Garden renovation gone wrong

[Aliceinwonder1]

Hi.
Hoping someone can help me with this issue. At the beginning of June we appointed a landscaping company to redo our garden.
This involved levelling the grass as we had a slope and also installing retaining walls/flower beds and patio area.

The person we appointed had good reviews and the pictures looked great. We paid half the amount as agreed to cover materials and the other half to be on completion once happy with the work.

Since then it's just been issues. He's using a team and is hardly here which I think is an issue as his communication seems poor. The wall wasn't built correctly which meant he's had to bodge that a bit but fine. Then the ground wasn't levelled enough and still a visible slope which we queried and they got some soil and levelled it out, however this means it's higher than we were told it would be. We've accepted it but it means the second wall is higher and the side walls are also higher. The gardener is putting the blame on us and has got really annoyed as he needs more materials and has taken him longer in labour, which we've said isn't our fault. I feel he's actually underquoted for the job in general and is now trying to recoup the cost. The job originally was going to take 6 days he told us- there was no way this would have been the case.

The patio went in last week and it's highlighted that the step and wall they built is really off and not straight at all. Part of the patio was done by the main person and looks good, some was done by one of his workers and the grout lines are awful. There's still a path and bottom patio to do and I'm dreading it. We messaged him about our concerns and he basically said we both knew things can't be square/straight (unsure what that means as our whole thing has been wanting things to be straight and level etc). And there's nothing he can do as too far along to change things now.

They're coming back tomorrow and I'm dreading it- I feel because he's not getting much profit on this job (he keeps telling us how little he's making on it etc) he just wants it done and is doing it as quickly as possible resulting in a sub standard finish (in our eyes). I'm gutted as this is a lot of money to us, we've saved up to get it done and I was so excited but have spent the last 4 weeks anxious and stressed. I'm worried the path will be wonky and the paving poorly done.

Planning on having a chat with him tomorrow but what do we do and say. He's quite hostile in terms of when we've pointed stuff out before but also just says it's us changing things when we haven't changed anything - simply asked him to rectify the mistakes so it's as we asked for in the beginning..

It sucks, I’m sorry you are not happy with what you are getting. We are having work done in house and garden at the moment, and it has been really hit and miss. My sense from our landscapers is that it has been a really tough year for them - really bad winter / slow start to the ‘busy’ season and now they are incredibly busy but also way behind revenue-wise. Not an excuse for poor work, but possibly explains why he has subcontracted out to such an extent, and also maybe gives you some insight into the dynamics driving his decision making. If he has a choice between spending time on a new project, especially a higher margin one, vs. Spending extra time on yours, which sounds like really low margin, then there is clearly more of an incentive to work elsewhere than spend extra time on yours fixing problems.

you can hold the final payment on the condition these issues are resolved, but there is a risk that he just cuts his losses. Getting someone else to rectify and complete the work may be difficult, and would likely cost more than originally budgeted, but might be the right course of action if it’s really unsatisfactory work and you have lost faith in his ability to rectify.

myfirst course of action would be to appeal to his better nature , praise the work he has done (which sounds good?) and try to have an honest but civil conversation about what has been done so far, what is reasonable to expect and what can be done to address it. Most trades really do want to do good work, are frustrated when a project goes poorly, but sometimes even excellent tradesmen fall short and there is a limit to how much of a hit they can take financially, so be pragmatic.

it sounds like some parts are past the point of addressing, and fwiw my experience has been that nothing ever goes exactly to plan. It will never be the ‘perfect’ thing you envisioned or that instagram has made you believe is possible, and at a certain point you have to let go of the dream and embrace the slightly imperfect reality. I would focus your discussion on what is still in play, things that you can still influence.

They're now not coming to work on the garden today, the main person will be round this afternoon to discuss the points. So another day they won't be making any progress which is frustrating.
I'm so worried about the patio being put in correctly as it'll be so noticeable so I'm hoping to appeal to his nicer side today just so that can get done.
If then they mess the other planters or grass up it's fixable (by us as they won't do anything).but the patio isn't so if they just chuck it in it will look absolutely awful.
Wish we'd never got it done now to be honest- was meant to be the best and least stressful option! What's frustrating is I know they should fix it and not just be making it our issue but unfortunately that's not what's happening.

If it helps a patio should slope slightly so that water runs off..

When we had our patio put in I was really annoyed about some issues (they used a resin based grout and didn't follow the instructions properly so there was some staining on the light coloured stone plus they installed the main drain really badly. A year on I never notice these things, it's an outdoor space. Might be different in an internal space.

Maybe take a breath and see whether actually these things are deal breakers. Its hard I appreciate when you've spent a lot of money on something.

Just another note, you never know what is below the ground until you start digging, so it might be that the foundations took up more time and money than he had forecast.

The other things about gardens is that even if he did the best job ever, the ground below moves with the water content.

I'd concentrate on the 'must haves' and try and get him to spend the time and money on that rather than the 'nice to haves'.

And try to persuade him that the longer it goes on, the less time he will have the final payment so that will just add pressure onto him and negotiate what will get you the best outcome a decent amount of time. Otherwise he will just abandon it halfway through and you will have to restart the process of finding someone to finish it off.

My husband is here during the conversations, problem is we try and reason however I don't think he's the type to do that. Just keeps saying he's losing money etc. I understand things happen however the way he's gone about it isn't right, constantly trying to persuade us not to have things as it'll reduce his costs down (not ours as we've already paid for it essentially). I do know things can change but in truth the issues have been caused by their workmanship, some things he's confirmed they've done incorrectly but just says it'll look fine.

