A Handyman & A Greenthumb

Jeff was great to work with. Had to deal with KCMO city regulations and paperwork. He was helpful and responsive to issues we had with the city. Once the work started, his team did a very good job. Was a really hot day, but they just worked without complaining. Did a great job cleaning up, and yes it was messy during the process. The lawn near the area worked is just fine. Thanks for helping us get this job done. Will use again if we need his expertise. Thanks!

We couldn't be happier with the work Jeff and his crew did this week. Our driveway and front yard are completely transformed and we love everything they did! We now have a bigger driveway with brand new concrete, a beautiful, well-designed front yard, and rerouted drain pipe. The fact that they got everything done in 3 days is amazing, and they did such a good job. They finished work this afternoon, and we've already had several neighbors stop by to tell us how much they like our new front yard. Jeff was fantastic to work with, from planning to completion. He incorporated our ideas, and added a few of his own, and the results were even better than we could have hoped for. We're excited to show off our home now and can't wait for our friends and family to see it. We look forward to working with Jeff and his crew again!

The work was excellent! I am posting pictures so the readers can see for themselves!

They are the only supplier we found that can do all of the types of work we need done. Replace concrete, install underground drainage, and landscaping. After talking with other suppliers we have decided to mud jack the sidewalk. We are having dry wells installed in the yard to handle rain from our down spouts. Therefore this job has changed and this supplier does not do mud jacking. I would not hesitate to use them for any of the added work we may have in the future. They bid competitively and seemed to have a good work ethic when returning calls and evaluating our work.

Being good comes at a cost. Due to wet weather in the spring and their excellent reviews I waited 3 months to get them out to my place. Glad I waited. They worked their tail ends off and got a big project done in 2 and half days. Very nice people and quality work. Jeff and his gang know what they are doing Very satisfied with the end results.

It went really well. The crew was on time and very thorough.The wall was built to our specifications - color and dimensions. When they were finished, they made sure we were satisfied with the work. We would hire them again and recommend to our friends.

Went great! Very fast. Jeff and crew arrived in the morning and completed the work in about 5 hours. They have equipment to move all the rock to the backyard without damaging the lawn. My husband had constructed the patio and the brick work around the edges at at the steps was starting to pull apart and slope. The crew pulled it up, brick by brick, and added material to bring it back up to level again. Looks wonderful! We asked for a bid on a terracing project for later. Absolutely recommend this guy!

I found Jeff on Angie's List and contacted him at the end of May 2013 right after some storms came through and told him we needed some downed limbs removed from our tree as well as tree trimming and new landscaping. Jeff was quick to respond and told me upfront that he and his crew were quite busy and wouldn't be able to get to me right away. I told him I would rather wait for him since he had such great reviews on Angie's List. He sent me an estimate and a drawing of the new landscaping in June and was able to complete the work towards the end of July. I was not able to be home while they did the work, but I can't even tell anyone was there other than the completely new landscaping. The yard was left in immaculate shape. I am so glad I decided to wait for him! My landscaping looks great and I am very pleased with the work! I will use Jeff again in the future and I highly recommend him.

The crew showed up when they said they would, they were very professional and courteous and explained what they were going to do before getting started ... cleaned up everything when they were done and did a great job

