Stumper Landscaping

We met with Bill for an on-​site estimate and sent him our landscaping plans almost three weeks ago. Since then, we’ve reached out to him regarding a written estimate and have yet to hear from him. Very disappointing.

Very disappointed to be leaving negative feedback for Bill as he came recommended by a friend and Unilocal and seemed so professional and knowledgeable when we met with him. We needed to convert part of our sprinkler system to drip and wanted to update our other lawn sprinklers to be more efficient. Based on our friend’s recommendation, I knew going in that Bill was not going to be the least expensive option but I’m always willing to pay more for quality work with quality parts. Bill responded very quickly to our initial email and came out to meet us right away. He talked to us in great detail about what we wanted and about different options he could do and then said he’d send us an email with the cost break-​down. The email he sent had specific details for the drip-​conversion (with pressure regulator) portion of the job and a total cost of $ 875 for the project. However, he didn’t specifically mention the portion about changing the lawn sprinkler heads and I was unclear as to whether the $ 875 was for everything we had talked about. I emailed about it and he sent a quick, «oops forgot to include that» follow-​up email that said it would be $ 15-​$ 25 per head and that he would be eliminating several heads entirely at no extra cost. At this point I was still a little confused because I still didn’t have a bottom-​line, out-​the-​door final cost for the whole project. I called and left him a voicemail saying if I understood his two emails correctly that it sounded like the entire final cost would be between $ 1200-​$ 1300. I repeated that if that was correct — $ 1200-​$ 1300 — that, yes, we would like him to start. He called back to say that he thought my math was a little high and that the total would be less than that. Based on this assurance, we offered him the job.
The resulting outcome was a laundry list of «little things» that added up to a disappointing overall experience. The final invoice was $ 1485 — 15% higher than my high-​end estimate that he confirmed, verbally, he would be under. He offered no explanation and when I asked for one he said he needed to completely replace all the heads so they were all $ 25 and there were a total of 23 heads. He also tacked on an additional $ 25 for labor for capping off the (evidently very few) heads that were superfluous. I thought I had remembered him saying that would be no extra charge but, at the time, I couldn’t remember if I had it in writing or not so I let it go. (I later checked and it turned he had explicitly stated it would be no charge.) When he came for the consult, he told us that the ½ inch hose for the drip system would be, «completely buried; you won’t even see it.» When he finished the job, the hose was completely exposed all the way around the perimeter of our yard. He said he left it that way so we would know where it was and said it was simple to cover over. For the quarter of our yard where we have mulch this was true, but (I realized later) for the rest of our yard where we just have dirt, the hose was just sitting loose on top of the ground, not stapled or secured in any way.
When I went to mow the lawn the next weekend, the mower completely shattered one of the pop-​up lawn sprinkler heads because it was sticking up way too high above the level of the ground. As I looked more carefully I noticed that several others were way too high which would not only make mowing difficult but could be dangerous for my son or his friends to trip on. At this point he had been paid in full so I called him and asked if he could tell me the part number and tell me how to replace the broken head and tell me what I could do about the ones that were too high. I was fishing a bit, hoping he would offer to stand behind his work and fix the problem as it was due to his poor workmanship. He called me back and said he could be there in 15 minutes. He replaced the head with one that was two inches shorter and said that I should pack dirt around the other ones that were too tall. Then he told me he wouldn’t charge me for the service call but the part was $ 25. I reminded him that he had charged me $ 25 extra for capping the old heads and told him that I went back and checked the email where he said that it would be no charge and I suggested that perhaps we were all even because of that. At that point he abruptly said, «I have another client, we’ll square it up later,» and left in a huff. I forwarded him the email that proved he had over-​charged me and he never wrote back.
Simply stated, Bill charged us a premium for services he simply did not provide. He nickel-​and-​dimed us and did not stand behind his work.

I was given the task to head the renovation of a family home. After 3 months of meeting w/​contractors, plumbers, handymen, painters etc… I’m now heading into the home stretch. One of the last things to do was to have our irrigation system (which consists of approx 80 sprinklers) checked and have some valves and sprinkler head moved to different locations to enable an electric driveway gate and fence to be put in. After months of meeting w/​different professionals for various projects, it can get pretty tedious and tiresome trying to find the right person for each job. You always hope and try to find someone honest and who will do a good job at a reasonable price and Bill at Stumper Landscaping certainly fit all those requirements and more. I wish everyone I hired during this process was as professional and easy to work with as Bill and his team was. He is very knowledgeable in sprinklers and everything landscaping but the best quality he had was his honesty. I thought I would need many sprinkler heads and several valves I thought were leaking badly replaced, but Bill pointed out most of the sprinklers just needed to be adjusted and the valves just needed to be tightened or have a washer replaced. He could have easily told me yes, they all need to be replaced with new ones which would have resulted in me spending a lot more money. But he was honest and never tried to upsell me on anything and only recommended repairs on what truly needed to be repaired. And because this is towards the end of all our renovations, our budget was getting pretty tight and the price Bill quoted was great and more than reasonable. Him and his crew members David and son Jonathon worked diligently and very hard and to get the job done right. As he was doing each repair, he would explain step by step what he was doing, telling me specifically what each part was and what tools he was using… basically giving me a Intro to sprinkler/​landscaping 101 in case something arises in the future, I may be able to try fixing it myself. And if I don’t succeed, I’ll be sure to call him back. Highly recommend.

Stumper Landscaping is the best. Bill and his team are professional, efficient and offer very fair prices. We recently had a family medical emergency in the midst of a major DIY patio overhaul. Bill and his team came to our rescue and turned our sad patch of dirt into a beautiful modern patio. These guys can do it all, brickwork, stump removal, patio design and landscaping. Highly recommended.

Bill came over to replace some leaky sprinkler valves in my front yard and adjusted all the sprinklers as well as replaced the sprinkler heads in my back yard for less than I would have expected it to cost. He has a really high level of customer service and doesn’t try to up-​sell you on things you don’t need. I highly recommend his services.

We use them to place a tree on a truck and get rid of it for us. They were quick and good price.

Very professional. Quick response to my estimate request, thorough and clearly explained inspection/​proposal. Made me a referral to a tree removal expert to help me get what I needed done before he did his part, and that contractor was also highly professional. Showed up when scheduled, with confirmation/​reminder communication in advance.
Once on site they were efficient, effective, and considerate. They handled crazy neighbor drama with professionalism and aplomb, and warned me of the situation in case there is any fallout. Their work encountered an unexpected ½″ water line. Based on on-​site conditions and what was dependent on that line, they determined fixing it in place rather than relocating was the most responsible course of action. They only charged me $ 25 for the extra hour’s work and hardware store trip despite the fact that technically they’re not responsible for unknown underground improvements.
I will definitely call him first for the other landscaping/​stump removal issues I have in mind.