I had a failing DIY deck (previous owner) in my backyard I was looking to replace with a patio to increase our usable space. I had 4 other contractors that would not touch my idea because of the complexity of the project and drainage issues. Mike was the only professional that took more than 10 minutes to sit with us, understand our challenge and suggest a solution. What I enjoyed most, Mike took our vision and turned it into reality. He coached us on what was feasible, where we needed to be realistic, and what was needed. For all those reading this review, I am going to take a moment to be as transparent as possible. My yard is on the backside of a hill and our drainage was a nightmare. On heavy rain days, we ould have two rivers flowing, one behind my house and one on the side of my house. We live in a wooded area with mature trees and we had roots popping out of our ground. I had no less than 3 other contractors suggest that we cut the roots (without reaching out to an arborist) to make our side patio walkway flat. Mike refused to cut the roots, instead, he laid a frame on top of the roots and raised the walkway to keep the root system intact. He also was able to frame the patio around a 40+ year slab of concrete, level the ground, and create the design of our backyard my wife and I had in our head. He took our vision and brought it to life. Mike not only created our now vision, but he also planned for future adjustments. Mother nature is going to win, period. But his foundation allows for adjustments for settling, feature additions, and increased water flow. Mike and his team spent more time on what we don't see to preserve the visual masterpiece we can see. Mike also navigated the one-off ideas we had during the project. We added a trashcan enclosure and pulled out overgrown bushes to create a retaining wall and gardening bed mid-project. His flexibility is unparalleled. Lastly, he installed river rock to prevent/slow the erosion on the back of our house. My wife and I thought we wanted stepping stones embedded in the river stone, sort of a lily pad style so we could walk through the stone. He suggested that we spend more now on a complete walkway to increase the functionality of the area. We were initially hesitant due to the cost increase and because it wasn't our vision, but let me tell you we are so pleased we decided to take his advice. Overall, our backyard is the talk of the street and it has motivated our neighbors to upgrade their outdoor spaces as well. Nothing but compliments from everyone who looks at his work. In my opinion, Mike was a perfect fit for us because we wanted and needed a custom solution. It was a LARGE undertaking for his team but he didn't stray away. The job he accepted was started in the first week of September of '20 and ended in the first week of November. We initially thought it was a 6-week project but between our mid-project add-ons, and weather it was more like 10-12 weeks. He even sodded our surrounding areas on his dime because he knew seed would not take in November and the risk of erosion would cause problems in the future. He also allowed my kids to help create the space by letting us work on our project using his tools, gave us pointers, and even showed us how to create steps on our raised gardening bed with the leftover material from the patio. Mike is a craftsman, not a volume contractor. He takes the time to understand your needs and makes them a reality. As such, we have asked him to undertake another, yet smaller project, this April. Thank you, Mike.