Grounds One

We have a huge yard with lots of trees and the team did an excellent job clearing out our yard. Very dependable!

Great, Prompt On time.

Grounds One is the single worst contractor I have ever worked with--and that includes dozens of them. Please do not let them near your house. Long post. I hired them to:- -- clear 10 inches of sand out of my backyard -- it's one the lake, protected by a seawall, and the huge flood of 2018 had dumped a lot of sand. All that grew in there was tough nasty crab grass and other grass that looks like but isn't grab grass. -- to fill the bottom of the yard, by the seawall, with river rocks-- to clear a concrete walkway and a small paved patio --- replace the sand with soil and plant thyme across the yard, to cover it. I made it clear I wanted coverage and was happy to pay for it.  -- plant two cherry trees and two plum trees in my front yard. Again, I made it clear I wanted them to fruit this year, so happy to pay for larger trees. -- install a gate by the side of the house The Results--- they sprayed the grass with something the grass really liked! it perked right up! but they did bring a machine and ripped out the top layer, so yay! Even though it is, of course, all growing back from the roots they didn't clear. But it's meditative practice, to rip out bushels of grass each morning.  -- Then they cleared about two inches of sand, left eight of them, and added perhaps half an inch of soil. Tbf, the manager had told me they'd leave "a little bit of sand to mix with the soil, for drainage." It's a beach now. --  they planted forty thyme plants (good looking! the nursery they work with is good!), which covered about five percent of the area to be covered.-- they planted two five foot cherry trees, neither of which bloomed -- they planted one plum tree, with was full of blossoms - just lovely! but they couldn't find a pollinator for it. Lots of blossoms. No pollinator. No plums.  -- they kinda did clear the walk way, though they only got to the edge of it on one side. The other side is in the sand. But you can see it (or you could! stay posted for more). They cleared some of the patio but decided "good enough!" at some point and left the rest under (a lot of!) sand. -- they brought river rocks! but they were so tiny they would have all dropped through the drain in the seawall. Bummer!-- the brilliant solution they settled on was to install a drain cover with tiny holes. The first east wind this spring, the tiny holes clogged with algae, and my yard is now three feet under water and rising. Because the water can't drain back into the lake. When I told the manager, she insisted that I hadn't paid for the drain cover so this wasn't their responsiblity. In the meantime, every plant they planted and every plant I planted to make up for the plants they didn't plant is now underwater. But it's not their fault - because they didn't charge me for the drain cover, you see! -- they did install the gate! at first, it was too low and got stuck. But after arguing with me for a day that this wasn't true, they relented, came back, and raised it. The gate is good! In sum: my house on the lake is now my house in the lake. If the water ever drains, everything will be dead, and the walkway and the patio will be covered again in sandy sludge. Will my basement survive? Probably. The folks who waterproofed it are really good (everydry -- recommend!).  Grounds one will argue with you to the death every time you point out how they messed up--or their manager will, the crew was actually very pleasant, nice guys who were clearly under orders to do a two day job in one day. I dont' blame them. They are fully committed to the idea that the customer is always wrong and that the customer's satisfaction is of absolutely zero interest. Nothing is their fault, nothing is their responsiblity. If it were just the rudeness, ok. If it were just the incompetence, not great, but if they were at least nice about it? But surely, they're cheap, you'll say? No, they are not cheap. Not one little bit. Just all around terrible, gruesome, horrible, no bad company. Do not hire. Do not even think of calling them. Thank me later. 

Installed drip edge, replaced section of downspout, and properly pitch gutter.

The actual work went well; the workmen were prompt, neat in their work, organized, flexible in handling some of the issues and very knowledgeable. My problem is with management: no return phone calls, voice mail was full, the project estimate was missing an important item (credit applied), and finally, when asked for an additional estimate to cover painting, the operations manager and I arranged for site meeting. That was overruled by the owner; he sent a sight-unseen estimate that covered the entire house versus the specific project I had in mind.

I paid $275.00 for a Transferable Roof Warranty and never received it or got information on how to get documentation. Called numerous times got no response from Jacob.

I have no problem with the work, materials, cost and the professionalism of the repairmen. Chris, especially, headed the team and they were prompt, efficient and reliable. The workmanship and finish product met expectations. My problem was with management - Jacob in particular: didn't return calls to answer questions about service and costs relative to quote, voice mailbox was full, and when asked for a painting quote, he (Jacob) gave one without even seeing or measuring the project.

Jacob and his crew were very kind and understanding. If I had questions they were right there to answer them. After work was completed Jacob checked to make sure everything was done to my liking. Would highly recommend them and would hire them again.

