Barrick & Sons LLC

A year later, I continue to love the results – the patio looks beautiful and we have no water problems! We would use them again in a heartbeat. Yvonne Lebherz

My initial consultation with Nick, VP of Barrick Landscaping, went very well. He was responsive and professional, and was willing to work within our budget to smooth the existing area, add topsoil and install a row of 10 arborvitae and 7 crape myrtle trees. Because of unavoidable (and understandable) weather delays, installation occurred over spring break, when I was not home, but since my husband and I had spoken at length with the project manager, Cody, and Nick, we felt they would be able to carry out our request of planting the trees per our specifications. On the morning of installation, my husband got the crew started and returned to his home office while the job carried on, checking on the progress a couple of times, and sending photos to me. After installation, Nick called me to see what I thought; I told him i hadn't seen the trees in person, but I would let him know if I had any concerns. When I returned from my trip a couple of days later, I was dismayed to find my driveway covered in clods of dirt and mud encrusted tire tracks from the equipment, and trees that were spaced unevenly, ranging between 8 to 14 feet apart. In addition, the area which I was assured would be cleared of debris and covered in topsoil was full of tree roots, fist sized rocks, tire ruts and the odd piece of trash. I called to express my dismay (leaving a message asking him to call me after the holiday weekend). He called me back right away, and proceeded to push back on me for all of my concerns, making excuses and placing blame on me, the arborist who removed the original line of trees, and my budget for being too small. After 20 minutes of being told that I was at fault, I was asked to follow up and send an email with my concerns and he would take it up with "ownership." A few days later, the Project Manager, Cody, met with us, listened to our concerns and quickly resolved the issue by moving 3 trees and adding 5 more yards of topsoil (for an added fee of $600) While still not perfect, when I returned from work that night the trees were looking much better and the dirt was smoothed and debris free. Fast forward 3 weeks; it is early May, and the 7 crape myrtles show not one sign of life. The branches are dry and brittle, despite our daily care and attention. We were told that we have a one time replacement warranty within the first year, and we should "wait and see". Small comfort when I spent a couple thousand $$ and have grey sticks to show for it. At the end of the day, Barrick Landscaping corrected the problem of the mess and the improper spacing, but we still have 7 half dead trees, and the customer care from Nick Toms leaves much to be desired. The fact that the crew was left generally unsupervised and allowed to leave a job site in such a terrible condition is beyond reproach. It took us two hours to clean the mud off our driveway. The crew didn't even water the trees before they left, something I feel should be a basic requirement in this business. Worst of all was my conversation with Nick - I have never encountered such a response to my concerns as a customer. He must have been having a very bad day, and because of it I will never refer Barrick Landscaping to anyone.

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They did a pretty good job. I've not had any problems with it so far. I was happy with the result.

A very bad experience that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. Looking back, the first red flag should have been their vague and incomplete contract. It basically only stated that they would build a patio, without including any of the finer details discussed numerous times in person, on the phone and over email. Their rep said, "We will add all of the detail back at the office." The patio install went well but they left a lot of dirt behind and made excuses as to why it was so much more than they initially indicated. They took no responsibility. One rep went as far as to state that their contractual obligation, to grass seed and straw any disturbed areas, gave them license to cover my entire yard with dirt if they wanted to. They left about 50% of the dirt (they unearthed to construct my patio) and spread it over my lawn, covering an area of nearly 3 times the area of the patio itself. I encourage you to research how much it costs for dirt haul away and disposal; it is not cheap. This cost was obviously included when calculating the total job cost. If 50% of the dirt was left behind, wouldn't that reduce their total job cost? Obviously, and since they agreed to remove all of the dirt, my cost should also be reduced to account for work that they did not perform. Furthermore, the grass didn't grow back consistently, and has several sparsely covered areas. And the polymeric sand used between the patio bricks washed out of several areas due to rain the night of the install (24 hrs was the minimum time stated by their contractor for it to solidify, and rain would interrupt the process). I expressed all of this to the company and went as far as to send a formal registered letter (along with my payment) directly to the owner requesting that they address my concerns about the dirt, grass and washed-out patio. They cashed the check but never responded. This doesn't give me any confidence in the value of their 5-yr warranty. If they can't even be counted on for something as easy as spreading polymeric sand, what are the chances of them responding to a bigger issue? If you decide to use them, do not fall for their tactic of, "we will add all of the details to the contract before we begin the work." Make sure that you get everything in writing (on the contract), down to the type of grass seed that they will use, and how much area would be disturbed by their work. In my opinion, they definitely cut corners and are not very reputable.

They do general landscaping and patio installation. The quality of the work was excellent and they gave me a detailed estimate. They were punctual and it was just a very good company.