Landscaping Creations

AWFUL! The owner, Steve, quoted us for some basic grading and hole-filling in the back and front yards. While he was working, we mentioned that our backyard water spigot wasn't functioning and he informed us that he could easily repair it. Unfortunately, we took his word for it. Steve showed up late to meet me at Lowe's the very first day. The job, which was estimated at a good price and for only 1-2 days ended up taking a week (unfinished). Every day that Steve showed up, (6 out of 7 days) he showed up after 2 pm, rarely calling ahead, leaving my wife and I wondering where he was. After 4 hours of work per day (including excessive "smoke breaks" which he tried to hide every time one of us poked our heads out to see where he was), he would leave, leaving his tools and cigarette butts scattered throughout the yard. On the final day (disappointed with the work and exhausted from watching Steve accomplish so little every day) we had had enough. He showed up to start working on the backyard water spigot. After looking at it and (unsuccessfully) trying to remove the old spigot (he was just supposed to replace the "guts") he suggested to us that he could just "beat on it with a hammer" to get the old spigot loose. After his suggestion, we had had enough. We told him not to work on it and finish grading the yard. This is where the fun began. When turning the water back on, the backyard spigot exploded in a dazzling shower of H20. He had broken the pipe behind the spigot, drenching the inside of our master bathroom wall (although he has yet to claim responsibility, "it was the installer's fault back in the 70's"). Foolishly, and in panic of not having water in the house for our 3 kids (baby wipe baths for everyone), we decided to let Steve repair the pipe by cutting into the drywall inside the master bathroom. His first attempt at cutting into the drywall was a success . . . however, there wasn't a water line in sight. After cutting open the second wall he found the severed water line. He rushed off to Lowe's to find some replacement parts. An hour later he returned with a neat contraption to put the line back together without soldering. He immediately stuck the contraption on one of the bad lines to see how the product worked. Another bad idea. He couldn't remove it. Again, he rushed off to Lowe's. Another hour later he was back with the same contraption. After some excessive pulling on the copper line (he needed space to cut the line smoothly) he uttered "damn. . . nope, we're good". I knew he had the snapped the line again, but somehow he didn't know it. Steve continued to work at the line, eventually getting the contraption into place and everything was connected. We turned on the water to check for leaks, and Steve was immediately sprayed in the face. Water off. It was leaking at the contraption Steve had incorrectly placed on the line. 8 pm. Back to Lowe's. Oddly, I had driven him this time and we were back within 20 minutes. Still curious why it took him an hour on the previous two trips. Now he decided he needed to borrow my reciprocating saw to cut the freshly installed contraption off of the water line. I told him "wait, I'll get my blade for cutting metal". While I retrieved it, he decided to use the installed blade (for wood). By the time I got back, my wood blade was "J"-shaped, but the line was cut. Success. An hour later, everything was back together again. Water on... Wait... Water off... 10 pm... The line is severed below the concrete slab that our house sits on. Steve says he might be able to fix it, but he has to cut more wall out and do some digging. "Not gonna happen," we tell him simultaneously (why couldn't we say it 6 hours earlier?). After telling Steve that he would be footing the repair bill, he seemed eager to help us first thing in the morning, with the owner of an established plumbing company in the area. Multiple texts and phone calls this morning, no answer from him. Steve ran away. :(