COLS Landscaping

Brad visited me late spring of 2020 and provided me with multiple options of repairing the damaged stairs which had sunk over the years due to poor installation practices by the initial contractor (see first two pictures). He was courteous and professional. After shopping around during the pandemic year where good contractors are hard to come by, I decided on Cols Landscaping. Brad kept me on his waitlist and keep me informed as to when he would be able to perform the work. The work started in October and involved removal flagstone caps and rises where the emphasis was to save as many as stones possible. A full excavation about 4 feet deep occurred and rebar was used to so the pour concrete foundation would be pinned to the house foundation. Once the foundation dried, cinder blocks filled with mortar were used as the foundation for the steps. The flagstone caps and risers were then added. Lastly, about eight feet of interlock walkway was lifted with additional bedding so the interlock was higher to the first step. Last two pictures shown final result. The job took about six working days to complete.

Overall, great job by Cols Landscaping, but I subtracted half a point for not providing clear communication on using cinder blocks instead formed concrete and also the tread on the first step was too short compared to others which was rectified. The second half a point was subtracted as I felt the price was slightly higher than it should be for this type of work.

In conclusion, I am satisfied with Cols Landscaping and must give full credit to Brad's crew who work exceptionally hard. In addition, Brad was customer centric and responsive when we were unhappy with the tread of one the steps being short and not uniform with the others. He is a problem solver and rectified the issues promptly. I do recommend Cols Landscaping to others.

Brad and his crew did an amazing job. Right from the beginning with helping us plan out the project to recommending the "right" stone for our home. Brad was helpful, knowledgeable and always available to discuss different options. Everyone on his team were friendly and used their many years of experience to "get the job done". We never felt as though we were rushed in making decisions and Brad worked within our budget. There was very little clean up after the job was done and they honored our request to stay off the lawn as much as possible.

We will definitely be calling Brad again for other projects around our home. We plan on recommending him to our family and friends.

Thank you Brad for making our home look beautiful again!

Tony and Luana

Last year Brad and his team renovated our backyard (check out photos in Gabriela F.'s review here) and they did a great job. This year we had them back for a nice renovation of my driveway, front porch and front yard. We're so happy with the results, they delivered exactly what we had envisioned. In our experience, Brad and his team were committed to customer satisfaction all the time, making changes and adjustments as the project evolved. I really recommend COLS Landscaping for your project.

We were very pleased with Brad from the first meeting, he listened carefully to our needs, offered good recommendations and inspired confidence that his firm was worth selecting.
The schedule estimate he gave in May was bang on in July, pricing was on the plus side of competitive. A last-minute request to excavate and install a concrete footing was perfectly handled without any issues. The crew were personable, courteous and did a great job.
We’re delighted with the completion and happy to recommend COLS Landscaping.

Brad was great to deal with.... in the beginning. Seemed very honest and down to earth and usually a great judge of character. However, after paying the balance because I thought I could trust the final fixes to be done...it didn't happen.
There were issues that were never resolved and left TO MY OWN TO FIX !
** 2 YEAR WARRANTY AS THE AD STATES IS ONLY AS EFFECTIVE AS THE OWNER RETURNING YOUR CALLS and then....honouring the warranty**

1/ seemed to be 2 different crews working on my job. 1st half of patio stones was done pretty nicely....2nd part was obviously rushed, messy and not nice - obvious difference with overwash of grout.
2/ Clothes rack was smashed with the machinery, which Brad had credited so that I could purchase a new one. But, I had to remove the old one and dispose of it myself.
3/ The shed was raised to accommodate stone patio. Very shabby job done with "shimming" of scrap stone cuts, slabs and wood cuts and gravel that washed away causing shed to sink / tilt. This was eventually, "fixed" after multiple calls and a request to pay an additional $200 (which i refused), it was shimmed up again with more stone cuts but I could already see signs of stones washing away....will see what happens after winter.
4/ "wall stones' were much too high and unsupported which lead to them leaning over within a few months. I laboured myself to fix them by removing the top layer and removing and releveling the bottom layer. I had to do this as Brad no longer returned my calls at this time.
5/ The price of $4K + was comparatively low....but that was my mistake of taking the cheapest bid and now dealing with the outcomes.

Brad and his team were exceptional to work with throughout the entire project - from proposal to planning, to starting the work and cleaning up the site. Brad was responsive every step of the way and the workmanship demonstrated by him and his team was outstanding. We are very happy with the end-result. Thank you!

Brad and his crew treated it like it was the largest project they had ever worked on. They turned up on time, were pleasant, professional and willing to make suggestions that improved the project.

Being something of a 'neat freak' I appreciated how tidy there were, cleaning up at the end of the day, sweeping the street where they had had material dumped off.

We would recommend Cols landscaping without any reservation.

Brad and his team did an excellent job for us. We had a concrete patio in our backyard that started to sink and was tilting towards the house. It caused water to pool and seeped into our basement. Our backyard was also improperly graded, so it got quite swampy during rainy periods.

The team worked hard to remove the concrete patio (which was thicker than expected) then regraded with new soil and laid sod. They created a swale to guide water away from the house.

We especially appreciate that even though the work took longer than they estimated due to the concrete thickness, Brad kept to the quoted price.

We got the proof of their excellent work when the next rainstorm hit and our basement stayed dry. Thanks again Brad. And please relay our appreciation to your team members who were so friendly and worked so efficiently.

Chris & Tina
Hamilton

Brad and his team did an amazing job in our backyard renovation. Since the beginning he managed to figure out a way to do the project despite our house didn't have machine access. They managed to get the job done in less than 3 days and it was exactly what we were looking for!

I had an amazing experience with Cols Landscaping. Karla was a great person to deal with. She was a great communicator before, during and post project. Everything was completed on time and on budget. Karla took time to visit, give a detailed estimate and drawings of the proposed changes. Other companies would only give quotes over email and very few would actually show up. The quote was even lower than other companies!
Brad and his team were very professional and some of the most polite workers that I've ever met. There were only minor issues with the workmanship and when I communicated my preference, the team was quick to correct it, no push back at all. I highly recommend this company! Check out the before and after pics.

UPDATE: Shortly after two years two stones are cracked right through and water doesn't drain properly and pools in one corner of my patio.