Perfect Ponds & Lawns

Not well. We paid $2000 and they basically disappeared. Many calls and emails were unanswered. I assume they are out of business and long gone, like our money.

I hope this review finds you before contracting with this company.  This was by far the most stressful situation a contractor has put us in.  Very unprofessional to say the least and I still can't believe how this impacted us.  I will never trust another contractor again and have joined Angie's List because of this company.  The countless lies, deceit, wasted days, stress, etc....I could go on and on.  I've wasted enough time and energy to do so and this is exactly what he hopes he accomplishes with all of his clients.  He will wear you down and be relentless in continuing his web of madness.

It's very unfortunate for anyone to have to deal with a company like this when they are working on a happy place for the home.  Find someone else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When they started the project, the concrete which was already cracked, seemed to be coming up pretty well.  When that was removed, they found a lot more gravel under the concrete than they anticipated so it was an additional time and expense to remove that.  The garage sill had to be repoured and they began installing the correct type of gravel and pounding down the base.  Being  April, it rained a lot in there and it slowed the progress as you can imagine.  Can't do much about the weather.  I also had some blocks on my garage foundation that were loose so they refilled the mortar to stabilize the foundation. This is when we found that the gutter drain pipes were broken and clogged.  They installed new piping and we cleaned out the remaining pipes before installing the pavers.  By having the "O" in the middle, it made for a lot more cuts and took some additional time but it was worth it.  They sealed the driveway and finally they installed the sod around the edges.  Along the way Jake had to deal with a major personal issue but handled it very well.  Jake and his crew did a very good job and handled all the little things that came up very professionally.  I don't know of any other contractor who would have worked with me the way they did.  In my opinion, they provided me with a great finished product and I would use them in the future.

I had used Jake in the past for some other work (ponds / indoor stone work). In the past my husband  and I had some issues with Jake  and I was able to express my concern / disappointment to him but was willing to give him another chance.  
In sum, I think we have spent 50K plus with him and I have to say, this last job was the straw that broke the camel's back.  It was a disaster from day 1.  My husband and I paid him for everything he quoted... but 'be aware'... he will quote you work and say he will be firm on price, and he will collect everything he quoted, but will not complete all the work.  He will collect 'draws' and then you won't see him for days upon days...... and he will make excuses (including lies) that get very old.  I tried as hard as I could to be patient with him and sympathsize but he continued to string us along by making up stories, excuses, etc as to why he couldn't be here.   I had many witnesses laugh at his one worker that spent more time on the phone texting then working.... I told Jake about it as there were times Jake wasn't present, and he seemed like he really didn't care what I thought and seemed a bit offended that I dare critque his worker.  And, I really dont think he cared as Jake would work by this guys side while he would sit on the stone ledge texting or doing whatever.  I am certain that Jake, on this last job, was over on his labor BUT he had workers that would do little of nothing when they were here.  They would maybe, just maybe work hard a couple hours of the 5-6 they would spend at the job.  It simply amazed me.  
Jake eventually stuck me with having to pay out of pocket for additional for stone (decorative stone) that was included in the project and left many items un-done as he ran out of money.  He will tell you...." I need to take an additional draw in order to........" so, you have to pay him to keep him moving, however, the labor draw isn't relevant to the % completions of the work. So, he will get to the end and have no funds left to complete the work.  So, you won't see him for days (I think he goes to other jobs to get their downpayments, etc. in order to move forward on the job he is on).  He will take initial payments toward material and won't buy the material... he will fool around and not show up.... will work a little bit and then ask for labor draws prematurely.  I think in our case, he flat ran out of money to buy my material and bailed on me because he messed around too much all summer.
He told me this would be a 6 week project that turned into a project that lasted from AUG until DEC.  In fact the project too so long due to Jake fooling around and not showing  that the granite people  had to place the granite, that I purchased separate, on my grill when the snow was flying!  It was absolutely ridiculous.  In fact, Jake had limestone quoted 'as included" and even failed to provide me a credit because he didn't use that material (of which I paid for).
Be aware of Jake, he is a smooth talker and he doesn't like it if you have a difference of opinion on something he has done, etc.  For example.... he was placing real stone on my fireplace like  three inches apart (I think because he wanted to save money by buying less stone so he can put the difference back into his pocket for labor) and there was a huge mortor gap... it looked insane!  I told him about it and I mind as well have been the devil.  It was sloppy and he simply didn't want to take them time to cut the stone to make it look nice. Again.... he already was tapped out on his labor costs (due to the fooling around for months) and then when it came down to getting the job complete.... he was always full of excuses.  If he would respond to this, he will likely claim that I changed the scope..... believe me when I tell you.... I went over every aspect of this job and nothing, I mean nothing was changed on my part. The only time I called him out as it relates to scope was when he tried to slap on stone without even trying, I insisted that he do a better job.... I will attach a picture.  He moved a few stones, but he certainly didn't do me any favors.
On the final day Jake was here, he left about 3 ton of stone in my driveway (this was the end of Nov).... and I had a memorial service planned as I lost my father to brain cancer during this time,  and we had to hand move all of it out of my drive so people could park.  I confronted him about it and asked if he planned on cleaning up / moving it.... he said he would..... and I never heard back from him again.
He is a swindler, he will overpromise and WAY underdeliver.  He became recently divorced and I can certainly see the the attitude shift since.  He seemed to have a compassion for what he did in the past, and while we had some problems prior to this job, overall the work he did was ok.  But, this job was my worst nightmare and I would never ever re-hire him.
He left many items undone and I still don't have a working outdoor fireplace.  I have to hire someone else to finish it all up and my husband has spent a ton of time cleaning up his half-done work.
I can't begin to describe all the issues that I had in this brief review but if it were me, I would look to someone else to do your job.  He may seem cheaper in the beginning, but he won't either complete everything or will ask for more money or have you start paying for material as he has run out of the money you have already paid him.  He will have to move onto to the next job in order to pay his people as he will be out of money. He will make excuses why he isn't there. That will be the routine.  Be aware of his discounts, etc... they are his way of getting money up front because he is in the whole from prior job.....  Avoid yourself the heartache and the stress of working with him and look for someone else.

