Outdoor Escapes

They did an excellent job on our paver patio and stone wall. I’d recommend them to anyone.

Great! These guys work hard and smart.

Great! These guys work hard and smart. Good company to work with.

The project went as planned.   At the time of first visit, provider took notes on what we wanted done, our tastes, etc.  He then took specific measurements.   Within a few weeks, we had a detailed estimate along with drawings of the final plan.   While sometimes difficult to reach (we were working with him in the spring, their busiest time), they called back and spent time answering our questiions.   Once we chose to go with them, we were given a tentative start date.   The communication around the changes to the start date could have been a little better but the summer of 2015 was very wet, creating delays.  Our project was pushed back by a week, which wasn't bad considering the weather.   The work was performed to what was drawn and discussed.    The project went fairly quickly, with one day tearing out old landscaping and building a block retaining wall around a sprinkler pump.   Once that had time to set up, the crew returned and the project was complete in two days.   They did an excellent job of cleaning up the work site and did much less damage to the existing yard than I expected.  It will need minor overseeding in the fall but no issues with ruts, ripped up sod, mud, etc. which was an accomplishment with how wet it was.   Very pleased and we have received a lot of compliments from neighbors.

I needed landscaping and reseeding to repair damage done when my sewer had been dug up on the front lawn. I noticed a landscape design in my neighborhood that I liked and found out from the neighbor that the work had been done by Outdoor Escapes. It did take a while to get in touch with Matt and to get a contract and date nailed down, but I attribute that to being in the middle of the busy season. When the work did not get started when Matt had originally told me, I just had to stay diligent in trying to contact him by phone and email and some of the delay was due to rain delaying other jobs. I was very happy with the ledge rock work that was done. I could tell there was some real skill involved in cutting and designing the ledge. However, when the plants began to go in, it was not what I had understood it would look like when I had viewed the design emailed me by Matt. I was assuming the design was similar to what I had seen at the neighbors. However, what Matt had labeled as and quot;Blue Spruceand quot; on the design actually were dwarf Blue Spruce and very small, and the entrance area to the house looked very bare. I asked if they could add some additional plants to this area, but I made the mistake of paying in advance, and the plants they delivered the following week were half the size of the original plants, but I was charged the same price. Also 3 of the Gold Mop Cypress plants were damaged and wilting--and still are. I pointed this out to Matt and he said that all plants at this time of year were damaged. However, I told him that the fourth Cypress was very healthy and perky--so I had the comparison. I also asked about the fact that the price on these plants was $38 and that he had charged me $60. He ignored both of these questions. I asked him if he would come by and look at the plants and compare the healthy one with the three damaged ones. He never indicated to me that he would come by or did come by. I had asked at the beginning of the job if there would be a problem getting quality plants in the fall and if it would be better to wait until spring to do some of the planting. I would have rather waited until spring and gotten better quality plants. I felt like they just wanted to get the job done as quickly as possible, and that once the job was underway, I had no say or recourse about anything. The reseeding that was done was sporadic and bare in places, and I got my own seed and supplemented in the bare spots. When I tried to ask questions or bring up things that I thought were different than my original understanding, I felt there was defensiveness and so I just dropped the issues. I did email one last time and mentioned I was asking the questions so I could be fair in my review.
Overall, the work was done well. I was just disappointed in the quality of some of the plants and the design at the entrance of the home. I would also like to see improvement in communication when I had complaints. I almost felt like I was penalized because I paid promptly and that once my payment was received, they felt their responsibility to me was over. If I had it to do over, I would have them do the ledge rock and layout and I would pick out and plant the smaller plants myself.

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After obtaining several quotes for the project we ultimately decided to use Outdoor Escapes for our projects.  Many of the other contractors were focused on just the patio with no landscaping or lavish landscaping with minimal patio features.  Matt listened to what we wanted and brought us a design that we loved that was also well within our budget. He willingly took us to see work he has done in the area and walked us through the project. The patio was installed in just over a month and without issue. His crew was polite and professional throughout the process.  
We are currently using Outdoor Escapes as our lawn service for shrub trimming, mulching and weekly lawn mowing. He also takes care of our snow removal in the winter. Matt is always quick to respond to any requests or concerns when he is contacted.

From start to finish - 5 STAR "+". I have more work to be done with my yard, and OUTDOOR ESCAPES is the only contractor I will contact to do this work.

My experience with OUTDOOR ESCAPES, from beginning to end, was nothing less than OUTSTANDING! They built the FANTASTIC paver patio and finish landscaping we contracted them for. In addition, and at little to no cost to me, went about adjusting aspects of my backyard so as to make it more balanced. Professional (always), punctual (always), well dressed and polite (always). So pleased are we with OUTDOOR ESCAPES that we will be calling ONLY them to complete all of the remaining landscaping, paver walkway and and retaining walls we need done.