Backyard Landscape Plans and Recommendations
- Thread starter BuddyLeo
- Start date
J
jmoney74
Guest
I know JoJo has gotten a bad rap of sorts.. but just wanted everyone to know that I've met with him a few times. Very knowledgeable and seems like he does a ton of Irvine homes. Went through Lambert ranch and he showed me a bunch of his work. I also have to add that he asked for the owners permission before we went back to look. 
So far.. I'm still going through the bid process but he's been the most responsive and knowledgeable so far. One of his customer's home that we looked at.. they were going back and forth about some plants.. sort of funny.. but even then she turned to me to tell me how good of a job he does. Obviously, I haven't started any work yet but I have to say his other jobs have been impressive upon review.
Echo Family
Joe
949.533.4055
*This is not a paid advertisement for him.
So far.. I'm still going through the bid process but he's been the most responsive and knowledgeable so far. One of his customer's home that we looked at.. they were going back and forth about some plants.. sort of funny.. but even then she turned to me to tell me how good of a job he does. Obviously, I haven't started any work yet but I have to say his other jobs have been impressive upon review.
Echo Family
Joe
949.533.4055
*This is not a paid advertisement for him.
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
I'm picking the HOA in this fight.
qwerchete knew the rules, he admitted he did not adhere to them... no one is above the law!!!
(plus I want to read about a bat wielding homeowner incident in Tustin)
qwerchete knew the rules, he admitted he did not adhere to them... no one is above the law!!!
(plus I want to read about a bat wielding homeowner incident in Tustin)
J
jmoney74
Guest
Jo just finished my back yard. His crew worked 6 days a week for a little over a month straight. Very good job.
1. He was here every few days to check up on work and go over plans.
2. Communicated well on delays (Inventory issues with plants etc at nurseries due to new home construction)
3. Gave me a fair price (not cheapest.. but certainly not most expensive)
4. Expert in plants
5. No bait and switch. The price quoted was the price paid.
Issues? The only issues I had was more of a reminder. They were laying out the wrong tile in the CA room. I told him about it and it came off quickly. Very minor and not even sure it's worth mentioning.
Overall, very good experience and I'm glad it didn't take too long. He doesn't like to take on more projects he can handle. His workers finish projects and go on.. not like my neighbors contractor who worked when they had time.
1. He was here every few days to check up on work and go over plans.
2. Communicated well on delays (Inventory issues with plants etc at nurseries due to new home construction)
3. Gave me a fair price (not cheapest.. but certainly not most expensive)
4. Expert in plants
5. No bait and switch. The price quoted was the price paid.
Issues? The only issues I had was more of a reminder. They were laying out the wrong tile in the CA room. I told him about it and it came off quickly. Very minor and not even sure it's worth mentioning.
Overall, very good experience and I'm glad it didn't take too long. He doesn't like to take on more projects he can handle. His workers finish projects and go on.. not like my neighbors contractor who worked when they had time.
jmoney74 said:
Ours will be done in the next few days by Jo .. so far so good .. What I like best so far is he is very flexible and responds very quick to email and text messages .. we have adjusted our design several time during the construction .. He would always say the most important thing is we are happy with the outcome and don't worry if it takes extra work for him as it is better to fix now than later if we are not happy.
akirvine79
Member
Here is my full review of Jo's company (Echo Family). It has been around 5~6 weeks since Jo finished my backyard. Overall, I'm very satisfied with his company and the final look of my back yard.
1. Price & Quote
His offered price was reasonable and cheaper than some other companies for a same design concept & plants.
2. Design stage
He was willing to accept customer's preference/opinion without pushing his own preferences & specialties etc.... When I contacted several landscaping companies for quotes and design consulting, I felt that some companies pushed specific design concepts, materials and colors that they had mostly done in the past. Jo also gave me his recommendation and advice on my thought but he put customer's preference as his first priority.
3. Plant choices
This is my favorite part of Jo's company. My wife and I spent longer than 2 hours with Jo in a couple of nurseries and material vendors before I paid any deposit and sign any contract. And he let us choose plants, stones and gravels what we'd like. He was very knowledgeable on plants so he helped us to choose right plants. On the other hand, other companies I met, usually a general contractor just asked customer's preference and they choose plants within budget allowance.
4. Warranties & maintenance
He lives in Irvine and he's always local. When we had an issue, he easily stopped by and resolved issues because he always hang around Irvine communities for his job and his crews were always nearby neighborhood.
I had a couple of issues before & after back yard completion, everything was well sorted out without any issue.
Here are the issues I had and resolved so far.
* We have a wood-top sitting wall and there were minor nail-holes after completion. We asked Jo to fill those holes by using my own wood fillers but it actually made looking worse because of oil stains. I shouldn't have asked that but Jo completely re-done the entire wood top for my satisfaction. I haven't paid any extra for this additional work.
* We were kinds of unfortunate because of hot weather in this summer. When Jo completed all the plants & trees in my backyard, there were consecutive heatwaves over 100 degrees for a week. so many of plants were burnt/dried out before their roots were properly settled down into the soil. Jo replaced all the dried-out plants to new ones, now they're well settled down and growing well these days.
* Faulty sprinkler
We found that one of sprinkler's head stopped working recently and we showed him that. He replaced it to a new one right next day.