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The job, for the most part, went pretty well.  We did have some issues along the way but I think Jake handled them as best as he could given the situations.  While I realize most construction jobs never go perfectly due to weather, supplies, and other things, I think Jake did what was necessary to make my wife and I happy with the end result.  Overall we are very happy with the pond and I would recommend Jake and Perfect Ponds to others.

The two men Aaron and Paul who came out to do the work were very polite and hardworking men.  They emptied the pond, checked the liner, and the surrounding ground for leaks and did not find any.  They cleaned the pond and filled it.  The pond is no longer leaking.  Jake knows ponds  and is not just a guy looking for work in a bad economy.  I will definitely hire again in the future.

They did a fine job with the work.  The pump install wasn't ideal (the pipe was exposed above the water level when it should've been below, etc), but the pond was cleaned as expected.  The trouble, as my "grade" indicates, was with the company's responsiveness.  We were on a tight time schedule (putting the house on the market) and I was grateful that Jake had time in his schedule to come out and give us an estimate and was going to be able to get the work done quickly.  Unfortunately, he missed the estimate appointment.  He had it written down on the wrong day.  That was frustrating when I was waiting in an empty house on a morning I took off work, but it happens & it's forgivable.  Jake was courteous and professional when he did arrive.  He said the estimate would be emailed that evening, but when it didn't arrive for a few days I emailed him and he then got me the estimate.  Again, forgivable, but added to the missed appointment, I almost didn't use them.  I needed the work done quickly and without a hassle.  At the estimate he'd said they could get the work done before the weekend, but then weren't able to schedule it until a few days later (because, I think, he hadn't accounted for giving the pump time to arrive).  Eventually, he did send his team (two guys who did the work while I wasn't there) & they did a fine job.
I've found that "pond guys" tend to have a very relaxed attitude toward the business side of their businesses.  Jake did not prove me wrong.  In the end, they did a fine job with a task that I didn't want to do myself.   I'm happy with the work.  But if we weren't selling the house, I might keep searching for the perfect pond person -- or I might just make sure I wasn't in a rush to get things done.

The owner of Perfect Ponds & Lawns was very friendly, that I did like about him. He seemed to be pretty down-to-earth, so I thought that it was one of the things that attracted us to use him. Then on his website he had some designs that we really liked so that was another thing. The work he did was great but what I didn't like is that we had to pay a percentage upfront. Then when he was going to do some additional items, we had to cover all of that cost and it just always seemed like it was all about the money. I just felt that it was constantly all about the money. I would not use the service again.

They did an excellent job of cleaning out the upper levels of the pond. They did not do a great job of cleaning out the bottom level. They were very friendly. We had them come again last fall and they completely redid the pond. They did a really good job. Their professionalism is the only problem. They do not come when they said they will and they do not return calls in a timely manner.