If you are looking for a company that pays attention to detail, is well versed in intricate and precise projects, can read and follow a plan, has the proper tools for the job, has an artistic eye, and is well acquainted with construction materials, you may want to look elsewhere. Given a simple project, this company will do fine. But, given anything more challenging, it falls short. I designed and put on paper a precise plan for a backyard deck, patio, and retaining wall with fire pit combination. It was designed to take advantage of the lines of the house with the deck leading onto the patio leading out to the fire pit surrounded by a short in height concentric retaining wall. Before the ground was broken, I presented this plan to the owner of the company who assured me it would not be a problem to complete as designed. (I blame myself for not catching a "red flag" at this point. During the review of the plan I had a copy of a deck building magazine on the table which I had used as a reference while designing the project. The company owner picked it up and began to read through it. He made comment that the magazine had some good stuff in it. I asked him if he subscribed to it. He said no, but had seen it before and had always meant to get a copy.) With the exception of the front yard retaining wall, little the company did fulfilled my expectations. Here are some the issues with which I had to contend: 1) Building the project from the outside in when it should have been built from the inside out. In other words, the deck should have been built first followed by the patio followed by the fire pit, not the other way around as it was. 2) Lack of a laser to lay in the project with accuracy. This, coupled with the above, presented all kinds of problems as the project progressed. When I asked the owner if he had a laser, his response was that he never needed one before. I suggested he invest in one for future projects. 3) Inability to follow the designed plan. On several occasions the owner asked me how something was to be done. My response was always, what does the plan show? Not once during the course of construction did he refer to the plan. 4) Lack of knowledge on construction material. I wanted the deck to be built out of 5/4" decking boards. The owner admitted to me he had never built a deck using these boards. The end result was a disaster. Neither the owner or anyone on his crew knew how to properly install this kind of decking. In the end, I wanted him to tear it all up and do it again. Though he did tear it up, his comment to me was that he doubted I would ever be satisfied with the job he did and suggested that he purchase new decking and that I install it myself. I agreed to this and subsequently did so after having to adjust and shim much of the decking joists which were initially installed poorly. However, I was never compensated for the time I spent on the installation. Moreover, whilst he expected payment within the hour of completing the project, I had to wait over a month to be reimbursed for the decking. 5) Lack of attention to detail. Much could be noted here from the lack of parallel lines between the deck and the retaining wall to the joist construction to the overall symmetry of the project. But, one thing stands out in particular which pretty much tells the story. Of the six deck posts used to connect the railings, I had to cut down three of them to get an even height. I simply couldn't believe that among the six posts used, there were four different sizes. 6) No artistic eye. More than once during the construction of both the front and back retaining walls I had to point out that the colors of the stone used (there were two colors) should be randomly installed. Those building the walls simply took the next available stone with no regard to how it looked aesthetically. 7) Lack of focus. Throughout the construction of this project, most of which I heard from the owner was how he needed to get this job done because he had to do another one next week or go on vacation. The impression I got was that his customers were just stepping stones to the next paycheck, and any true concern or appreciation for the task at hand was unaffordable. As a testimonial to the quality of worked performed by this company, I subsequently hired another person to help me install a concentric retaining wall around the fire pit wall. The person I hired was an experienced landscaper who knew the company owner very well. One day as I was walking out of the house I saw the man I had hired just standing there looking back at the project. I asked him what was he contemplating. He said, I'm trying to find a straight line and/or a parallel set of lines to use as a benchmark to build the new wall. I laughed, and said there are none. It really wasn't funny. As an owner of a small home automation company for 16 years who routinely dealt with customers in the residential building industry, I can tell you that had I done work of this poor quality I would not have been in business very long. Bottom line, if you are looking for a simple project, this company will probably do fine. But, if your project is of a more intricate, complicated, and artistic nature, look elsewhere.

We found him on Angie’s list. They were very professional and quick. They got things done and cleaned up afterwards. It was an excellent experience and it went well.

FABULOUS!! Jeff and his crew were awesome -- like watching a well-oiled machine. They arrived and got to work immediately. It appeared as if they preplanned every detail. Each got right to work on a specific job, worked focused and hard and it all came together beautifully upon completion. Now I'm thinking about what projects I can get them to do next!! THANKS JEFF and CREW!!!

I had spoken with 3 different companies to get bids for the above work. Jeff was not the lowest bid, but when I met with him, he seemed to want to make me happy with what I wanted done. He made some suggestions to my ideas that really worked out great. He and his crew were on time, actually was able to start 1/2 day ahead of when he had scheduled. The crew worked hard and did not waste time. Jeff asked me to come out and take a look a couple of times just to make sure we were still on the same page . Overall I am very happy with the work performed. All of the crew were very professional. Finished job was to the penny of the quote he had given me. I highly recommend Jeff and his crew.

We had used Jeff in the past for two other decorative patios so we knew A Handyman and a Greenthumb was the company we wanted to use. Jeff and his crew are the best! Great work ethic and attention to details. They are polite and respectful of our property. They always leave the work area clean. Jeff and his crew are hard workers!

