Yard Masters

Own a property in Merced. Personally set up my service with the owner Juan almost 4 years ago now. Yard masters routinely services my yard every month. Requested a stop in service about 3 months ago. Called this week to reinstate and continue service. Juan didn’t remember me or my home? I’m also being charged an extra clean fee which is the same fee that I was charged when I began the service almost 4 years ago in which the yard had been unattended to for almost 2 years at that time. It’s only been 3 months? I thought they valued my long term business but I’m guess I’m wrong.

This business is very careless with their work. Despite being given specific instructions not to trim a tree in our backyard, they did it anyway. What really makes this upsetting is our dog that is dying from cancer used the shade from that tree as her bed. IDIOTS.

Yard Masters was one of three bids I got for cement work on a new shop and water tank slab I was having built. They were the low bidder by a fair margin and were awarded the bid. Several things were wrong from the start. As soon as work was being started, I got a call from the owner stating his bid would not be honored because it was for a much smaller slab than was laid out, even though they had the plans and made an onsite inspection. Mistakes can be made, so I agreed to a price adjustment.
Here is what I got:
(1)The shop slab was poured 12 inches thick (specs called for 6 inches) waisting a fortune in cement which yard Masters has sued me for. Not to mention it is so high off the ground that access in and out is impossible without extensive fill and a retaining wall being built. If that wasn’t enough, water on the slab puddles about an inch deep in the middle collecting around a support beam which was placed below grade, which sooner or later will rot.
(2)The water tank slab, which has to be perfectly level, was bid to be excavated into a gently sloped hillside with a 6 inch slab. You guessed it. Virtually no excavation and a slab using double the concrete. This monster is poured 19 inches thick on one end. But the worst part is that the slab is totally unusable. It is 15 inches out of level from one end to the other.
(3)In addition to the worst workmanship possible, I was billed for changes to the bid
that were not authorized.
So, it was the worst possible experience, worst possible workmanship, and I am facing a pending lawsuit for not agreeing to pay for their mistakes.
I have documented this fiasco with pictures and a bid from another contractor for the corrections. I can be contacted by email at
. I hope this helps others avoid Yard Masters «Low Bidder» trap.

Got a house in merced that needed landscaping in the backyard, so we started calling contractors around the city and decided on YardMasters because they were licensed. In summary… we were very disappointed in their customer service and their lack of response to our questions. their work is okay, but more expensive.
We met with one of the owners who seemed really helpful, but once we gave them the first deposit, we found it hard to schedule when they would come. They would show up randomly in the morning and ring the doorbell (i guess as a courtesy to let us know they were there. but who wants to answer the door at 6am to find no one at the door). plus they would leave piles of dirt in the middle of the driveway, and cars blocking the driveway so we couldn’t leave without causing a huge ruckus.
they offer monthly service/​maintenence for about 100 a month to help keep out the weeds (of which they didn’t even clear out… just covered it with dirt).
the backyard looks fine… but it wasn’t worth the hassle.