Absolutely Outdoors

Where do we start:

1.  - very poor grading (not complete....standing water in front lawn)
2.  - installed an irrigation system that does not function. 
3.  - Flowers and shrubs planted around the front flower garden and trees either died off or had to be replaced
4.  - sod installation was poorly done....much of the sod has since died off and does not cover the total area of the land where it was supposed to be placed.
5. -  Graded the ditch poorly on two sides of the property.....land water and actually blocked off portions of the drainage
6.  - did not complete the rock work around the trees,
7.  - poorly installed French Drain,
8.  - did not place dirt and mulch into or around the newly planted trees and flower garden areas.
9.  - Obsolute Outdoors demanded final payment even though the work was not complete. 
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11. Due to very poor workmanship and we contracted an alternative contractor (s) to finish the job and repair the irrigation system to a point it now functions.  The cost to complete the job and repair the irrigation system is currently over $4500 over an above the contract rate of $28,000.  
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13. We have used this company for lawn services over the past 8 years with out problems.  We will not continue using their services in the future nor will I recommend their services to others considering them.  
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15. Completely frustrated and non satisfied customer.  
    
    

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My overall experience with them was good. I was very pleased with the work. Their office assistant, it was a little slow in getting information to and from and there was a little bit of confusion between what the guy who came out to give me the quote was versus what she would tell me. Getting kicked off was slow. The work they did was good. When they came to do the work, they did it quickly and they cleaned up. They did a beautiful job. It was just the getting started. It ended up being about a 3 or 4 week process just to get the contract stuff all in place. Once that was done, they kicked it off. It was really just their office assistant. She is a little dingy. You need patience to deal with the office staff. I got 3 quotes and they were the best quote thus far. Probably like 15% cheaper than the next guy. They left a big pile of sod and they said they were going to be back that day but they didn’t make it and I stayed home one day to meet with them to go over some stuff and she kept telling me that they’re going to be here but they never came. The guy who provided the quotes, he was great to work with. When he told me he’d do something, he did it.

I called about 8 companies to come give me an estimate and Absolutely Outdoors called back almost immediately. They were always easy to get in touch with and responsive when called. They set a date to come do the work and were on time and worked hard. The work was done well and the crew stayed late on day 2 to finish (it was almost dark).  Overall I was very pleased with their work and their professionalism. I would hire them again.

Gary came out to look over the yard and discuss the project. He gave us a CD with images of work they've done before. The CD was filthy and needed to be cleaned before we could view it. He promised a quote by the next week. Almost 3 weeks and we've not heard back from them.

First, when it was scheduled, I needed to have it rescheduled due to a work conflict, then they were going to come on the wrong day.  I was then told they would arrive on the day I had scheduled, but I waited at home for three hours and they never arrived.  I called up to find out that they would not be coming after all.  Had to reschedule again.  I was also promised work that would be done, but not included in the contract (mulch the flower bed, add a plant to the empty pot in the front, redo the patio pavers that were installed incorrectly by another landscaper, replace the edging around the patio pavers with new one)  They did come and install the sprinkler system and the drainage, but the only finished what was started on the pavers and not reinstall the whole thing as promised.  They also did not bring any mulch with them, no plant, and no edging.  Work on the sprinkler and the drainage system was completed the next day.  Still no mulch, plant, or edging.  The next time it rained I took pictures of the water still standing, which was the reason for the drainage system to be installed.  They never came out to inspect it.  Then the person who did the sales work left the company or was let go (not sure which).  It then took another five weeks of constant calling for them to come out and look at the problems and make a list.  It took another two weeks after that to get the mulch put down (I still don't think they did the weeding as I asked, but just covered everything up), and when they installed the concrete edging they added the sand between the pavers finally as well.  They added a hose for the sprinkler system along the patio and put it down with duct tape, so now I have duct tape on the front patio of my house.  After that, the lawn maintenace crew destroyed one of the zone head covers for the srpinkler system.  To date this has not been replaced.  I have tried calling the one supervisor for the installation crew (Tommy) and the owner (Josh) and never received a call back.  I finally got a call when I sent an email saying I am cancelling my lawn maintenance contract.  On top of all of this, I asked for the monthly fertilization program to be done on my yard, I never received a contract to include this and the one and only time the guy came out to do it he only did the front yard because he said he didn't have the code to the gate to get into the backyard - though the maintenance crew that comes over to do the weekly cutting has it.  To date, I still have no cover (been three weeks), no plant in the front pot (over 8 weeks), and duct tape on my front patio (three weeks).  The only time they call?  When I complained to the office manager or after I cancelled on them.

Everything went well. They worked late into the night and ended up doing the landscaping within the next few weeks.