I don't think it helps that my husband especially has really high standards, and my expectations are very high when paying a professional company to complete the work. Ultimately I expect it to be better than what we can do ourselves.

This whole thing has taken over everything it feels. Almost wish they'd just abandon the job and call it quits. We haven't made the final payment so would find someone else to finish the patio and my husband would do the grass etc.

I'm already thinking they won't clear all the old stuff like they are supposed to and we'll be stuck with it. So annoyed with myself for using them.

I'm having similar issues OP

A guy who was apparently really keen on building a landscaping business as his own entity instead of contracting work on building sites etc - gave us a price, said it would take 2/3 weekends as he fits it in around his FT job. Fine.

Well, he fell out with the other guy he was going into business with and we're now 6 months in. Have really struggled to get him to finish it off & tbh lots of things look a bit dodgy.

I think he underpriced too & didn't estimate properly how long it would take.

I would contact Trading Standards. My husband works for them and they often have dodgy builders they investigate. You may find there are other consumers that have contacted them about your builders and they can build a case.

Sorry to hear this. It's awful isn't it.
I do think he has hugely underquoted the work and has based things on being 'about' 10 sleepers etc rather than really going through it. I'd have rather he quoted more up front and we'd have made a decision based on that.

All the reviews seem really positive towards him so I'm worried we'd be being seen as being picky. But ultimately we should have high standards when viewing professional work shouldn't we?

Until the job is 100% to your satisfaction then don’t make the final payment, that includes clearing and cleaning up removing everything as planned

I'm not sure the good reviews are of any importance. A lot of people I'd imagine are like me and are so worn down by their building experience that risking their builder coming round and trashing the place or taking some other sort of revenge just isn't worth it. Our builder was really good until he strung along the last bit over about 6 months (having already done 8 months) and never actually finished all the final bits so we are doing them ourselves. But I just don't have any energy left to think about a review nor bravery to deal with any consequences

It's a rubbish industry all round - full of scammers and no one is the full picture- ie can do a good job and handle their admin and be reliable - you never get all of those together

Maybe you're right but it sucks as that's all you have to go on when choosing a company. I am just fed up with it now. Still not done and I can't imagine they'll be back any time soon as the weather forecast is pretty bad here for the next two weeks.
We will keep the final payment until all finished and cleared.

How much is the final payment (percentage wise). Can you agree what the work done so far is worth, pay that and sever the contract. And get someone else to complete the job.

We had similar with a roofer. One main guy who seemed to know what he was doing followed by a team of morons. It quickly became clear we had different ideas of what the job being done looked like. The job ran and when I spoke to him he'd complain about costs, which wasn't my problem, he quoted the job.

If he wasn't around I made sure I took pictures and emailed him at the end of every day to let him know what I wasn't happy with and stayed consistent in what I was telling him.

What I didn't do well was lose my temper and tell him not to come back before they were 100% finished. You need to stay calm with him, regardless of what he says, and that's sometimes easier in writing.

I looked into trading standards and citizens advice. In the end I didn't think it was worth it because you have to give the tradesman a fair opportunity to correct the work if you think it's incomplete or not up to standard, and I didn't want them anywhere near my roof again.

In your case I'd get down in writing what you expected the job to be, and what the job actually is, along with pictures or videos of things not being level or straight (spirit level on there if you need it) and ask if they think that's acceptable, and tell them what you expect them to do to put it right.

We have done that but although he's acknowledged he's not 100% happy how his guys have done it he's said it's not worth him putting it right as too much time to do, therefore he isn't and just says it will look fine once done and we won't notice it.
In all honesty I just want it finished now and we will then go from there. His patio work is good as done by him and we can't really afford to get someone else to finish the job as would be much more than the final payment and he certainly won't be giving us any money back.
Feeling being done with it. Something we were really excited about and now just completely fed up with it.

Yeah we had the same feeling. I do regret just wanting the job done and the bloke gone when I look back on it now. If your gardener has accepted it's not right but he's unwilling to make it right you might have a case for a refund. I'd be looking into the advice on citizens advice pages.

I'm sorry you're so disappointed. But I suspect he may be right that it will look okay when it's finished. While it is a work in progress you will focus on every little thing that looks slightly wrong. But it is a garden, it is subject to ground movements and the weather, and once planting starts to grow and you are using the garden rather than staring at it, you are less likely to notice imperfections.

I agree with the poster who said to focus on the 'must haves' and don't fret about smaller details. Realistically sometimes you do just have to let things go.

You’ve said his work is good - the problem is the work done by others on his team. I think the conversation you need to have is about him committing to finish the patio himself ( the part you are most worried about). You can acknowledge that it’s frustrating that the job is costing him money - but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t get finished to a reasonable standard.

I know this entirely misses the point of your post, but do you mind me asking roughly what the cost of this sort of renovation is?
We would really like to have similar work done (slope levelling, new patio etc) but have no idea how much we will need to save.

It really sucks and I would feel the same- there’s a special kind of anxiety about having saved up money for something and then feeling out of control with it going wrong. I think you and your husband both have to take a deep breath and put your assertive voice on and rationally explain to the guy why you’re not happy with things as you have here and be like ‘ok so what can we do to get this finished properly’? The fact you haven’t paid for half of it yet is in your favour. And if he ends up having a tantrum and not doing it properly then I’d say thanks anyway, not pay him the other half and get someone else to fix it and do a proper job. It’s hard but it’s not your problem he’s under quoted. First I would also check in with someone else you trust maybe that the things you’ve been stressing about are actually bad and not just that you’re getting too obsessive over details that no one else would notice.