How did it go... we were VERY, VERY disappointed! We've been trying to email him to resolve and have closure on our project and he is not responding to our email. We saved hard and spent a lot of money for our dream backyard and put our trust into Jeff Watkins. However, MANY things we discussed were not done to our satisfaction. In fact, he contacted us before the project was complete and said he would not be coming back to finish his work. He said the reason he was quitting was because at this point in the season, seed would not work and it would keep running off. Jeff said, sod is the best option and he would give us a refund on the seed and curlex BUT we would have to find someone else to lay the sod for us. He was too busy and had other customers. We first met with Jeff Watkins in the fall of 2012 to discuss our lawn project. We discussed our expectations and agreed that we would be first on his list in the Spring of 2013. In addition, he mentioned that he worked in tandem with another company called The Perfect Turf and recommended we contact them to bid the irrigation portion of our project. (He also mentioned that they would/could work closely together and communicate consistently to ensure a timely completion of our project) The first portion of the job got started on April 29th. NOTE: The final seeding and re-grading of the lawn would have to take place after the irrigation system was installed. On May 4th we contacted Jeff Watkins, after a rain, about our concerns with the work he had performed: 1. There was a drainage issue (low spot) created due to his "grading" work. 2. There was too much dirt on the West side of the out-building (this would cause water to breach a wall and flood our building) 3. The trees were manhandled, leaning and had many broken branches. (we were told he had and would use a claw for tree installation-we NEVER saw the claw) One tree wasn't even covered with topsoil and mulch. 4. The hardscaping was uneven and loose (making it a hazard). 5. The north edge of the flag stone patio was not finished off as promised. 6. The deck they build is an atrocity (nothing is cut straight and they cut into the side of the out-building to make the deck "fit" the space. In addition and most importantly the deck frame is resting directly on the ground and not in any type of concrete deck block. 7. Some of the plants we asked to be transplanted died because his crew left them out in the hot sun and did not replant them until 1-3 days later. (He never volunteered to replace those plants) 8. He had not been in touch with the irrigation company to coordinate the remainder of the project. 9. He tore up a portion of our NEW chain link fence with his bulldozer on the East side of our property as well as bending one of the posts so our fence is no longer a straight line. (he never said anything and we didn't notice it until after they left) 10. He left leaky hydraulic equipment on our NEW driveway. 11. He didn't fix the ruts left in our yard by multiple large dump trucks carrying dirt. (he said, "it will bounce back") Prior to the project start, he said he would repair any areas that were driven on by large equipment. He agreed to come back out and straighten the trees, he agreed to fix the rock wall and he did agree to finish the patio edge. ? He did not want to re-grade the dirt on the West side of our out-building (despite seeing numerous videos and photographs of the water we get from that direction) ? He adamantly refused to correct the low spot drainage issue as we asked. [We asked for a flat bottom ditch to help direct water away from the building-A family member who is an engineer suggested the flat bottom ditch to correct our issue.] ---Jeff Watkins suggested INSTEAD that he would install two catch basins to catch the water and move it away. Jeff Watkins came back out on May 24th to install the two catch basins and assured us they would correct the problem. On Sunday, May 26th we had a downpour and within minutes all the prior grading work that Jeff Watkins did came rolling right toward the newly installed catch basins. In minutes the catch basins and the drain tube became overwhelmed, filled up with mud and the water/mud began rushing over the basins and right toward the building. The topsoil we paid for was now at the bottom of the hill, completely burying the newly installed hardscaping, stepping stones and covering the mulch. Our yard is on a steep slope that Jeff had just graded. However, he did not install any preventative measures like silt fence or straw wattle to prevent soil washout and mud from immediately filling the catch basins. (see pictures) When we called him to inform him as to what had happened and asked why he had not taken any preventative measures... we were told "you didn't tell me to install any preventative measures." and I can't be blamed for an "act of God" i.e. rain. In essence we paid for grading work, we paid for new topsoil, we paid for hardscaping, the labor to install the catch basins and all the above and it all washed down hill, filled the basins and the basin pipe, water was backing up next to the building and everything was ruined. (the new hardscaping is buried under mud.) Jeff's response was: "I can't keep coming out. I am done. I have other jobs to do." He said, "he didn't need to come out to inspect what had occurred because he can't control an Act of God." We thought professional landscapers knew how to control erosion. We were waiting on his recommended irrigation company so you would think he would have thought to protect and preserve his work while waiting for the other company to do their part. He was still supposed to come out and seed, fertilize and smooth out the terrain after the irrigation install. He left us in a bad situation. He quit! He said we would have to find someone else to finish the job. He couldn't keep waiting on the irrigation company (the company he recommended). We have no issue with the irrigation company, we do understand weather has been an issue in slowing them down but Jeff had no patience and quit. Jeff did refund monies for the seed, fertilizer and curlex. We asked for a refund on the catch basin install because it doesn't work. (see pictures) He refused. We feel we are owed more than just a refund on the catch basin as we are now having to hire another company to uncover and redo his work. We are seeking $2,500 to cover at least the Sod and refund on the catch basin. We are still out more money because he did not complete his work and now we are forced to hire someone else to redo his error. Jeff is good if you have a simple, small easy project. If your project is creative and complex or you have a large area that you are trying to tie together cohesively CHOOSE ANOTHER COMPANY. He is NOT detail oriented. He did not meet our expectations and said we were difficult and he grew angry and unprofessional.