They destroyed the old one that we attempted to put up. They hauled away the pile of rubble that was “supposed” to be a waterfall. They were on time, they were beyond courteous and helpful and quick. They did it in two days; they had it up in time for Mother’s day. The gates were kept closed; there were no cigarette butts on the ground. They let us know what they were doing. Jake talked to us several times before he got started so we knew what he was doing. I was very, very pleased.

We had serveral companies mis-diagnose the root cause to our pond leak but this company found the problem quickly.  They were polite and professional at all times.

I have hired this company many times over the past 6 years and will continue to do so...they do great work for a fair price and will always meet or exceed my expectations.

Jake and his employees are very professional.  The timing is hard sometimes due to weather variations but he has good communication skills and truly tries hard. His plans are well thought out and flexible.  He really has a great eye for design and executes it flawlessly. He is honest, hard working, and it is a true pleasure to work with him.  We cannot recommend him highly enough!!

They are very responsive and do good work.

I would recommend them because of their price, their design, and the fact that they were easy to work with. It was good quality work. I plan on using them again.

Jake was very late to get started, worked sporadically, and took much longer than promised to complete the work. In the end, the lawn was seeded much later than planned and missed the peak seeding season by a month or so. As a result, it didn't "take" that well, but when asked about it, Jake offered to over-seed for an additional charge. Jake also was not proactive with communicating to us his schedule, so we felt like we had to keep asking him when he would be doing the work. If he's going to be late and get behind schedule with other jobs, at least he should let us know so we weren't left guessing when he was going to get to us. Overall, we were frustrated in working with Jake, and do not plan to use his services again.

He was really good because we had given him a drop-dead date of when all the people were going to be here and what needed to be done. He made it happen. Jake is the principal and he really listens and he is very collaborative. He is really, really good on collaborating when he talk about what we needed. His prices are very reasonable. The only real problem is that he tends to be overly optimistic about the timing of what he can deliver and when so that can be an issue. We have worked with him twice and the second time he totally executed. He knew when the party was and he moved heaven and earth to get his people in. When they came in it was like moving Richmond; they knocked it out and got it all done. He was very professional which is not something to be taken for granted when working with the trades. He was a very nice guy and runs a tight ship. My daughter was around and they didn’t use any colorful language. He backs his work and he knows us and knows what needs to be done because we have worked with him.

When we met with Jake about cleaning out the yard, I liked the approach that he took; good old fashioned hard work. Our beds were majorly overgrown, and another company wanted to douse it all with weed killer. Jake didn't like that approach because it wasn't healthy for our dogs or for us and our future vegetable garden. Our project was able to be worked in while Jake was on vacation. He sent a crew of two other men. They worked hard, even in the rain, and got the job done in just a couple days. The first load of mulch wasn't big enough to cover both the back and front beds so another load was brought at no charge. When that wasn't quite enough, Jake again brought more without any charge to us. He met with us after the job was completed to make sure that we were completely happy.

Wow! That was our reaction and the reaction of everyone who has seen and enjoyed the patio. Jake and his crew are true craftsman and care about every detail. They take their time and get the job done to perfection. They are agile enough to deal with unforeseen issues as well as the changing whims of their customer. You simply won't find anyone better.

Superior work and let me put it this way: As this vendor knows, I can be very picky about vendor professionalism, punctuality and certainly work quality. Jake and his crew continue to meet and often exceed my expectations as he has done for the 5 years he has provided services to my home.

Our experience has been very good. Jake does everything himself and we have been very pleased with his work so far.

Our pond is at least 20 years old, and had never been professionally serviced or maintained. Jake got back to me very quickly after I first contacted him. He came out a day or two later to take a look at the pond, then submitted three alternative plans to renovate it, starting with a simple cleaning, progressing through the addition of a new pump and filter system, and ending with a complete job including landscaping. We chose the middle option. The first date set for the work had to be cancelled because of the weather, but Jake and the crew arrived on the next date and completed the work in about 6 hours. They put the goldfish in a large tank while they drained the pond, and were pretty careful not to step on the perennials that were just emerging from the ground. It was a very messy job since the pond had never been drained before and was very dirty. Jake came back a few weeks later to plant some of our water lilies, adding one of his own that he brought with him. The pond is completely transformed--clear water, happy fish and plants that we can actually see, and a new pump and filter that do a much more efficient job and are much easier for us to care for.

It went very well. They were a week late in starting, but the called to apologize for this. They did the work exactly as promised and in the time promised. We went along with all of Jake's suggestions and we were very happy that we did so. The walkway is beautiful.

Jake and his crew did a great job, as always.