We had Jacob's Ladder do 2 different jobs for us, about 4 months apart, and we were beyond pleased with their work both times. Jacob and all of the workers we dealt with were incredibly professional, prompt, knowledgeable, and professional. They worked quickly without cutting corners, and the end products were beautiful, as you can see by the pictures below. In the bathroom, they installed the barn-style wall paneling, the vintage dresser being used as a sink basin, the sink and fixture, the antique mirror, and the light fixture. In the kitchen, they installed the wooden ceiling beams, made repairs to the wall and ceiling, and painted the ceiling (The repair and paint on the ceiling might not show in the pictures as I believe I took them before that part was finished, but rest assured that they did a terrific job.). I absolutely plan on having Jacobs Ladder do more work for us because I know I can trust them to do the job right!

They showed right as scheduled, did the job quick and very professional. Replaced our leaking shower drain in our upstairs bathroom.

For any home owner a kitchen remodel is one of the toughest things to do. Jacob's Ladder was prompt every day and worked **** ** our kitchen, of course in an older house there are plenty of issues behind the walls. They took out preexisting souffets, repaired flooring with water damage by our doors, removed old cabinets, fixed drywall, took out old vinyl tile flooring, replaced flooring and cabinets, installed new appliances. Process from start to finish was approximately five weeks. I would definitely hire again for our next project.

Jacob and his guys treated me with respect, they were professional at the work they did for me. I will call him next time I need work done on my house. Very reasonable price for the work I had done.

Jacob was very knowledgeable, and made some great suggestions to my plans. His employees were also very neat and professional. I decided to make some changes along the way and Jacob was accommodating.

Excellent workmanship. Very neat. Very thorough! Attention to details.

Very well and gentleman was very polite and professional

Not so well. The crew was very nice but I had reservations about whether they knew what they were doing. They cut the tower in the middle but apparently not all the way through. As one of the two man crew pulled on the rope they attached to it, the top came swinging down like a pendulum and punched a hole in our aluminum siding. Our company contact, Mike, responded immediately. He sent a siding person over on Monday which was the next business day. This person removed the piece with the hole in it, patched the hole under the siding, and replaced the piece matching the color to our old siding. He really knew what he was doing, but when you pry up aluminum siding, it is going to show it. So the strip of siding above the repair is a little bumpy and wavy, but unless we wanted to replace the whole section of our house, it was the best we were going to get. The siding is old, we feel like we can't expect too much. They fixed it quickly and as good as could be expected. Not thrilled about the wavy area, but the problem was handled with integrity which counts for a lot. I will call Mike again when we have a project.

The work required two days. The crew was on time both days. The crew was courteous, and kept us informed on what was to happen at each step of the work. The crew cleaned up as the work progressed, there was nothing we had to do, when they left at the end of each day. One repair required removing some ceramic tile in the upstairs bathroom, the work was done and the tile reinstalled. The downstairs drywall was repaired and repainted so well, you cannot tell anything had even happened at all. The rain damage to the downstairs drywall was traced to bad caulking around a window and the window caulking was properly redone. The downstairs vanity was loose and shaking, not anymore, a like new tightness now exists. Both bathrooms had the safety rails installed, even with the ceramic tiles in the upstairs bathroom, there was no cracks in the tile and the rails are very secure and has added years to the time we will be able to stay in this house. We have used Jacob's Ladder before, this is the second time and it will not be the last time either! Excellent company, excellent people.

They were professional and got the job done in half a day.

He was very efficient, and gave me a proposal. I feel really bad because I have not gotten back with him, I intend to use him as soon as the check goes through. I had to get a lawyer and everything, the house belongs to my mom so everything is a mess. He came right away, he was very professional, and I was very pleased. Hopefully he still has time for me since it's the Summer months. It was a good experience. I think he gave me a good quote. They were having telephone problems and didn't get back to me right away. He was on time.

Customer service was honest and helpful. We are very happy with the end result.

Very well. Mike came out to see the short-notice job about as soon as he could have. I had emailed at roughly 9:30 PM and he was out before noon the very next day. I spoke with him by phone as he was walking the job and he was kind enough to remove the loose piece right away - before he knew whether he would get the repair contract. The gutters and downspouts went very well and very quickly.

The people were very courteous, and excellent with their work. The work required two days, and they were on time both days. The crew would clean up as the work progressed and kept in constant communication as to what was to happen next. The drywall repairs and wall repaint is so complete, you cannot tell anything had happened. The safety rails in both bathrooms are very secure, even with the ceramic tile walls. The eave trough repairs were through and complete. An excellent job by an excellent company, who we have used before. We have some more projects on the horizon and Jacob's Ladder will get them all.

They started one day and finished the next day. Great group of guys on the crew. Dave was an excellent supervisor and worker. Really efficient and excellent cleanup after job was completed.

I had meant to write a review shortly after the work was performed in January, but realize now I had not done that. I was in a bind when I noticed my second story gutter was coming loose and sagging. Fortunately, we had a warm spell at that time and I contacted Jacobs Ladder. Mike was very responsive in coming out, providing an acceptable quote, and getting the work done promptly. He has been very courteous and professional in all of our correspondence.

Did a great job and very satisfied with the work.