Recommendations for landscaping companies

eyephone said:
So did you check if that contractor is licensed and has insurance?
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No. To be honest, I am more concerned about him finishing the job, because I'm already 90% paid.
 
RCV said:
So Mahe's team resumed work yesterday.  I got to say, my frustration last week is overcome by my satisfaction of how beautiful our landscaping is turning out to be. I'll reserve any more judgement until he is done.
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Micro manage him...I tried to not be the owner that harassed him on every little detail, and ended up having to have them redo the pavers.  Basically his day laborers aka the Mexicans make bad judgement calls, and did some extremely shotty work.  There were a lot of little mistakes his crew made and in the end it looks decent but not great.  If you nit pick everything to make sure you get what you want exactly you could be extremely happy. 

RCV said:
eyephone said:
So did you check if that contractor is licensed and has insurance?
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No. To be honest, I am more concerned about him finishing the job, because I'm already 90% paid.
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He will finish the job...he's not an a-hole like that, but if you're not a big budget landscaping job, he'll lag to no end.  My 2 week job took 2.5 months.  Drove me insane...but he never gave me the impression he was going to run off.
 
I signed a contract with Mahe, but his older brother Samuela managed the project for him.  They finished our basic landscaping job in about 3 weeks as agreed upon.  This was back in January so they might have had less projects.
 
eyephone said:
Thanks for your feedback

It took 2.5 months? (wow - you must have a lot of upgrades - BBQ, fire pit?)
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That's the sad part.  All I had done are antique cobble pavers and my 2 feet along the wall that HOA requires.  But after initial debacle his crew made, we had to pull everything up and re-lay the pavers down.  Forgot putting the weed block under the pavers, I started in mid Oct, during Thanksgiving and X-mas break they disappeared on me. for about 2 weeks each.  Picked the wrong plants that I asked for.  I called Mahe with each error and he corrected it, but if I just micro managed them in the beginning I could have saved myself time and headache.

Don't get me wrong, Mahe and Sam are super nice guys...and they will fix the problem.  They won't run out on you, or try to cheat you.  But Sam isn't the greatest project manager, and Mahe isn't always around. 
 
broda said:
eyephone said:
Thanks for your feedback

It took 2.5 months? (wow - you must have a lot of upgrades - BBQ, fire pit?)
Click to expand...

That's the sad part.  All I had done are antique cobble pavers and my 2 feet along the wall that HOA requires.  But after initial debacle his crew made, we had to pull everything up and re-lay the pavers down.  Forgot putting the weed block under the pavers, I started in mid Oct, during Thanksgiving and X-mas break they disappeared on me. for about 2 weeks each.  Picked the wrong plants that I asked for.  I called Mahe with each error and he corrected it, but if I just micro managed them in the beginning I could have saved myself time and headache.

Don't get me wrong, Mahe and Sam are super nice guys...and they will fix the problem.  They won't run out on you, or try to cheat you.  But Sam isn't the greatest project manager, and Mahe isn't always around.
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Yes, you are right.  I never got the impression that Mahe will walk away and rip me off.  My problem really is the same as yours.  I feel I have to micromanage every step of the way to make sure it is moving along.  I have no doubt that our landscaping will turn out great because of the development I am seeing.  Mahe promised me end of the month it will be done.  We'll see.

FYI - when I signed the contract, it wasn't Aloha Landscaping on the contract.  It was just Mahe's name.
 
It sounds like Mahe and Sam took on to many gigs and are spread way too thin and splitting the weeks at various jobs. When he did my job our community was wrapping up. His crew was all Hawaiian, now sounds like he has some Mexicans working for him as well, wonder if he just picked up day laborers.
 
qwerty said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Is Aloha Landscaping the same as Aloha Pavers?

Yes... I don't want to search. :)
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No they are not the same.
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Thanks.

I think that distinction should be made because the unhappy reviews of Aloha Landscape may reflect on Aloha Pavers.

Or Aloha Hawaiian BBQ in The District.

 
Can any one who had the landscaping done share his/her experience as to what things should be watched during the landscaping?
We are mostly having pavers, and some grass areas/plants.

broda said:
eyephone said:
Thanks for your feedback

It took 2.5 months? (wow - you must have a lot of upgrades - BBQ, fire pit?)
Click to expand...

