
JLS Land Services
About us
We are a design and build landscaping company, We treat our customers the way we want to be treated. We specialize in planting and Hardscape work. Fencing Sod installation Raised Vegetable gardens Grading and seeding We have the right kind of equipment for any landscape project large or small ... Currently specializing in evergreen screening to create a natural privacy barrier to keep your property beautiful for years to come. As land service professionals we take great pride in doing the job right the first time. We use quality materials built to last, and ensure you are happy with the product before it is even done! If you are looking for a quick job that uses cheap materials or cutting corners, then look elsewhere. With JLS Land Services, your are getting quality done right. Please feel free to contact us for more information!!! (Email: [email protected]) View Our Pictures below - all pictures are jobs done for Angie's List members! Call us at 2677845499 to see how we can transform your landscape! References available upon request. P.S. Have your pavers have settled over time? If you are thinking of replacing them, considered repairing them instead! Give us a call and we can help!
Business highlights
Services we offer
Landscape & Hardscape Design. Trees & Shrubs. Fencing. Paver Patio. Walkway. Retaining Wall. Evergreen Screening. Vegetable Gardens.
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
---|---|---|
91% | ||
2% | ||
4% | ||
0% | ||
2% |
Update 7/28: It's no longer a question of the steps looking like they're falling apart. They are crumbling and falling apart. On Monday, July 27th, it rained and my husband looked at the work and sent Amanda at Angie's List an email saying the work looked even worse after the rain. On Tuesday, July 28th, before I went to work in the morning, I looked a little closer at the steps. I found the hole on the bottom side continued to crumble and I measured it. It went from a small hole to one 2 1/2 inches in height and it's wider too. This is exactly why we needed the job done in the first place. After the hard winter, once the steps started crumbling, they kept on crumbling. I cannot overemphasize how unhappy we are with the work. We have no faith in the integrity of the concrete and believe they won't last a year. We are determined not to pay another penny for this work.
"We went out to homeowners property to install a new contrete patio and steps against an existing concrete pad. The homeowner was not satisfied with the work we did. Jls went out and reinstalled the concrete patio and steps, We made sure that the customer was completely satisfied with the work. Several days later the homeowner called again. We had explained to the homeowner that concrete takes aprox 1 month to cure and the color and texture would turn white after aprox 1 month. The homeowner was not willing to except that information and wanted results immediately. Homeowner should have done pavers or flagstone to get the finished look that homeowner wanted We informed the homeowner that the color and texture would take aprox 1 month to cure. And that the new concrete would never match the old concrete due to aging of concrete and weathered look. Homeowner then decided to cancel payment which JLS feel they are owed.\ 99.9 percent of jls custormers are completely satisfied and become repeat customers Please take the time to read our reviews from satisfied customers and you will see that jls does quality work and goes above and beyond for the customer."
Dealing with JLS Land Service's Bill Bayler was nothing short of magnificent. He was very patient with us throughout the process which did go on for some time since we were not sure about his vision and we were struggling with our own as well. Very happy that we listened to his design ideas since we could not be happier with the appearance of the new entrance. Bill was literally available by email almost immediately, sometimes well after working hours. That's what I call responsive service! I have no reservation recommending this company whatsoever. We will follow-up if we can since we are waiting for Bill to repair/replace some mushroom fixtures that were bad shortly after install (no fault of JLS Land Services; manufacturing issue with lights). We are also anxious to see how the new plantings fair the winter so that we can see how they respond if needed. Again, though, if the initial experience is any sign of how potential future experiences will go, I expect nothing short of amazing.
I can't say enough about the good experience we had with JLS Land Services. They went the extra mile and knew what they were doing and were always fair and honest. We got so much more than we expected. I have already recommended them to my Mom.
"[member name removed], Never contacted us regarding landscape and Hardscape services I believe [member name removed] has Jls confused with another company. Our proposals are very detailed and organized Please refer to our photos and reviews of our clients we have done work for"
JLS did not give the lowest price on face value, but after reviewing other costs, that would have been associated with the job from other prospective service providers, JLS provided the most value for the cost (to be clear, it was very competitive in cost, but the services, made the difference).
After much dealings with the township to gain a permit, the JLS team went to work. The owner, James was an integral part of the work being done. The work was done on time, and we are extremely pleased with the results. A couple of points, we would like to make.
- JLS (both Bill and James) - were always very responsive, to every call we had (no matter what the question was <even a couple of months after the work has been complete>). This is something that we had not previously experienced. We were extremely impressed by this.
- Both Bill and James, listened to our concerns and what we wanted. They allowed this to be a collaborative effort, and always made us feel included. Even when the job was completed, if we had additional questions, the team came out to review our concerns, and either fixed the issue, or assured us that it was okay.
