Island Associates

I was very satisfied with the quality of work, the professionalism and follow-up. One of the few contractors you can rely on and who will pick up the phone after the work was done and payment has been made.

It went really well.  They gave us a great price and did great work.

We were very excited to begin our plans with Doug, he was personable and a very good salesman. He seemed honest and despite one bad rating on Better Business, we decided to hire him. What a mistake. Our job began November of 2013. It took a  year before all issues were resolved. First, they installed the wrong color patio. I was told that, that was the color  I had picked. I knew it wasn't so I went back to the store and sure enough, I was correct. They had installed the wrong color choice. I was told that they would come first thing in the spring to replace the entire patio. After the first big rain storm we had a leak in our basement caused by the construction. That too, would be fixed when they came back in the spring. Doug had drawn up a beautiful plan for our landscaping. We agreed to the planting. When the plants were dropped off, not one was what we agreed on. All plants were returned and we were told they would plant in the spring, do the lawn, and fix the patio. Meanwhile, they used the wrong glue on the stoop so the stoop had to be redone. Well spring came, and we were not first on the list as promised. Upon removing the frame around the concrete slab for the hot tub they broke off a corner. I was not happy because it was right in the front. I was told not to worry the hot tub would cover the missing chunk. I said no, I wanted it fixed. Well, what were they supposed to do? I was told, they would have to break up the whole slab for a 4 in chunk. So Doug said that they would patch it. Needless to say, the hot tub doesn't cover it and it looks awful, also they didn't square the frame. So now the hot tub, which was delayed for months because of the masonry problems, looks crooked on the slab and the patched concrete is right in front! Finally they came in the spring. They did fix the leak and installed the correct color patio. Once again, every plant they planted was not one on the original plan except for hydrangeas. We were too exhausted to complain again and it looked nice so we didn't say anything. They put the sprinkler heads in the wrong place so several of the plantings died. The grass was planted and came up with nothing but weeds. We are still trying to get it to look right and had to hire another landscaper to fix it. The front yard was destroyed by the equipment going to the backyard, they reseeded, which also grew nothing but weeds. This summer a worker  from the company came to clean the stoop by accident. He was sent to the wrong address. We had never called to request a cleaning. He ruined the stoop with some kind of oil. Doug came and said they would replace the ruined bricks. They tried acid or some kind of cleaner and ruined a few more. We have pictures to attest to this. They came back six times now, each time something else was wrong. First, they installed bricks that had stains all over, so they installed new ones again. Then one of the bricks was dark black and the others gray. They came back and tried another brick, which was also a different color and they used the wrong glue again so it was loose. Then they came again installed a different brick, but got spots of  the white glue they chipped out, on the patio. In addition, the newest brick is higher than the others and the wrong color with striped stains going horizontally across.  We issued Dough an ultimatum. Either fix it right this last time or we will hire a new contractor and bill him. We were sick and tired of this incompetence. Doug is the nicest guy in the world. He always returns phone calls. He always comes back to fix things but they never get fixed. If you know what you are doing there shouldn't be so many problems.  Finally new bricks were dropped off. We were told to go through the bricks to make sure they were acceptable. Out of about 30 bricks we found 17 to be acceptable. Most had chunks out of the edges or big stains. We needed 18 bricks. We were hoping they could use pieces of the chipped ones for the ends. I don't know how Nicolock stays in business if so many bricks are of second quality. Maybe Doug just buys seconds and hopes for the best. The stoop was finally fixed. Thank God I was home because the worker cracked two of the base bricks and was going to leave them like that. He said he would just turn them around. I made him replace the two broken bricks. We are just sick of complaining. The stoop is not really acceptable. One brick has a small chunk out of it and two others have some kind of a smudge that doesn't come off, but we didn't say anything. They didn't put enough sand in the spaces so now there are many cracks between the bricks that are empty. We just gave up. If it's quality work you want, I think you should go elsewhere. The problem is, that Doug isn't there when the guys are working. He only comes back if there is a problem. He promises things and doesn't follow through with them until you remind him. Finally a year later everything is done and looks nice, but it was a rough year.

They were dishonest from the start.  The first day cutting trees down was done all wrong leaving damage to our property.  The first and most important step in the process was not done and we now have an unlevel, unsafe backyard.  They kept assuring us everything would work out in the end and that was not the case.  We started with a pretty level backyard. we now have a steep drop off coming off one side of our court due to the mis estimation of the grade of our property. They did not spec the property with an engineer so they could save money and the cover ups for the mistakes steamrolled out of control the entire 2 months.  In the end. we have an eysore of a yard and the costs to make it presentable are in excess of $20k.  We have cement splattered all over our house, dead plantings, we have to re-do our driveway from all of the heavy trucks that came delivering to cover up their mistakes.  They were completely unprofessional with most of their work needing to be re-done.  Even our sprinkler company had to come to repair their work.  so as far as we are concerned...they are not competent to perform any scope of the work they advertise. They were not even capable of installing the net without consulting people over the phone for 4 plus hours. 
There workers were seen urinating in our yard.  They also crashed a truck into our driveway basketball net.  All along promising that everything would be fine and we wouldnt notice what we had been complaining about all along.  We have not set foot on our court until another professional comes to do a safety review of the equipment that is there.  Their work is so sloppy!!!!  It is mind blowing how wrong this project went!