E&F Hardscaping & Landscaping Inc.

First let me say that I got 3 quotes from reputable contractors in the area. E&F came in the middle. But when Ricky came to evaluate what I wanted he seemed to be more knowledgable than the other contractors. When I started the project I had one plan in mind but Ricky and Freddy were able to accomodate weekly changes. They were able to terrace off another patio for me to use behind the original retaining wall which literally has given another 800 square feet of back yard. They literally work 12 hours a day (6 days a week). This was a HUGE project and the other contractor said it would take 2-3 months, but E&F did it in 4.5 weeks. There were no major compications other than the add-ons I requested. Their planning to accomplish this project was amazing and they were able to visualize and create it better than I imagined. There is always one supervisor on site and the crew works non-stop. My neighbors even mentioned mulitple times that they do not take breaks and are hard working. I now have one of the most beautiful back yards in Bala Cynwyd and honestly the price was worth it. Also, the sod they get is amazing...my yards look like a golf course...I have not treated my yard yet but there are still no weeds and the grass is literally the greenest I have ever seen! Like any major project you will find some minor fix-its and E&F will come out and fix it. I felt extremely comfortable that the owners are always around...they don't just hire some day crew...these guys truly know what they are doing...and the pergalo they built from scratch is absolutely gorgeous and will stand forever (it is built SOLID). This is one of the few times I would tell you to go with these guys and that there is no need for another quote. When it comes to work like this you need contractors with the experience to know how to manage the day to day process. I recommend E&F without ANY reservations!!! 

In a nutshell.....why doesn't everybody use these guys?

We came across Eand F after seeing a friend's EP Henry Patio that had been put in by them. They had raved about Eand F's prices, the quality of their work and their responsiveness toward any problems.....even after the job had been completed. Being in the market to have a new patio put in and wanting to take a different approach than our home's previous owners (whose mantra seemed to be and quot;the bigger the driveway, the betterand quot;), we had met with 4-5 other contractors to get estimates for the large scope of work that we wanted done and had been generally dissatisfied with the process: Most had extremely overblown designs, seemed overpriced, didn't have a good ability to articulate their vision or were simply and quot;salesmenand quot; who just came out to measure. Try asking a salesman technical details about the actual installation process and what they would do....you'll see what I mean. In most cases, getting estimates was a matter of and quot;we'll get back to youand quot; and then we'd either receive the estimate a couple weeks later in the mail and be unhappy with it.....or we wouldn't receive one at all.

When we called Eand F, Ricky and Freddy (the owners) came to our house within a day....at a time that worked for us (after work). They listened to what we wanted (which by that point we'd drawn on paper), made suggestions and the next morning had provided us our estimate....which was not only the best price we'd seen, but they were able to start the job right away and would be done within 2 weeks!

Through the process, we made adjustments to our plan. They rolled with change with ease and were always conscious of our budget and willing to work with us to make sure things got done the way we wanted. They helped suggest colors as well as ways to make the patio look really sharp with different colored bordering and bull-nosed steps. More than once, even when asking for a change that I knew would cause them more work/effort, they responded with the same thing: and quot;#1 thing is to make the customer happyand quot;. They even procured the wood for our pergola directly from the local lumber distributor and called me from the lumberyard so that the distributor could review the order with me and I could pay for the lumber directly. For some, this may not be a plus but for me it was great to know exactly what the lumber cost was and see that there was no and quot;mark upand quot; for Eand F over and above the cost of the installation itself, which was spelled out exactly in my estimate. Cost transparency is a great thing when working with a contractor and not something you see all the time.

Every day, Ricky arrived by 7am to start working, and throughout the day there were almost always 2-4 people onsite all the way until 5-6pm in the evening. Importantly, either Ricky or Freddy (or usually both of them) were there personally almost all the time....not only supervising, but doing the actual work. Having the owners of the business leading the effort and taking personal responsibility for delicate tasks and to do things like excavating was a real plus.

The only issue we had was that, as the job was nearing completion, a mistake was made and a tarp (covered in wood stain) was accidentally spilled on the pavers. End result: probably close to 100 pavers that were ruined! But Ricky and Freddy owned the mistake, immediately got replacement pavers and spent an extra day replacing every single paver that had even gotten a drop of stain on it. They never argued, made excuses or tried to hide it. They just fixed it....at no additional cost of course.

In the end, the job was finished on time, on budget and we had a beautiful new patio, which we've been able to enjoy throughout the entire summer, thanks to the efforts, customer-focus and can-do mentality of Eand F. They are great guys, skilled at what they do, that stand behind their work. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again if the need arose.