DISTINCTIVE LANDSCAPES INC

We bought our house from an investment group that dumped mulch on top of the rock gardens they had all around the house. It looked great initially, but after we realized there was rock under the mulch, it was a disaster. We had a hard time planting things, and it looked horrible all around the house. Besides that, I took down a tree and had a stump left, and we wanted to replace the plastic edging with something more aesthetically pleasing.
I was referred to Distinctive Landscapes by a co-worker who had a bunch of work done, so I included them when I had contractors come bid the project. These guys are really busy with projects, so it took a week or so to get Bob out to the house to do an estimate. He showed up when he said he would though, and the bid process was smooth. He came in well under everyone else we had out to look at the project so I hired him. I couldn't be happier with my decision!!
It took a while to get on the schedule, but again, they came when they said they would, and worked incredibly hard for 3 days to finish the work. The same guys were there each day, and it was neat that the owner Bob and his sons are on the crew working each day. In the time between the bid and when they came to do the work we changed a few things about what we wanted done. Because the bid was so low we decided to add a few things to the project, adding some gardens and edging, adding a tree to remove and sod the area, adding a couple paving stones for a walkway. They were really responsive to these changes! Very understanding. It was very pleasant dealing with Bob and his sons, when they had a suggestion about what would look good they told me, and were willing to take my suggestions too. It was great.
The first couple days were taking out all the crap around the house, then a crew came to do the edging (concrete blocks that look like rough granite, and a base of gravel), then they dumped about 4" of mulch around the house. The best part of the whole project was that they didn't use a bobcat on our lawn! Everything was dug out by hand and they used wheelbarrows to bring the stuff out front to the bobcat that they used on my driveway and in the street only. This was incredible because it didn't damage the lawn. These were the only guys that would do that of all the people we had out to bid. I can't recommend them highly enough, I will definitely use them when we re-do our patio in a couple years.

Distinctive Landscapes did an amazing job, we were so impressed by the whole process and the finished project.
We started getting bids on our patio project right away in the spring.  We called many contractors and the bids were all coming back really high.  Bob from distinctive Landscape had a bid that came in right on budget.  We were left to decide between him and one other company, but Bob was the only contractor who had a 5 year warranty and they were able to start the project right away in May.  Bob was very reponsive to our questions and always called or emailed us back quickly.
The project itself involved tearing out our old patio, which had been sinking due to a drainage issue.  Previous homeowners installed a berm with a patio next to it, there was not any adequate drainage so the entire patio had been sinking for years.  Turns out there was no base under the old patio at all, the bricks were sitting on dirt (probably a home owner special).  We also had a retaining wall against the berm that was sunken and not very well done either.  We also had a handful of trees/plants we needed to remove so we could change the sight lines/shape of the patio.  So they ripped out the old patio and the trees/plants we asked them to remove, they tore out the old retaining wall and installed a new 30' boulder wall.  Then they installed a 375 square foot patio.  They used 16 tons of class 5, the base on the patio was huge, they just kept bringing in more and more class 5 and compacting it over and over.  The base on the patio was impressive!  They also put in a drain tile and drainage so that our gutter downspout would drain under the patio, and they cut a path through the berm and created a rock path for natural drainage.  They also raised the level of the patio to where it should have been to work with existing structures surrounding it (patio doors, attached deck).
Needless to say it was a lot of work.  The crew showed up one morning to tear out the plants the week prior to the work starting.  It didn't take them long at all and after they were done they swept/raked so you couldn't even tell they were there, even though the following week they were starting demolition.  We were extremely impressed with how respectful and clean the crew was.  The following week they showed up bright and early Monday morning to start work.  There were 6 people in his crew and they worked very fast and efficiently.  And - a HUGE bonus for us - they used wheel barrows to do all of the hauling on the grass.  We have a sprinkler system and every other contractor we talked to said that there would be lawn damage for sure and possibly sprinkler damage as well.  Bob was the only contractor who used wheel barrows.  He still had a bobcat, but it was only ever in the driveway and never went on the grass.  Which meant we had absolutely no grass or sprinkler damage when he was done.  It took his crew 2 days to do the entire job.  They were able to complete the demolition and put in the entire base in 1 day, and again when they left they swept up in our driveway and used a leaf blower to make sure there was no debris anywhere, even though they were returning the next day.  And in our berm they ended up removing soil where we had a hosta planted, Bob made sure to save the hosta and replanted it somewhere else in the berm upon asking me where I wanted it.  This is a great example of their attention to detail and respect for our property.  Due to weather, they weren't able to install the patio until Wednesday.  Again they were there bright and early and ended up staying late to get it all finished.  Bob was there the entire time, he's a very hard worker.  We were extremely pleased with the end product, it's a beautiful patio that I expect will last forever with the amount of base underneath it!!
I cannot recommend them enough.  Rarely do you find a contractor that is as respectful and honest as Bob and his crew.  They did everything they said they would and made sure to clean up everything as they went.  It's Bob and his sons and a few other crew members.  And - they were the cheapest bid!  And even a small thing - we have a 1 year old and 3 year old who were home sick during the work, so of course both kids propped themselves by the windows to watch them work all day and the crew would smile and make goofy faces or do pretend play with them through the window.  I found that so amusing, you can tell that this is a family business.  They were definitely great great great, I highly recommend them!

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It couldn't have gone better. They were very punctual, worked like dogs in unbelievable heat and did a beautiful job. My wife and I thought his price was extremely reasonable. They even came back with a load of new gravel and installed it around the front of our home at no charge to replace some that they had to tear out.
Bob and his crew are very friendly and a pleasure to do business with. I would gladly hire him again and would highly recommend him to anyone.

The project went well from start to finish with removal of plant materials and concrete patio first. Then they did the new patio and steps and retaining wall, then replaced shrubs and landscape rock around them. They kept the area clear and clean as they progressed and reseeded areas damaged by equipment in the process. The grass has received this year from the activity. They will be returning this year to seal the patio, clean and seal the older brick patio and replace a couple of items that didn't survive the winter.

When we left for work in the morning our lawn had a multiple browned out spots from the previous owners' dogs and patchy, sparse green spots everywhere else. We also had some uneven dips that were a pain to mow. When we came home from work the old nasty lawn had been stripped, leveled, reseeded and freshly watered. Besides the disappearance of the eyesore of the old lawn there was no other evidence that workers had been there. They left the area extremely clean. After a few weeks of watering we ended up with a lush, full green lawn. This company was really easy to work with and we will be using them again in the future.

The project went extremely well from beginning to end. The crew showed up as expected, worked until the job was completed and exceeded my expectations. They were very responsive to my follow up questions. I now have a beautifully landscaped backyard and owe it to Bob and his team. I have had many compliments from my neighbors. The price was very reasonable.