Martin Home & Landscape Solutions

In the beginning of January we had gone over all of the ideas we’d had for our yard with Nick, at the time he quoted $ 1,000. This included rerouting our existing irrigation, adding sod, adding gravel, replacing our three support posts for our porch, and relaying bricks that we’d provided (they were previously laid in our yard, we removed them ourselves). There was a possibility of him adding gutters, water cisterns, extending the irrigation to the front yard, and building a shed, complete with electricity.
We had decided to add concrete and extend our patio (separate company), which pushed out the start date with Nick to 3÷25−26. When we had our last meeting ³⁄₂₄ to go over everything again, and the price had suddenly jumped to $ 3,500. We paid half up front by check on ³⁄₂₄. It included, replacing posts, relaying the brick, rerouting irrigation, laying 289 sq. ft. of sod, bringing in 3 tons of ½−1″ Salt River rock, and putting in a ground drain for water removal.
The posts were properly supported at the bottom from what is visible. There were no supports at the header, just nails. I had to purchase and install proper supports myself. None of the poles were pressure treated wood; none were filled, sanded, or prepared for paint (we did all of that, including the primer and paint).
The «square» metal border for the grass was installed crooked, and the grass «square» has severe high and low spots. The irrigation to the grass is definitely off because the area is not «square» it is developing brown spots. We are constantly trying to fix the heads to accommodate the improper installation, and having to water by hand. The drip part of the irrigation, some of the lines pour water, some are almost dry, there are no heads to any of the lines, and there weren’t enough lines for all of the plants. We have had to add heads and lines ourselves. We also have already had an explosion of the 5-​line drip head splitter they installed, resulting in water waste.
The gravel brought in to the yard isn’t even close to enough needed. There was about a ton and a half left in his trailer that he wouldn’t leave here, and took it with him. There are bare spots, and the height difference between our grass and the rock makes the grass look like it’s on a pedestal.
There was zero prep work done to the ground before laying the brick. Zero. We had explained early on in his laying that there were humps, and it was uneven. At that time there was still an open trench in the area being laid, and nothing was ever leveled or compacted. Ever. We attempted to level things out a bit ourselves because we knew it wasn’t going to be done. He and one of his workers would sprinkle sand on the unleveled dirt, rub it with their hands, then smack the bricks as hard as possible with a rubber mallet to «level» them, resulting in countless bricks being chipped. The water was supposed to flow to the drain they’d installed, and it flows the opposite direction, and toward the house. The only spot that properly drains, is the part we’d leveled ourselves.
When they had «finished» we were unhappy with a list of things, obviously. We had a verbal agreement on ⁴⁄₁₄ with Nick that he’d fix the brick line, the grass line, bring in more gravel, re-​sand the brick (he’d said that was the problem, and it would be smooth after that), and set some pavers we’d gotten for a pathway, when he was going to come back in a week and a half to «mow and fertilize» the grass. He was paid in full on ⁴⁄₁₄ against our better judgment because he’s a «friend» and was going through a rough patch.
The night before he was to return 4/​23, I expressed that the bricks needed to be fixed as well and he’d said we’d talk about it the next day when he was here. He sent his business partner DJ instead; he only fertilized the grass, and told us Nick would get with us Monday or Tuesday. We heard nothing Monday, so we reached out Tuesday and heard nothing. We went weeks with zero communication from Nick in any manner. We finally heard through Facebook Messenger, asked for receipts and some sort of resolution, and have not heard from him since ⁵⁄₁₈.
Through investigating we’ve come to realize that Nick is not licensed like his business card states, and is registered as a handyman. Under the Arizona laws posted by the BBB he can not charge more than $ 1000 where we were charged $ 3500, and all advertisements must state, not a licensed contractor, and they do not.
We have given him months of time to make this right. We have done most of the repairs ourselves and are in the process of hiring another person to pull up and re-​lay the bricks properly, hoping we have enough material because of all of bricks that are chipped.

REALLY happy with Nick and his guys, who did a terrific job replacing our horrible white thorn acacia trees with new mesquites and trimming back blue palo verdes last Saturday. Tuesday they delivered and distributed 8 tons of new rock as well as repairing our irrigation system that had sprung a leak — we’re thrilled with how our yard is starting to shape up and look forward to more dealings with this great company! THANKS, Cut Above!

Called Nick and he called back immediately. Gave a very reasonable estimate. DJ came to perform yard work. They were VERY PROFESSIONAL and went above and beyond. EXCELLENT WORK!!! Thank you guys