- The entire team who worked on the patio, were extremely professional, took time to explain what was being done, and were always respectful of our property.
- Lastly, the work that was completed exceeded our expectations. Including a re-designing of some of the shrubbery, plants and trees. The work that was done, was excellent.
The bottom line is we have no doubt that we made the correct decision in hiring JLS, and we plan to use them for future landscaping needs, as well as other things that we may want in the future. We would highly recommend using JLS Land Services for any of patio designs and work that people may want; as well as the landscaping for the home.
We found James Schmidt (JLS) and his crew through Angie?s list. We had just become Angie members because we had requested three other estimates from non-Angie contractors and were not happy at all with their responsiveness.
When we called James for an estimate, he was back to us within the hour. I can?t remember if it was that day or the next that
he stopped by to look at our project. All I know is that he was here promptly and emailed us the estimate shortly thereafter.
We thought that his estimate was very fair for the amount of work that needed to be done. I can honestly say that every call
and email that I subsequently made to James Schmidt was responded to almost immediately.
As for the crew at JLS, they couldn?t have been nicer. We wanted our paver walkway to be somewhat ?curvy?; consequently, the guys would ask us if we approved or disapproved of the way they were anticipating laying out the pavers before they actually set the stone. It doesn?t get better than that!
Our project turned out more beautiful then we ever anticipated. We look upon James?s crew as true artists.
Upon completion of our project, which took about five days, the grounds and the driveway were cleaned beautifully.
Everyone that comes to visit us now, can?t help but to complement us on our wonderful walkway. It has given us curb appeal that we were sorely missing and as a result, we can honestly say that we think that we have the most beautiful walkway in our entire development.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, JLS Land Services.
Roz and Alan Kravitz
111 Commonwealth Dr.
Newtown, PA 18940
"Mr [member name removed] contacted us 2 years ago convening the big deal coupon. we gave him a design that best fit his house however mr butler and his wife could not come to a decision on what type of landscape project they wanted."
For some background, JLS's business model is to have Jim (subcontractor to JLS) work directly with the clients and create the proposals and supervise the overall work. At first I thought this was a creative model but in the end, I changed my opinion.
If you feel you want my ?end-recommendation" now instead of reading my entire review I will share it with you and you can stop here, ****I would NEVER use or recommend that anyone use JLS for any work, period.*****
If you would like to read the details to back up my recommendation, I have bulleted my feedback/Review to make it easier to follow and to be more concise. So here it is.
- During the contract phase of the project, they proved unable and unwilling to provide me with a detailed, line item estimate of their proposed work. Because of this, we went back and forth many times with both parties getting frustrated. My intent was to cap the overall cost and eliminate secondary priority work. Jim made it a challenge to do this by his insistence that they do not provide this to their clients. Being in the "Capital project contracting" business and previously being a General contractor, I found this to be a problem and the lazy way to conduct business. I should have known better but continued to proceed anyway.
- They arrived late to the job site the first day. The excuse was James's trailer had taillight issues.
- Although Jim stated he would be onsite for both days of the work, he told me he had to leave on the second day to take care of family issues. He left the crews to do the work without his direct supervision. And although James (the owner) was onsite he was not the individual I worked with during the planning and contracting process. So his knowledge of the scope was second hand
- and ultimately proved to be a problem.
- They rushed through the job, not planning for enough time to do the work properly. 2 days instead of 3.
- They finished the second day?s work in the dark with only the lights from my backyard house light to finish.
- As they rushed to complete, James held out his hand and wanted final payment, even though I had no ability to really check their work. I made the mistake of paying him in cash, which is what they demanded.
- The work was done shoddy when I walked the property the next day.
- Their final grading was uneven and ended up creating a water basin in an area by my house. Exactly the issue I wanted them to resolve. In the end and even today water collects and pools up in my yard.
- Even though Jim walked my property several times during the contracting phase, during the job, work they told me they couldn't fully complete the drainage gulley that went to the front of the house because of tree roots of an existing tree. So they said it needed to be removed before they could finish it. So this meant that I ended up having a half dug gulley with roots they had started to cut sticking up for almost six months looking like crap! I ultimately had the tree removed in Feb because water was pooling up and at that time I felt I had to remove it. In retrospect, I removed a 50 year old tree based on their incompetence.
- They did not come to the job site with the correct materials to connect the drain spouts and sump pump pipe to the drainage tubes. So they "jury-rigged" them and said they would come back to correct them.
- They used the cheapest drainage covers you can buy for several drain vents/holes into the drainage pipes.
- They did not put enough backfill into the drainage ditches that they dug so within weeks the soil settled and created impressions.
