Tainter Landscape LLC

For the most it went very well.  The owner was out of town for much of the work and I had to step in several time to see that the work being done was what had been discussed.  There were a few disagreements on scope of work but for the most part what was done was done very well.

1)  Showed up on time (or called if delayed) for meetings--appraisal, work, job wrap up , etc.
2)  Submitted a detailed appraisal.
3)  I was always able to contact him with concerns or questions.
4)  Accomplished the work as contracted in the time allotted.
5)  Final bill was as expected.
6) Offered a 5 year work guarantee on the wall.
Working with Tainter landscaping was quite easy.  As always with landscaping, drainage, asthetics, etc. are considerations and they offered ideas and solutions where needed.  I obtained 3 estimates and they were in the middle of a tight grouping.  I chose Tainter landscaping based on reviews, their length of time in business, and liked the fact that they local.  I appreciated that they were willing to finish up a project that I started as I am sure that is never the preferred situation for professional contractors.  I have another project lined up for them this fall.

They were very professional, listened to our needs and helped us design the perfect outdoor space for years of enjoyment.  The workers were professional and courteous and worked hard.  We would definitely recommend them and will use their services again.

We worked with the Tainter brothers on a huge patio project. The original consultations and design stage of the project went very well. We chose a stone patio that needed to be raised several feet from the ground to deal with a sloping yard and a back door that is 4 feet off the ground. We wanted a koi pond with a waterfall built into the patio. We incorporated 2 purpolas and flower beds around the outside edges. Some of our inground sprinkler needed to be reworked to accomodate the patio. We did not haggle over money. We wanted our dream patio. We were told by Craig that we would have a meeting with Anthony to design the water feature in the near future. So the project begins. Removal of the old patio. No problem. Laying of the base. No problem. The day they were to lay the stone Craig wanted to make a change. He brought a few samples he wanted to go with. This was a little rushed and I settled for a stone I would not have chosen if I did it again. A sump pump drain pipe was discovered in our yard when the tractor cracked it. No problem, they would fix it good as new when they were finished. We apparently have a very active sump pump, and a lot of water moves through it daily. So we now have a bit of a swamp on the uphill side of a stone patio project. Great care is being given to the stone work, looks fantastic. Anthony arrives one day and begins building the koi pond. Odd, we never had our meeting with him as promised by Craig. Lots of details still to work out on this prize feature of our patio. But Anthony is not here to talk, he has 2 days he had specially planned into his week to build the pond. I intervene and call a halt to the pond construction until we can meet about design. Anthony was polite to me, but he took his frustration out on a pile of dirt until the dirt finally won. We were able to meet about the design and very glad we did, the design the brother's had in mind was not at all close to the design we wanted. I am not talking shape. It is a 5 x 8 x 4 rectangular pond. I am talking about how to incorporate the filter, waterfall, and pump. The mosquitoes are starting to get bad as the swamp is not being dealt with. The tractor path from the street to the patio is tearing up a swath of the lawn. The outside temperatures are getting to be insanely hot at 105 degree days. The lighting is put in and looks great. But communication with Craig is starting to erode. Just when it needs to be at its best getting the final touches on the work, the part everyone looks at, he is very distant. We get a terrible batch of paving bricks, they were supposed to be a tri color mix. One pallet is almost all black, a sharp contrast to the rest of the variegated pavers already in place. They work with me in ordering a replacement pallet that is truer to the intended color promised by the manufacturer. One day I asked Craig about how he chose to plant a tree, he had buried it with the burlap, wire and cording still on the rootball. I said that needed to be taken up and removed, he started to say something, then turned away talking to himself so I could hear that he has always planted them that way and no one else ever had a problem. The koi pond is finished... um.... but has no electric run to it. The flower beds are created around the outside... they put 5 inches of topsoil over clay, chat, and cement spoils from the project. The filler sand that sits between the pavers was put down, it started to rain, it was finished very quickly and looks like a job my teenage son would do. The in-ground sprinkler was moved to accomodate the patio.... 3 weeks after the project we finally discover the source of two odd wet spots... it had two leaks. The contract said they would restore our lawn... they raked and threw down some grass seed. (I had a lawn that could rival a baseball field. Now I had mud with seed.)... We tried to contact Craig to discuss these issues and to get this project finished in a way that left everyone smiling. Craig didn't show up any more. He didn't return phone calls. We left messages. He did send out his workers to address some of the issues we stated in our messages... the leaky sprinkler pipes were fixed. A cheap sod was laid in place of the seed. In the end it all came down to communication. We withheld $700 from the final payment saying we needed two issues addressed. Craig just simply never called back. We never hesitated when he came to us with price increases to adress a change we asked for. We know he was generous with his material on the beautiful stairs.  We were absolutely dumbfounded with his lack of communication on the koi pond. We have no idea how a pond that requires a pump and a filter never had electric in the cost structure. Voices were never raised. Harsh words were never spoken. We would call and say we needed to discuss the condition of the lawn or the invoice because we were confused on a few items. We simply never heard back. Very very odd ending to huge project.

We were pretty happy with the work that they did, but they didn't finish it. They started creating a gravel pit for guest parking, but they never finished filling in the gravel. I still need about 800-1,000 pounds of gravel, which I have already for as it was included in the bill. On the deck, they put-up a temporary support when building it, but they left one of those supports up. They were supposed to fix the drainage over, but there is still one small problem. They guarantee their work, but I have called them several times, and they are no longer responding to my calls. Overall, I am happy with the work that they did, but their customer service is not good.

Once the initial contact was made, it went very well. The time frame given for the project was kept. The equipment brought in tore up the yard a bit, and so it was reseeded. The yard was cleaned up, materials taken away after the project completed. The yard is beautiful. So nice, in fact, that we have asked for an estimate to finish the rest of the yard with the same retaining wall.

Once the initial contact was made, it went very well. The time frame given for the project was kept. The equipment brought in tore up the yard a bit, and so it was reseeded. The yard was cleaned up, materials taken away after the project completed. The yard is beautiful. So nice, in fact, that we have asked for an estimate to finish the rest of the yard with the same retaining wall.