Brian Lewis Landscaping

I don’t like to write negative reviews even if I am dissatisfied with the work done, because I don't want to hurt the person’s business, but this review I feel compelled to write. I hired Brian Lewis Landscaping last May to install turf in my backyard. At first it looked beautiful, but within two days circular dead patches began appearing in the lawn. These dead patches began to grow in number. There were about eight of these patches, so I asked him to come back and look at them. He was perplexed, and didn't know the reason for the dead patches. Then whole strips of sod around the edges of the lawn began to die. He came back at my request and installed new strips of sod along the edges of my lawn and seeded parts of it. I suggested to him that the sod he was using was inferior, and he should notify the place where he got it. Perhaps he could find out the problem from them. He said the turf wasn't the problem. He wasn't going to call them, but admitted again he didn't know why these dead patches were appearing. He suggested I water them thoroughly. I did that watering my lawn practically each day. I ran up a $300 water bill. Still more patches appeared, and where he tried to repair the strips of sod by adding more dirt and seeding it, the grass failed to grow. I now have three dead strips of turf along the edges of the lawn each measuring about 20 feet long and two feet wide. I continued to water but still the sod died and the dead patches continued to grow. I counted over 25 of them. I called him back a third time ((this was in August) and left two message on his voice mail informing him of what was happening to my lawn and asking him to come over once more to inspect it. He never returned my call. The patches have grown greater and the places where he seeded never grew any grass. My lawn looks horrible. I don’t know what to do about it. He won’t help. In my opinion, the entire lawn should be replaced with quality turf. I guess I'll have to hire another contractor and spend another three or four thousand dollars for a new lawn. I also asked him for a pile of dirt which he brought over. It's the worst dirt I've ever seen. It’s full of little sticks instead of pure dirt. I even found rusty nails in it. I warn you: don't hire this guy to install a lawn. His bid was lowest I received; now I know why: he uses inferior materials and hopes to get away with it. Plain and simple, I got ripped off. The fact that he wouldn't return my phone calls or come back look at his work just tells me (and should tell you) the amount of concern he has for his customers. I saw these glowing reviews in Home Advisor and on that basis and his low bid, I hired him. What a mistake! Now I think maybe those reviews were/are fake. Maybe he wrote them. I will never hire him again and I'm thinking about going to small claims court to try to get my money back. Please see the attached photos. Caveat emptor: let the buyer beware.I don’t like to write negative reviews even if I am dissatisfied with the work done, because I don't want to hurt the person’s business, but this review I feel compelled to write. I hired Brian Lewis Landscaping last May to install turf in my backyard. At first it looked beautiful, but within two days circular dead patches began appearing in the lawn. These dead patches began to grow in number. There were about eight of these patches, so I asked him to come back and look at them. He was perplexed, and didn't know the reason for the dead patches. Then whole strips of sod around the edges of the lawn began to die. He came back at my request and installed new strips of sod along the edges of my lawn and seeded parts of it. I suggested to him that the sod he was using was inferior, and he should notify the place where he got it. Perhaps he could find out the problem from them. He said the turf wasn't the problem. He wasn't going to call them, but admitted again he didn't know why these dead patches were appearing. He suggested I water them thoroughly. I did that watering my lawn practically each day. I ran up a $300 water bill. Still more patches appeared, and where he tried to repair the strips of sod by adding more dirt and seeding it, the grass failed to grow. I now have three dead strips of turf along the edges of the lawn each measuring about 20 feet long and two feet wide. I continued to water but still the sod died and the dead patches continued to grow. I counted over 25 of them. I called him back a third time ((this was in August) and left two message on his voice mail informing him of what was happening to my lawn and asking him to come over once more to inspect it. He never returned my call. The patches have grown greater and the places where he seeded never grew any grass. My lawn looks horrible. I don’t know what to do about it. He won’t help. In my opinion, the entire lawn should be replaced with quality turf. I guess I'll have to hire another contractor and spend another three or four thousand dollars for a new lawn. I also asked him for a pile of dirt which he brought over. It's the worst dirt I've ever seen. It’s full of little sticks instead of pure dirt. I even found rusty nails in it. I warn you: don't hire this guy to install a lawn. His bid was lowest I received; now I know why: he uses inferior materials and hopes to get away with it. Plain and simple, I got ripped off. The fact that he wouldn't return my phone calls or come back look at his work just tells me (and should tell you) the amount of concern he has for his customers. I saw these glowing reviews in Home Advisor and on that basis and his low bid, I hired him. What a mistake! Now I think maybe those reviews were/are fake. Maybe he wrote them. I will never hire him again and I'm thinking about going to small claims court to try to get my money back. Please see the attached photos. Caveat emptor: let the buyer beware.