I actually contacted him after reading the old thread between Jo and studio/bones/dealcatcher. I had a little worry about his job quality and final result. Now I know he's a good guy and he does a good job. I'd probably ask him another yard job without any doubt if I need to move or want backyard renovation in the future.
If I have to say any downside of him, customers may have to be diligent and have enough time to choose/shop around their preferences. Otherwise, just let Jo bring/choose his recommendation. For example, you need some time to visit nurseries, stone yards and planter/pot shops to let him know you exactly want. In my case, I actually spent long time and these kinds of efforts turned into a good result & satisfaction. I guess some people may not want to do this hassle and prefer a contractor does everything without spending customer's time.
1. Price & Quote
His offered price was reasonable and cheaper than some other companies for a same design concept & plants.
2. Design stage
He was willing to accept customer's preference/opinion without pushing his own preferences & specialties etc.... When I contacted several landscaping companies for quotes and design consulting, I felt that some companies pushed specific design concepts, materials and colors that they had mostly done in the past. Jo also gave me his recommendation and advice on my thought but he put customer's preference as his first priority.
3. Plant choices
This is my favorite part of Jo's company. My wife and I spent longer than 2 hours with Jo in a couple of nurseries and material vendors before I paid any deposit and sign any contract. And he let us choose plants, stones and gravels what we'd like. He was very knowledgeable on plants so he helped us to choose right plants. On the other hand, other companies I met, usually a general contractor just asked customer's preference and they choose plants within budget allowance.
4. Warranties & maintenance
He lives in Irvine and he's always local. When we had an issue, he easily stopped by and resolved issues because he always hang around Irvine communities for his job and his crews were always nearby neighborhood.
I had a couple of issues before & after back yard completion, everything was well sorted out without any issue.
Here are the issues I had and resolved so far.
* We have a wood-top sitting wall and there were minor nail-holes after completion. We asked Jo to fill those holes by using my own wood fillers but it actually made looking worse because of oil stains. I shouldn't have asked that but Jo completely re-done the entire wood top for my satisfaction. I haven't paid any extra for this additional work.
* We were kinds of unfortunate because of hot weather in this summer. When Jo completed all the plants & trees in my backyard, there were consecutive heatwaves over 100 degrees for a week. so many of plants were burnt/dried out before their roots were properly settled down into the soil. Jo replaced all the dried-out plants to new ones, now they're well settled down and growing well these days.
* Faulty sprinkler
We found that one of sprinkler's head stopped working recently and we showed him that. He replaced it to a new one right next day.
I actually contacted him after reading the old thread between Jo and studio/bones/dealcatcher. I had a little worry about his job quality and final result. Now I know he's a good guy and he does a good job. I'd probably ask him another yard job without any doubt if I need to move or want backyard renovation in the future.
If I have to say any downside of him, customers may have to be diligent and have enough time to choose/shop around their preferences. Otherwise, just let Jo bring/choose his recommendation. For example, you need some time to visit nurseries, stone yards and planter/pot shops to let him know you exactly want. In my case, I actually spent long time and these kinds of efforts turned into a good result & satisfaction. I guess some people may not want to do this hassle and prefer a contractor does everything without spending customer's time.
Perspective
Well-known member
So does the landscape designer typically act as the general contractor? Does he bring in the hardscape guys, the irrigation guys, structure guys, and coordinate everything?
Irvine Dream
New member
Did you ever provide an update on the HOA fines?qwerty said:
#boredtoday
Perspective
Well-known member
We received our first landscape estimate - $31K for a ~1,000 sq ft backyard. This includes:
paver patio and extending out doubling the covered patio portion,
paver paths on sides of house and connecting to patio,
fireplace (gas),
lighting,
irrigation, and
landscaping.
paver patio and extending out doubling the covered patio portion,
paver paths on sides of house and connecting to patio,
fireplace (gas),
lighting,
irrigation, and
landscaping.
Irvine Dream
New member
based on previous posts looks like a goodprice since this includes extending covered patio and fireplace.Perspective said:
You have 1,000 sq ft back yard? 20 feet set back?
Where is the built-in BBQ though?
Perspective
Well-known member
Irvine Dream said:
20' setback from the middle of the house (15' on one side and 30' on the other). Built-in BBQs take-up so much space. I was thinking of just keeping a stand-alone BBQ hidden on the side of the house when not in use.
Just as long as you stay away from Tom Gonzales (eg Coastal Landscapes, or New Season Landscaping).
http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,12374.0.html
http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,12374.0.html
Hello, longtime lurker here
I have a question on landscape, when we bought our town home years ago we walked around our neighborhood and contacted only one company. We were surprised when they charged us $500 just for the drawing on what the landscape would be but didn't argue and paid it. We were young and stupid :
What is the correct procedure and how much upfront cost is reasonable? If we go to a couple of different companies and have to pay for all their designs, it will get quite pricey. Thanks!
I have a question on landscape, when we bought our town home years ago we walked around our neighborhood and contacted only one company. We were surprised when they charged us $500 just for the drawing on what the landscape would be but didn't argue and paid it. We were young and stupid :
What is the correct procedure and how much upfront cost is reasonable? If we go to a couple of different companies and have to pay for all their designs, it will get quite pricey. Thanks!