Jennifer W.
05/07/2021 12:00:00 SA
What we had done: Sod removal, cap off of sprinklers, old patio removal, re-grading of yard, gravel placement, and install of paver patio
Not a HUGE project, but also not a small project. After reading the rave reviews for this place on yelp and google, I thought for sure we had chosen the right company for the job. Between poor communication and spotty work, Diamond Stone underdelivered.
Communication: 1/5
For our initial consult, our project manager missed our appointment. He called same day after our scheduled consultation, and explained why he had not shown up. We wrote it off as no big deal. My partner met with him a few days later, and we chose them as we thought them to be the best company for the job. We were told upon completion of our quote paperwork that we may be able to be fit in sooner than expected and that we would be contacted sometime the following week.
We never did hear back from the project manager within that week, so we reached out. He responded saying that he would know more that Wednesday. Well, again he never reached out that Wednesday or the days following. The following week, we heard from a new person, whom we presumed to be the person that was actually going to do the work. He said that things would start to show up at the house, however we had not even been sent a catalog of things to pick out our hardscape materials. Once we got that sorted out, things started to arrive.
On the first day of work, another crew whom we had not been in communication with showed up. Not a big deal, but wish we were given a heads up of who was actually going to show up to our house.
On the third day of work, we had no one show up to fully complete our project. Instead, we had three separate parties show up without notice.
I am unsure if this is an industry standard, however communication was very poor overall. For this reason alone, I will not likely hire Diamond Stone again, nor recommend it.
Craftsmanship: 2.5/5
The paver patio was largely beautiful and changed the vibe of our backyard drastically. We had two borders placed along the perimeter of our home and tree in the yard. This was crafted nicely.
While we were mesmerized by the difference our backyard looked like after the majority of work was done, there were definitely some imperfections.
First one being that the paver patio had not been fully filled in with sand. It create an unfinished look that was not my preference. We asked that to be filled in and they were able to fulfill that request the day after. Secondly, a few of our sprinklers were tamped and/or damaged in the process of sod removal and patio formation. This resulted in leakage of the sprinkler system, which we also asked for this to be fixed. There were certain areas that needed to be filled in with dirt, which we also needed to ask be done. They did not order enough gravel to fill the whole yard, so we were at another couple day delay. Unfortunately, they ordered the wrong size (1in instead of 1/2 in) and this was installed. My partner was sick of having the crew come and go, so she had them fill it in with the 1in size. To be fair, they did offer to fix this, but the project had been drug out longer than she wanted.
It's been about 2 months since we've had the work done - there were fast growing weeds amongst the gravel after the first week. Perhaps this is just an owner maintenance issue, but I feel like they maybe could have laid the weed guard, removed more top layer, and/or sprayed for weeds better because I have to weed under the gravel every 3-4 days! This was the whole reason we had the sod removed and gravel placed!!
Efficiency: 3.5/5
The landscape crew was fairly efficient in completing the work. But efficient is not always quality work as mentioned above. They completed the majority of grading, rock laying, and paver patio in three days. Took another two to three days to fill in the last part of the backyard with gravel and clean up the front yard from the materials. There was a large amount of cement residue left on our brand new garden hose and an outdoor electrical box had been pulled out of the wall. Frustrating because it showed the lack of respect for our space.
We are generally very easy-going people. We give the benefit of the doubt, and we gave it to Diamond Stone multiple times throughout our project.
As I mentioned above, I will not hire Diamond Stone again because of the poor communication and coordination during our project. The work that was done was okay, but we had to ask for way too many things to be done to our satisfaction. I am glad others have had great experiences, but unfortunately, our project had one too many deal breakers.
***Shout out to Mike for his professionalism and value in his company. We were able to give him feedback directly, and while this did not necessarily change our overall experience, it showed his care. Wish we could've communicated with him to begin with.