We have nothing but positive things to say about this company and the young man who owns it. Jeff and his crew were prompt, hard working and easy to have around. Jeff is a great communicator and we always knew what to expect and when it was going to happen!!! We are very pleased with all of the projects and will definitely use them again. Thank you Angie's list for making so easy for us to find Jeff!!

I had an absolutely positive experience with A Handyman & A Greenthumb. They came out, they worked out hard. They were a group of young guys who worked hard. They just worked until they got it done. They were easy to work with and did a good job!

Great job. I highly recommend this company.

Now that our kids are grown, we decided to replace their old sand playground with a nice flagstone patio and retaining wall. Jeff was recommended by the stone company. We pursued it early since Jeff's team gets busy quickly. Due to the weather, we had trouble getting the stone from the supplier. Once it arrived however, they were here on the first day possible. They had to tear out the old wall made with railroad ties, and lots of sand. We live in midtown Kansas City so everything was tight, but they managed to do it with minimal disruption to the landscaping. We also asked them to redo a brick walk that had uneven settling and was tripping our 18 month old granddaughter. They had everything done in a day and a half and it looks great. I had fun watching them work so well together. It should be a fun summer!

Jeff is very nice to work with. He came to bid after I got home from work and was very pleasant. A couple of days later, I came home and everything on my list was completed. The trellis are beautiful. Jeff did a great job and the container gardens are ready to fill. I'm already starting a new list of items to do.

The experience was excellent. Although this was a small job for this company, I was very impressed with Jeff's communication with me right from the start. I gave him my phone number and email for a bid. I was not in huge hurry but he notified me that the bid would be forthcoming on a certain day which was OK and he did in fact followup with the bid by email. He continued to communicate with me by email and phone until we had a mutually agreeable time and arrangement for the work. He even offered to come when I wasn't home and I could pay him after I saw the work. This was not necessary though because he came on my day off. The price he charged was very reasonable I thought for the amount of plants we wanted trimmed. Jeff was professional upon introduction and asked if I wanted to check everything out before they cleaned up. He seemed very knowledgeable about the plants and how to trim them ( plants were not in full bloom). The house landscape looked great when he left. I would definitedly use him again for this or other projects as he offers a variety of services.

From start to finish, Jeff was prompt, professional and reliable. His job estimate was reasonable and he was spot on with the timing to complete our concrete work. Our yard and street were cleaned up after each day of work. We would certainly hire Jeff again and highly recommend his services!

Emailed Jeff in Feb to come out to give an estimate on the above items. Showed up, listened to what we were looking for, measured said he would follow up with an estimate. The only unknown was the pool was covered so he couldn't see what exactly was needed for the pool coping so we agreed that to be billed on a per hour basis. For the planting beds he showed me a picture of the suggested stone (to match some existing work) and then emailed me the picture to ensure we liked it. Jeff's estimate was great because he broke the items down individually so we could decide what we could afford to do. Because I didn't want to do the work prior to uncovering the pool he agreed to do the work towards the end of March or first of April based on the weather. Jeff emailed us a week in advance to work out a date to start the job. He showed up exactly when he said he would. Before he started we walked through each of the areas to be worked to make sure we were on the same page. In the back I asked for some additional stone & he added it for a very reasonable price. For the sidewalk my wife and I were able to see the new design prior to him pouring the concrete to double check he had it the way we wanted. The stone he showed me worked perfectly for what we needed. When he finished the next afternoon we walked through the job again to make sure my wife & I were happy - which we very much were. The cost for the pool coping repairs was very fair. Before Jeff & his crew left they did an excellent job cleaning up - including the street where they had the dirt for the planting beds delivered. Overall this company deserves an A. We were very happy with every step - from the initial meeting to the time we settled up the account.

Was very please with the excellent service and professionalism of Jeff and his crew. It took them no time to perform the work and they then cleaned up all the trimmings and branches and hauled it away and tidied up the yard. All we have to do now is throw down some grass seed. What a relief. The bushes were well over 12' tall and his crew cut them in half. There was no way we could have done this job efficiently and timely. Will definitely use this company again!

Excellent. work .Much better than I had hoped. Work done good. fast. and my wife likes it . They will be doing more for me.