That's the sad part.  All I had done are antique cobble pavers and my 2 feet along the wall that HOA requires.  But after initial debacle his crew made, we had to pull everything up and re-lay the pavers down.  Forgot putting the weed block under the pavers, I started in mid Oct, during Thanksgiving and X-mas break they disappeared on me. for about 2 weeks each.  Picked the wrong plants that I asked for.  I called Mahe with each error and he corrected it, but if I just micro managed them in the beginning I could have saved myself time and headache.

Don't get me wrong, Mahe and Sam are super nice guys...and they will fix the problem.  They won't run out on you, or try to cheat you.  But Sam isn't the greatest project manager, and Mahe isn't always around.
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mms2020 said:
Can any one who had the landscaping done share his/her experience as to what things should be watched during the landscaping?
We are mostly having pavers, and some grass areas/plants.

broda said:
eyephone said:
Thanks for your feedback

It took 2.5 months? (wow - you must have a lot of upgrades - BBQ, fire pit?)
Click to expand...

That's the sad part.  All I had done are antique cobble pavers and my 2 feet along the wall that HOA requires.  But after initial debacle his crew made, we had to pull everything up and re-lay the pavers down.  Forgot putting the weed block under the pavers, I started in mid Oct, during Thanksgiving and X-mas break they disappeared on me. for about 2 weeks each.  Picked the wrong plants that I asked for.  I called Mahe with each error and he corrected it, but if I just micro managed them in the beginning I could have saved myself time and headache.

Don't get me wrong, Mahe and Sam are super nice guys...and they will fix the problem.  They won't run out on you, or try to cheat you.  But Sam isn't the greatest project manager, and Mahe isn't always around.
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i would say the main thing to look out for is grading to make sure the water runs away from the property. you can just take a level. if its not visible to the eyey, i recommend taking a level (the three foot one) and make sure the grading is right. for pavers some use the weed cover, some dont, in theory the polymeric sand they use should not let the weeds through but we will see. Go pavers didnt use the weed cover, mahe @ aloha is a believer of the weed cover. the good thing with pavers is they do screw something up its easy to fix, with concrete not so much.
 
bones said:
qwerty said:
i would say the main thing to look out for is grading to make sure the water runs away from the property. you can just take a level. if its not visible to the eyey, i recommend taking a level (the three foot one) and make sure the grading is right.
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YES!  This is key.  In my current rental, the water runs towards the property.  It pools at the edge of the concrete patio/grass area.  And drainage is also an issue (random puddles here and there) - so I would look for that as well. 
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yeah, that is a good test. get a water hose and flood the entire paved area while they are there and if anything puddles up have them fix it, this way you havent made the final payment yet so at least you have leverage.
 
eyephone said:
RCV said:
eyephone said:
How long has the project taken so far?
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They started digging on 2/26.  So it's been 4 weeks now..  Out of that 4 weeks, they worked only 9 days.
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You might be on the 2.5 month plan.  ;)
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I feel the stories here go in line with my initial feeling on Mahe...really good guy and will do whatever you want but doesn't really to be really interested in the job.  As I stated above, he was nice and personable but didn't really provide any suggestions or tips on what could be done.  Spreading yourself too thin really slights your existing customers and show a lack of commitment.
 
RCV said:
Yes, you are right.  I never got the impression that Mahe will walk away and rip me off.  My problem really is the same as yours.  I feel I have to micromanage every step of the way to make sure it is moving along.  I have no doubt that our landscaping will turn out great because of the development I am seeing.  Mahe promised me end of the month it will be done.  We'll see.

FYI - when I signed the contract, it wasn't Aloha Landscaping on the contract.  It was just Mahe's name.
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Same thing...the carbon copy contract with his name.  All the checks are paid directly to Sam or Mahe.  Felt a little weird at first but he came through. 

Issue from Aloha Landscaping...like Qwerty said grading.  They put too much slope towards the drain and it's pretty visible.  The drain is in a key location where you would put a patio chair around the table so that causes some issues.  It's not horrible, just annoying.  They forgot the weed block underneath the sand so they just threw it on top in between the sand and the pavers which is annoying. 

The BIG issue was that the day laborers made some horrible cuts on the pavers and just shoved crooked pieces in to make it fit.  Sam tried to sell it as just the way it is, Mahe came and said ok I see the problem and had the A crew come and redo it. B crew moved on to do other stuff.  That took an extra 2-3 weeks to get them to do that.

I guess I could be partially to blame because I should have went outside everyday and made sure things looked right and bitched and moaned more when I saw things that were off.  But I just trusted that they would come and fix it, and not try to shove the square peg in the round hole. 

Lesson learned, your landscaper is only as good as their day laborer. 
 
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