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When I moved into my brand new home in Los Banos, the one thing that did not happen was that the builders were pinching pennies in many ways... one of which was leaving the backyard as a plot of dirt... and weeds.
We asked our Coldwell Banker real estate agent who we could use to install some sod and irrigation in the back yard and we were directed to LS Landscaping, which, in and of itself, was one of the biggest mistakes and waste of money EVER! But out here in Los Banos, there are so few contractors for anything that the reviews are almost non-existent.
The man, Longino (sp?), came out and did a quote for the lawn and irrigation system. Not knowing any better, we accepted because we weren't sure we had any other options. And we trusted our real estate agent. (There will be more on that in a latter post!)
First thing that happened was that they ran out of sod during the project. Somehow, they did not estimate the right amount.
Second, they graded (or not) the backyard in such a fashion that when they did the initial irrigation of the backyard, the corner closest to the house became a swamp pond. When I pointed that out, he shrugged it off and said it was OK. (I was thinking, yea, for you, many miles away from our new mosquito farm!!!)
In spots, sod strips were laid down in such a fashion that there were huge, ankle-twisting gaps that we had to fill in ourselves.
After the job was done... oh... he only takes cash... off he went.
A few months later things started to evolve that really dug up the disappointment.
First... we started having a problem with one of the sprinklers so I called and left a message. A week later I left another message and by the time he NEVER returned my third message, well, OK, so be it. I hired a different party (Ronnie's) to resolve this issue. So LS Landscaping does not return calls. Or at least mine.
But the biggest eff up was the irrigation pattern.
They seemed to install enough sprinklers and when you watch them run, they look like they're covering the yard, yet the center of our backyard was dying. I thought it was something we were doing, but then the other day, after the sprinklers ran their routine, I just happened to have left a bunch of Frisbees out in the backyard. Upside down, so they would catch the water when the sprinklers ran. It was a fortuitous accident actually. The next morning, the flying discs that were laying around the middle of the backyard, the section that is now dead in the image above, were bone dry. Hence, the watering pattern was wrong or the system was set up poorly.
We paid thousands, in cash, for a dead backyard.
Since they don't answer their phone or return messages, all I can do is write this piece and let you, the consumer know.
Hearsay: The other thing of note, when talking with other neighbors about LS Landscaping, some who have used LS Landscaping and some who just got quotes, have said other people cost less and do better work.
Now you know, we got screwed over.
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