Lawnborne Landscaping

We got several bids on our sod project and Lawnborne was the lowest, so we decided to go with them. We knew there might be some hiccups since we did choose the lowest cost, and overall we were satisfied with the job. The only problem was the lack of communication and follow-through by the company. Finalized the contract and paid the deposit on Monday 4/6 and was told I would be contacted in a day or two to schedule. As part of the final walk through, Jorge and I decided to not replace a section of the lawn that still had grass growing. I emailed them on Friday 4/10 after no contact and asked to schedule the sprinkler inspection that was included in the quote, as well as schedule the sod install. I received a prompt reply from Gabriel; "I think we have you down for Monday". I replied asking for confirmation and if the Monday appointment was just the sprinkler inspection or the full install. Two days later, Sunday 4/12, I got an email back saying they would test and prep the yard on Monday but the sod delivery had been delayed due to rain. A few hours later, I received another email saying the farm did cut the sod and it would be installed on Monday. I was a little annoyed that the job had been scheduled without any contact with me, and nearly no notice. But I was ready to have the job completed and let it slide. The morning of the install, Monday 4/13, the crew and sod arrived as promised and work began. They found a problem with our sprinkler system and eventually got it corrected. While I was working with the sprinkler inspection, the rest of the crew began removing the old lawn (mostly weeds) and prepping for the sod install. Once the sprinkler system was fixed and ready, I took the opportunity to see how the rest of the crew was progressing. They had already removed ALL of the lawn, including the section that was supposed to have been left as-is. Apparently nobody had communicated to the install crew about the grass that was supposed to be left alone. I talked to the Gabriel about the over sight, concerned that there may not be enough sod to cover the entire lawn. Since there was utility work being done up and down our street that included digging up sections of the easement next to the street, we agreed to leave part of the easement unsodded until the construction was completed. The rest of the install went smoothly and was completed late in the afternoon. The new sod looked great and the crew did a thorough job cleaning up afterwards. After about a month and a half the new sod was well established and looked good, and the construction along the street was completed. I sent an email to Gabriel on Friday 6/5 explaining the situation to remind him what happened and asking to schedule the rest of our sod installation. After a week with no response, I sent another email on Thursday 6/11;"Trying again after a week with no response." including the original email and added other email addresses I had for people at the company. I received a quick reply from Jorge; "Contacting my brother now." That evening, I got an email from Gabriel; "Yes sir I ll get with you on Tuesday I am out of town". That Tuesday would have been 6/14; it's been over a month and I have not been contacted by anyone from Lawnborne. I had intended to use Lawnborne later in the year to do some long overdue tree trimming, but the lack of communication and professionalism has convinced me to find other providers to do that work.

Gabriel came out and diagnosed a leaking valve I had in my yard. He was at my house for less than hour and gave an estimate of $1300 to replace the double check valve and said it would be done the following week . We gave him a 300 deposit. The next day we checked around and found a company that would replace the Double check and 2 other valves for $545. I called Gabriel and said we were going with the other company. I ask him what would be a fair price for his diagnostics and he said that he would be keeping the $300 deposit. I believe that he should be paid for the hour he spent diagnosing the issue but $300 seems like he is gouging.

All went well. Initial delivery was short a few yards, but he returned promptly and completed the job quickly and professionally.

/11 I was contacted by Jorge Torres on 4/13 describing his companies services and asking if I still wanted him to come by for an estimate. I responded the same day letting him know of my schedule for the following week. Jorge responded to me by email the same day saying that his brother Gabriel or Chris would contact me by phone. I did not hear from either gentleman so I emailed Jorge again on 4/16 and asked if I was going to hear from his company? Jorge responded again by email and said that he would come to my home the following day, no time, just the following day. I emailed him back and called this time twice. I never received a return phone call or email and no one from the company showed at my address. This is not how a person should run a business! If you don't have time or don't want my business just tell me and I will move on.

Julian came out to assess how much sod we would need. He evaluated the light in our yard as well as where grass was struggling to grow. He made recommendations on what sod would be most successful (a palmetto variety of St. Augustine), as well as a recommendation for a small adjustment with our sprinkler system. He gave us an estimate, and once we'd agreed to move forward, his crew came out to prepare the yard for the sod. They removed existing landscaping as requested, and they moved our large swing set out of the way as well. The next day, fixed our sprinkler issue, laid the sod and gave us instructions on watering. It's been about three weeks since then, and the sod is looking great. It's clearly taken -- even in spots that have never grown grass before.

Lawnborne was on time to begin work on Saturday. The removed and tilled the front yard and cleared the old grass and weeds out. The new pallets of grass were delivered while they were prepping the yard. Then they laid the new sod out over the entire yard and continued to water the grass as they were putting the sod down. The only incident was that they mis calculated on the grass and came up a little short, But they installed the remainder of the lawn early the following Monday so I didn't have any problems with them completing the work. They also emailed written instructions on how to make sure the grass would take root and grow including watering and fertilizing information. Its been three weeks, grass looks very good

I used the Lawnborne website to schedule an appointment. Received a written labor and material estimate via email within two hours of their on sight inspection. The estimate included removal of the existing sod, tilling, leveling, spreading of topsoil where needed and installation of St. Augustine sod. The price was very reasonable and much lower than two other bids received two weeks prior. Installation occurred one week from the date of the estimate. A sizable crew arrived in the morning to prep the ground and the sod was delivered about two hours later. The sod was of good quality and well hydrated. The crew did a very thorough job of cleaning up and performed a walk through to make sure we were satisfied with the job. It's now two weeks since the sod was installed and very pleased overall with the way it is growing in.

After the third reschedule for an estimate I told them to forget it. Would only use email and did not answer the phone or return calls.

i contacted Lawnborne after seeing their ad on Craigslist. The ad pointed me to a nicely laid out website. After reviewing the website i called and talked to Julian. Julian was easy to deal with. I told him what i wanted and he provided me a couple different estimates via email. (His estimate was very competitive) He and his crew showed up a little late, but he called to tell me they were running late so I felt good about that. Once they arrived they immediately got to work. They tilled up the area, added some fresh dirt and then laid the sod. I was happy to see they rolled the area with a heavy roller to smooth out the bumps. The whole process took maybe 3 hours and they cleaned up and were done. Julian assured me that if there were any issues with any of the sod they would replace or repair the bad spots. A week later and all the sod squares appear to growing nicely. I would definitely use Lawnborne again ....probably in the near future for a cedar fence installation.

s. I highly recommend.

The crew was courteous, but had to borrow tools from our garage to complete their job. The St. Augustine sod they delivered had some bad squares in it, eight we counted in all, and we pointed that out to the crew foreman. In our agreement, the company had told us they would replace bad sod promptly. Their estimator also promised to fertilize the whole yard at no charge to us. Where they ground the smaller stump, they simply left the area bare. We have called four times and emailed, too. At the first call on June 9, the supervisor said he would bring the piece of sod for the bare spot "in a couple of days." As of June 30, three weeks since his promise, neither he nor the company has done a thing. We have had no communication from the company since. No replacement of bad sod squares, no coverage for the bare spot where the stump was ground out, no fertilizer as promised, not one communication after repeated attempts to contact the company.