RUSS BROWN EXCAVATING INC

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Overall the project went well. I saved a lot of money by going directly to Russ, rather than through a landscape company. There were bumps in the road (we exceeded the original bid), but mostly due to my inexperience with working directly with an excavation contractor. Russ is not real big on formal contracts. He likes a "gentleman's agreement" with a handshake. This made me a bit apprehensive, but I decided to go ahead after we changed his proposal to a contract. Part of the contract called for additional work on a "time and materials" basis. Now, having hindsight, I think I would have got more specifics nailed down in the contract. While I don't believe it would have made any difference in the final price, I would have felt better during the work process. I was on site for the entire project and directed Russ in all aspects of implementing the landscape design I had done prior to hiring Russ. Russ' experience and advice throughout the project was invaluable. For this project Russ used his CAT 312 Excavator (Track-hoe). Russ displayed excellent control touch using the machine placing boulders up to approximately 1400 lbs. and sculpting the soil. I worked in close proximity to Russ and his machine doing small work with a shovel and directing placement of the boulders. Russ was very thoughtful about my safety, making sure that he knew where I was before moving the machine. Russ had a second machine placed at the quarry where the boulders came from, and his son operated that machine and a dump truck to bring the materials. The availability of additional machines definitely made the project move quickly. Russ did a good job of being careful about using the machine on and around my existing landscape, concrete areas (driveway and sidewalk), and irrigation system. No damage occurred. Russ made sure the site was cleaned up to my satisfaction before he left. Russ and his son Nathan were a pleasure to work with.

Before we even bought the property, the family and the realtors who were developing the property, which are six 5 acre lots, put in a driveway and a gate. They put in the gate so they could call it a gated community, which is just a joke, because we?re out in the country with five acres of blackberries and poison oak. It?s hilarious. But Russ did all the basic work for them, and he put in our driveway. He has done a lot of work for us. The kids who work for him all get As also. I would absolutely use him again.