- Because Jim was not onsite for most of the second day as promised the work was done poorly. So trying to minimize my losses, I dangled the prospect of more work for them to get them to come back and correct their shoddy work knowing full well that I would have no recourse if they decided to just walk away.
- So for months and months we went back and forth until finally getting them to commit to a spring day in early April to come back.
- I made it clear I was taking a second day off to be home when the work was happening and that they should not be late. Of course they were late and did not show up until late morning (10:30ish). I have forgotten their excuse but I am sure it was a good one.
- They brought more topsoil in (having to go and get more because of more bad estimating and planning) and did a little better job grading the back area but not much better as conditions now are worse than before I paid them the 6K to help me resolve the issue.
- Without bringing a backhoe, (which I later realized was probably their plan for that day) they told me a tree root from the removed tree was blocking their way and they couldn't grade the trench/gulley towards the front of the house to drain the water appropriately. No offense but the tree was removed and with a chain saw I could have removed the root in 5 minutes. This even after we begged the tree service contractor to come back that day and dig the stump out even farther because of James's insistence. The fact that they didn't bring their backhoe only dawned on me after they had left. They in fact had no intention of making much effort to do the right thing. Thier excuse? It was not in their scope to remove a root. Really? You couldn't do that for a customer? A 10 minute effort? Hmmmm (okay some subjective opinion thrown in here!)
- During the second "go-round", I ended up having to explain to James the owner, what the original scope of the work was as he was placing the topsoil in a completely different location than Jim L. and I had agreed. More incompetence and lack of focus on quality. I ended up calling Jim L. on the phone after this incident and insisting that he come to the job site.
- Before the day commenced I tried to insist to Jim that he be onsite for the day. He told me he couldn't and that it was unreasonable for me to expect him to be onsite for the day. I told him that since he was not onsite as promised in the fall that he in essence owed me a day. He came in the afternoon after I caught James putting topsoil in the wrong place and I
- called him in frustration.
- During the walkthrough towards the end of the day, I asked them to sweep off excess dirt around my shed foundation perimeter because there was caked on dirt, especially on one corner. They never did this. Why, I wondered. Than after I cleaned it off after they left, the answer was apparent. They had crushed two "J" bolts I had set into the foundation to be used for the wood shed I am going to build. They had bent them over during their ?work? and instead of just telling me about them and possibly correcting the issue, they tried to hide them from me by covering them with dirt. ultimately three "J" bolts were bent by them.
- They ended up fixing the drain connections to my expectations. (positive!)
- They ended up again, not putting enough dirt over the depressions of the original drain pipe trenches they dug so there is still depressed soil long the route from my downspouts to the sidewalk popup drain. Which of course, is sunk into the grade too deep and creates a small pool of water when it rains!
- The re-grading in the back area "looked" a little better but not good enough to drain the water away, towards the front of the house
"A few points that you need to make: 1. The Member had a conceptual plan prepared by another landscape architect. On this plan, it had the tree in question as being removed in order to install the swale that was proposed. 2. The Member revised the scope significantly by removing the drainage pipes that were included in our original proposal. Had he kept with our original recommendation, he would have had a French drain going down the swale instead of relying on the surface drainage to carry the water. The net result was that the swale had to be dug twice as deep for it to effectively remove the water. We also had yard drains in the proposal which he removed due to cost. In short, our original proposal relied on piping the water out rather than surface drainage. When he made the switch, he was told that we didn't know if there was enough slope for the water to flow because we did not shoot enough grades to determine whether or not it was feasible. He still wanted to proceed with that option. 3. Unit pricing is expected for a large job. For a small 2-3 day job, it is an unreasonable expectation especially when the job has very little material involved and is mostly labor. 4. I told him that I would be on the job site on a daily basis, which I was, but I did not say that I would be part of the crew doing the work or on the job site all day long. 5. The Member expected us to show up to his home without signing our contract or giving us a deposit which are our standard operating procedures and outlined in our proposal. We finally agreed to do the work after he agreed to pay us 2/3 of the proposal in cash upon arrival and the remainder upon completion. 6. The drainage pipe used was ADS corrugated pipe which is a standard in the industry. We could have used all schedule 40 pipe, but given the budget issues we thought that it was prudent to save the money on something that will never be seen. Jim Langenstein, RLA JLS Land Services"
Licensing
State Contractor License Requirements
All statements concerning insurance, licenses, and bonds are informational only, and are self-reported. Since insurance, licenses and bonds can expire and can be cancelled, homeowners should always check such information for themselves. To find more licensing information for your state, visit our Find Licensing Requirements page.
*Contact business to see additional licenses.