Work took longer than promised. Trouble in getting call backs from contractor.  Quality of sod was medium to poor. Otherwise work was performed as promised.

yInstallation proceeded well, except that the workers broke the main water supply pipe, but repaired it quickly.
The lawn irrigation system includes, at one area of the yard, four cylinders, about 6-1/2" diameter, with circular caps.  The cylinders contain wires and presumably water pipes as well.  The caps get knocked off by lawnmowers.  The irrigation system worked fine for several months, then two of the cylinders filled with water, and the water began overflowing onto the yard.  With the sprinkler system turned off at the control panel, the cylinders still leak.
Another problem was that one of the lawn sprinkler heads (near the start of the main walkway) was surrounded by a patch of mud.
I called Jason and he came out to see these problems.  He said the the lawn sprinkler head with the mud must be at the low spot of the piping and there was nothing he could do about it.  He did something to the cylinders in the ground and the leak stopped.  He did not explain to me what he did, and I assumed the problem was permanently fixed.
Now the cylinders are leaking again, there is a large patch of mud in my yard, and he has not responded to my call.

Due to our experience listed above, we do not trust the integrity of this company. We have since contacted someone else. They have come to our home, provided an estimate, and given us a $50 discount. I'll report the results soon.

We were looking at doing an overhaul of our landscape in the front and back yard, but weren't sure what we wanted.
They came out when promised and were very nice. His price came in at the lower half of the others which was nice.  The only thing that would have been nice is to see a layout along with the quote.  When people tell you they are going to buy all these different plants, and you're going to spend a couple thousand dollars, it would be nice to see a drawing as to what they are actually envisioning before you commit. 
We ended up putting the project on hold, but I would call him again if I needed work.

Jason worked completely to my schedule; he worked only on my requested items, terms, and requests. Estimate was written, itemized as requested, and he stuck to it. His recommended changes gave better results and a cheaper price than his estimate. Was very pleased to work with Jason and his crews.    Great job.

First contact followed up with a quick response, scheduled a walk through and issued a quote the same day. Weather became an issue to schedule work so we had to delay the work a few times. Once weather cooperated the crew came out and did the work in 2 days as promised.
On completion of the sod work we discussed a follow up visit to fertilize the new sod, as well as adjust sprinklers and add a new zone to cover a dry area. Schedule became an issue and we were not able to get the crew back out in March. Tried a few times to arrange the work with no success. Schedule conflicts are understandable, but the lack of follow up on the promised fertilization and the additional zone became a problem. We ended up doing the fertilizer on our own and had to contract another firm to do the irrigation work. Very disappointed by the poor follow up, especially since the work was a flow-through on a previous job they did for us.

I had read some reviews before.  I can say now that I was not happy with everything.   My sister and I went over everything we wanted with them, but it took a while to get an estimate.  When he finally sent an e-mail estimate, she said ?yeah? right away; but then I realized that half the stuff we talked about was not on the estimate.  Had we got everything we discussed at that price in the estimate, it would have been great, but half the stuff wasn?t on the list.

Because of the draught last summer, we knew we?d need to wait for a while to do some of the things.  But the stuff he could do, I knew I could go up the road and hire someone else to do it.  I made him go back and do the side garden ?just cleaning it out.  He threw some mulch on the front garden.  We had talked about putting sod in the front.  He put a strip next to the driveway. 

After I gave him a check for the work,  2-3 days later I went to water the lawn,  and saw that he had put down another strip that I didn?t know about. I don?t know if he came back or what.  It was incredibly hot last July, and it was already dying because I didn?t know he had put that down after the first set of sod.    I didn?t call him back for the rest of the work that was needed.

I?ve paid lawn services close to $400 for my front and back yard and they were able to clean out everything.  My backyard is huge.  I paid this guy $400+ and he put down sod, and took care of two gardens.  I don?t even think he cut the yard. 

What he was putting on the list during the estimate seemed impressive.  It would have been a $2000 job that he could have earned.  At this point, however, I wouldn?t call him back.

