J D Landscaping

Job went well and price was very reasonable

The service was perfect, he really did a good job, and he would be coming back to do some more job.

Excellent job, good price.

No response.

All done while I was at work. Completed job, site cleaned, very happy with work.

They are done and it worked out great. Very pleased with the results

Fantastic- It is a pleasure to have John and his crew here.

Got 5 bids from Angie's List businesses, JD was last one to reply, but worth the wait. Best price, stayed in contact with me for scheduling best time to do work. Did a great job, cleaned up afterwards. Will hire again.

I had a small wall made of wood (almost like railroad ties) that was literally falling apart outside near my cellar door. They tore the whole wall and put down stone on the ground to secure it and prevent erosion. They then replaced the wall with a brick wall. It looks fantastic! They cleared all the grass away and laid down stone so I don't have to worry about mowing, trimming, or erosion near that area. The whole job only took about 5 hours! I've already had multiple compliments from neighbors. I've had John Dulak do multiple jobs for me over the years and he never lets me down. I've always been pleased with the work he has done. He is always available and is very communicative. He explains what needs to be done, how he is going to it, and his estimates are always EXACTLY what he quotes before starting the work. I definitely want my neighbors to know that he does an exceptional job!

Everything looks great and they were quick and efficient.

I have been using him for about four years now.

Very pleased with the results.

Excellent.

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JDL took down portions of my 9gage chain link fence and panels plus a door from my 6ft white vinyl fence to drive their heavy equipment into my yard. They dug up 3 shrubs & put them in buckets of water, moved my 8? x 4? wood stack from my yard onto my patio & lawn.  Their heavy equipment was making deep tire tracks in my yard.It started raining but the crew continued to drive the heavy equipment up & down my yard.

They got the heavy equipment stuck in mud beside my vinyl fence. While trying to get unstuck, they drove the heavy equipment into my vinyl fence! 2 posts were torn apart, panel pieces were cracked & broken and two 6ft wide portions of the vinyl fence were taken down.  River rock covering a 7?x7? landscaped area was scattered & sunken into the mud and gravel for the trench was scattered throughout portions of my lawn.This left a complete mess of my yard, portions of my neighbor?s yard and damages to my vinyl fence! JDL managed to get the heavy equipment unstuck only to get it stuck again! This time it was stuck near the culvert in  between my & my neighbor?s yards. They had to call additional workers to come with a truck & chains to pull the heavy equipment out of the mud. As a result there were additional huge track marks in my yard, gravel was splattered everywhere and the culvert was damaged. At that point on 5/1, John Dulak (JD) told me that he?d replace the broken fence parts & fix the fence, but he had to stop the work until the mud completely dried out.  JD put up a makeshift fence so that my dogs would not get out and then left my property in a shambles. On 5/7 I sent JD an email itemizing issues in 3 Categories.

Those CATEGORIES w/ISSUES are PASTED BELOW:
Items that need more immediate attention where I prefer to not wait until the entire work area is dry:

1. The culvert in my front yard that exposes the terracotta drain is now damaged. Bricks are loose and it is falling apart. I?d appreciate it if you would repair the culvert ASAP to avoid additional deterioration that could occur with heavy rains.

2. You purchased 1 replacement pole for my white fence. It seems like 2 poles where actually damaged by the heavy equipment and need to be replaced. (See pictures where they show 2 broken pole ends in the ground.). Additionally, I found 2 panels that are cracked/broken at the ends and these should also be replaced (See pictures ­ 2 panels against my side porch) so that the replacement panels are here on site when you are ready to put the white fence back together.

3. Behind the shed, there are 2 sections of the new 4? pipe that are not terminated or capped. Shouldn't these be capped to prevent debris and/or small animals from getting into the pipe?

4. The swale that I had dug behind my black fence always filtered water into the old white pipe that goes down the side of my neighbor?s yard. Right now, it looks like the path for this water to flow into the old white pipe is obstructed due to the digging that was done. One of the goals of this project is to redirect the water from the swale into the new 4? pipe. However, until this water redirection is built, could you remove the obstructions that are blocking the flow of water so that the swale continues to direct water into the old white pipe? 

