to have a 12 inch maintenance strip at the end of my driveway but it is 8 inches
on one end and 10 on another with some black material sticking up in several places.
I have unstained banisters on my deck steps because the railings were put back
incorrectly with the unstained side facing outwards. And now my backyard sits
unfinished with no Paul McKechnie Associates in sight for about a month as he
uses the excuse that the "gates" haven't arrived to leave my home and
life in disarray. I wrote "gates" in quotes because there should only
be 1 gate on order; the other 2, I was told, were at Cedar Post and couldn't be
returned - the reason I'm now stuck with a 10-foot gate at the back end of my property that is of now use to me, placed there as a "judgment call" and which cost me plenty. I have found Paul to be non-communicative, unprofessional, and
untrustworthy. Although I've worked with many contractors while I was a Trustee
for a condo association, Paul has been the worst that I?ve experienced. I want
him to finish the work, I want the work to be good quality and I want to be
able to start enjoying my home again.