The experience is one I will never forget!   After several attempts to coordinate a meeting time I finally got my bid for the project.I had asked for the lawn to be levelled, grass laid down, the irrigation to be put in, a few trees, shrubery, and flowers.  The irrigation system was installed first.  The equipment was Rainbird which you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes.  I can't complain too much, the system does work, but the valves in the ground are always full of water which leads me to believe there is a problem. But according to Jason that is the way they are supposed to be. (We never had water in the valves at our previous residence).  Secondly, they were supposed to provide 12 yards of dirt to be laid down before they planted the grass.  What I got was 2 piles of dirt on the back of their trailer, although I had to pay for 12 yards (a dump truck load).  This was to cover my front yard.  They laid the grass over rocks, branches, bottles, etc and never leveled the yard on the left side of the yard.  Obviously there was not enough dirt to cover it.  The grass was not growing well and there was holes throughout the yard.  After several attempts Jason finally came back out and took a look.  I had pulled the grass back in a couple of areas, and low and behold, no dirt had been put under the grass.  I made them come back out and take the grass back up and I bought 12 yards of dirt (which was delivered by a dump truck) for them to put use, at my expense.  I feel I did not get what I paid for here....The second problem is they dug out a lot of clay dirt to plant the shrubery and was supposed to put dirt in it to plant the bushes.  Instead, they put the roots in the trench and covered them with mulch.  The grass level is higher than the dirt, so no drainage.  He tried to tell me it was the attempt by deer to eat the leaves that the plants died.  But this is not true as the deer did eat most of those deer resistant leaves on other plants and they are doing well.  After all of this rain most of one type of bush have died and Jason has yet to rectify the situation.  I have made several attempts to remedy this and he has ignored my calls and emails.  When he was doing this work he told me he did not buy his plants from places like Lowes because we never know where they come from and he only buys from reputable nurseries.  Well I wonder why my shrubs are dying....Also, he kept asking for payment when the job was not completed.  This job was sizable in monetary value and we feel we did not get what we paid for.  I held the final payment until he came back and fixed the grass and repositioned the sprinkers and he told me he would wait for the last payment until I was satisfied with the job.  After several more attempts and many more missed appointments, I finally gave up trying to get the job done the way I wanted it to be and paid him.  Was it worth the money?  Not even close.  The grass has a ton of weeds in it and after several attempts to control it, we have finally given up. We will probably end up ripping it back out and replanting it again ourselves.  Jason does not stand by his word and we will not be calling him to do our backyard as we had discussed in the beginning.  Nor will we ever refer any business to him.  Obviously he is too busy to give good customer service and work. I was not going to post a negative report for this provider, but since he has yet to fix the problem or return my calls, one was warranted.

Updated:  Jason came back out after several calls to look at the problem.  The rain gauge was inadvertantly not put on when the sprinkler system was installed, which caused extreme overwatering due to all the rain we had at the time.  He replaced all the dead bushes and plants and then some which were on their way out. The matter was resolved at this time.  I have revised my rating on them at this time and thank Jason for fixing my yard.

I like the work and I am very happy with the service.  They are timely and punctual.  They do what they are supposed to do and they clean up after wards.

I had a bunch of different estimates before they came out.  They did not tell me that I had to replace my whole sprinkler system.  They wanted to try and fix that first and that appealed to me.

I have a landscaped yard and have been using Newsom for repairs/maintenance of my sprinkler system and backyard fountain for the past year and have been very pleased.  However this summer I have been very disappointed.  I have called Jason a couple of times this summer.  The first time he came when promised and replace the control panel on my sprinkler system.  The second time was for a leak in my sprinkler system and a problem with my fountain.  I had to call a couple of times before Jason returned my call and made an appt to come out.  The work was done to my satisfaction however a leak had developed in the water reservoir lining so I called him again on June 4.  He returned my call on June 5 and said he could not come over until June 12.  This was fine with me as it was not an emergency.  On June 12  he did not show up.  As of today he has not called or shown up.  I got the feeling that these type of jobs were now too small for him and ended up calling some friends to help me move the heavy concrete fountain and repair the liner.  The call on June 4 is the last call I will make to Newsom Landscaping.

Called and talked to Jason on a Thursday. Made an appointment for Tuesday at 10:30am. No call, no show. Would not recommend.

We called them out for a bid for hardscaping and landscaping in our backyard.  I went to their offices to review the bid.  They had added in a large outdoor fireplace (that I didn't request).  I asked them to remove it and then would move forward with the quote.  We selected the pavers, etc and I asked specifically if everything else in their drawing was included in their bid (e.g. landscaping).  I was told yes.  After giving them the downpayment, I then received a 'new' invoice which added more dollars onto for the landscaping (which turned out to be close to what the original bid was that included the fireplace).I told them we would not be moving forward with the quote.  I asked them to pick up the concrete that was dropped off and that we would pay any re-stocking fee.  We then rec'd an invoice for a re-stocking fee for the concrete AND the pavers (which were never delivered) which totaled up to the original down payment.!  Finally, after getting the paving company involved, they confirmed that we should not have received a re-stocking fee since no pavers were ever delivered; we finally were refunded the re-stocking fee for the pavers.
Fortunately, we found a great company that did the work for a very reasonable fee and did exactly (actually more) than they described on their quote.

It was the first time I have used a professional landscaper and in the future I will always call Jason.

Mowing and edging fine.  Come on the day they promised, never.  Clean out the beds, never happened.  They just blew the pine needles and debris around.  I asked them several times to clean the beds and they were never able to accomplish that task.  I asked them not to come back after 3 or 4 visits and repeated requests.  At least the office staff was responsive and polite.

Called to have irrigation leak repaired. Was called back in an hour. Date set.Problem was quickly pinpointed and a fix was suggested and implemented. The price was far lower than I expected and was very happy with all aspects of the service. Will be hiring them again to move some sprinkler heads and install some walk ways.

The entire experience was extremely positive.  We presented a yard full of problems especially with tree roots and Jason wasn't fazed in the slightest.  Jason and his staff were extremely prompt  and professional.  Jason returned to show us how to operate the system and check for problems.  He and his staff returned at no extra cost to correct some inadequacies.  Would I have them back again, absolutely, in fact they are now doing our yard maintenance.