Items that I see as needing to be Re­Done:
The issue that we discussed on the phone on May 5 th: On May 1st at 9am, I emailed you to tell you that my neighbor Tom saw that the water from my backyard was consistently flowing out of the new 4? pipe and into the terracotta drain as it should. This could be seen at the open culvert in my front yard. You arrived shortly afterwards and could see this yourself and you called me over to look at it. However, after your crew replaced parts of the 4? pipe that was accidentally crushed from the heavy equipment getting stuck in the mud, the water from my yard is no longer consistently flowing out of the new 4? pipe and into the terracotta drain. When it rained heavily Friday early evening, May 2nd, I looked into the culvert and could see that only some of the water was trickling out of the new 4? pipe. Most of the water was coming out from below the new 4? pipe and going into the culvert.

1. I ask that you re­measure the depth of the entire drain to ensure that it is 1) sloping downwards and 2) to ensure that it is at least 18? deep. a. In some areas, especially from the patio down to the culvert where the heavy equipment got stuck in the mud twice, the pipe is either at ground level or only a couple inches beneath ground level. These portions need to be redone to prevent damage to piping (e.g. tractor/mowers are used to cut my grass, avoid pipeline freezing in winter time). You see these areas on my pics. b. At the very beginning of the project, I saw you in the area behind my shed using a measuring tape to measure the depth of the drain that your crew was digging. Then after the first day of digging, I didn?t see you or anyone else using a measuring tape to measure the depth. Looking at the pictures that I took, it appears that the drain is not sloping downward in several areas and is not at least 18? deep in several areas. I see this even in the back areas where the digging first began, near the right corner of my black fence behind the shed (See my pictures).

2. Right around the patio area, you located an existing perpendicular white pipe. You ran the new 4? white pipe over the existing pipe and as a result, the new 4? pipe is not deep enough and too close to surface level. Shouldn?t the new 4? pipe have been run under the existing pipe to ensure that it is deep under surface level and so that the new 4? pipe is continuing to slope downwards towards the culvert in the front yard?

3. Fabric Installation around new 4? pipe ­ The quote said there would be ?fabric? installed around the pipe to block debris & dirt. Why has no fabric been installed around the 4? piping even though some areas are already covered with gravel?

4. When two 4? pipes are put together, shouldn?t the seam be sealed with something? I see pipes connected, but no sealing.

5. Rebuilding & Repair of White Fence ? When it is time to rebuild/repair the white fence, I like to ask that you take very special care. The side panels need to be realigned, straightened and re­secured into the ground because they are now crooked and out of alignment after your crew hit the fence while driving the heavy equipment. This fence was very expensive and if Rouser Fence has to come out to fix it, there is a minimum $500 fee just for them to come on site, plus the additional cost for labor & parts.

In addition to the items listed above, here is a list of project items that are left to be done:

• Redirect water from existing swale in back yard to the new 4? pipe.
• Clean up the back area where you cut down dead trees & shrubs. I think you said that you?d feed the cut wood into a wood chipper, correct?
• Cut down the dead monkey vines hanging from tree.
• Cleanup mound of dirt placed in corner of yard (where you removed the old garden fence). We agreed that you?d cleanup this mount of dirt because I plan to create a flower/plant garden on top of the mound of dirt. 
• After white fence is repaired/rebuilt, relay landscaping fabric & top with the River Rock that I had lyin

The project went well, and I'm thrilled with the final results.  That being said, it wasn't always smooth going.  The guys were here for multiple days, and they had to sit and wait on equipment or materials for a significant portion of the time. When all of the necessary tools/material were there, the team worked their tail-off, including JD himself who installed my entire wall solo.  In short, it might take a little longer than you'd expect, but the end results are completely worth it.  From a cost perspective, JD was very competitive and flexible with changes in the scope of the work, and his price didn't move from the original quote.

I called John Dulak on a Monday morning. He was at work and he told me he visits potential customers in the evenings and gives an estimate. He took my address and other information and never came nor did he call. I have to presume he is not interested. I am disappointed.....I've always been pleased with Angie's List.

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The job went great, the cost was 1/2 of the competitors in the field and the job was perfect.  They cleaned up after the job, so that there was no needles on the ground in my yard as well as the street.  The only issue which really in my mind was not an issue is the timing.  The original job was set for October 2014 but cause of equipment issues and other landscaping jobs with higher priority cause of weather the job did not get done till January 2nd 2015--this was not a serious problem for me and to John's credit he called me to let me know of the delay.  I am very happy with the job and how it turned out in addition my neighbors are extremely happy with it since the tree was dying and may have fallen on their house.

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I sent an inquiry regarding service to this provider.  He responded promptly by email.  He said that the Point Breeze and Highland Park neighborhoods of Pittsburgh are out of his service area.  Under "Service Area" heading of his Angie's List profile it says "Pittsburgh and Surrounding Areas".