Land Effects Outdoor Living Spaces Ltd.

We interviewed four landscape companies before we chose Land Effects. Keith and his team were extremely professional and listened to our ideas. Keith was very patient and designed a complete overhaul of our backyard. The design made great use of the space and the quality of the finished product was amazing. We transformed a backyard to an oasis with an outdoor bar and gas fireplace. We now consider our backyard as another room in the house. We think so highly of Keith and his team that we continue to recommend him to our friends and neighbours and we have also asked Keith to do the front yard in the spring.

Keith and his team did a great job turning the backyard from bare and spartan into a place we really want to spend time.

The project involved moving a garden shed to the back of the property, building a 2 level deck and transferring the previous interlock into a new layout/walkway. The team also enclosed the backyard so it has become more private and contained.

I was impressed with Keith and his team for several reasons:
1. His proactive service and regular calls to touch base and update. Any calls I made were promptly returned.
2. Keith brought ideas and took me outside my comfort zone to design something I could not have envisioned myself
3. He was flexible in recommending alternatives to keep prices in line.
4. His team was organised, cleaned up every day and were consideration of neighbours.
5. Keith managed expectations along the way - from timelines, pricing, and what to expect on the job site.
6. Keith gave good ideas and always considered both practicality/functionality as well as design and look.

I am really happy with the work that Keith and the team did and recommend them.

I interviewed 3 companies for the project. A complete redo of our front garden, I had no idea what I wanted, but knew what I did not like.
The first two companies were happy to do little, and suggest only simple solutions for my once horrible looking front yard.
Keith was very patience and talked me through the entire
process. He asked me to give him a price point I was comfortable staying in, and he would design accordingly. He was very flexible and easy to work with, even as I asked to change the design a few times.
His crew are hard working, extremely talented, polite and respectful. It's hard to find the craftsmanship of these gentleman these days.
The project included, soft scape, hard scape and wood construction. The stone work is beautiful and the wood construction is so solid that the crew had a hard time taking down part of a wall we decided wasn't working.
Even as we came across a small hiccup, Keith remained calm and professional, resolving the issue with little disruption to the time line and staying on budget.
Unfortunately, a week in he uncovered an issue bigger than expected, (which is to be expected in 100+ year old homes) The new issue required an outside company to come and complete some work before he could continue. This was an issue for me as I was out of town. With in days Keith arranged 2 different quotes for me, with references and was able to book the company I picked, all with little disruption to me. The entire issue set us back only a week and ran so smoothly, we hardly noticed.
I currently have a front garden that suits my home. It is beautiful, and timeless.
I highly recommend Keith and the Land Effects team.
Your home will love you for it.

We heard about Land Effects through the Home Star website. We got in touch with Keith and he drew up a landscape design for our front yard. His design really suited the style and proportions of our home. Keith played around with some of the materials to better suit our budget and we agreed on the final plan. Keith was hands on during the whole process and his crew were very professional and courteous. The job was completed on schedule and we are very pleased with the final outcome. We look forward to working with Keith and his crew on our backyard next year.

Keith and his crew have done 2 projects for us. In 2012 he did a complete redo of our front walkway including raised planter beds, interlock, lighting and irrigation. We were so pleased with the results that we had Land Effects back to complete a much larger project in our back yard.
The backyard project included obtaining a permit for city tree removal and obtaining permission from the city to access the park behind our house to in order to bring in large machines. As our west neighbours yard is much higher than ours, there was major grading and retaining issues with our project. Tons of armour stone and interlock were brought in through the park. Keith also redid our upper deck to make it more usable and created stairs for access into the yard below. In addition to the fiberglass pool, Keith designed a water feature that is truly spectacular. Keith had estimated a 2-3 month window for completion of this project and despite a very wet spring, he completed the job on time. Keith and his crew were reliable and punctual during the entire project. They cleaned up the site at the end of each day and made sure the park behind our house was repaired once the project was completed. They were very mindful of our close proximity to our neighbours – one of which worked from home and the other on maternity leave with her first baby. Both neighbours told us that the work being done was not disruptive to their lives. In fact, one neighbour wrote Keith a letter thanking him for being such a conscientious contractor. Due to budgetary constraints, we had to compromise on some aspects of the project, but Keith was good at coming up with alternatives that still made the end result spectacular. We decided to do the landscape lighting and most of the plantings ourselves to save money.
Only the highest quality materials were used and we are very happy with the results. Keith may not be the least expensive quote you obtain, but you will be very happy with the quality of work and timeliness of completion. We just love our backyard space now!

I am very pleased with the work that Keith, Justin and team did in my backyard. Professional, clean, and great ideas for changing a small backyard that was not really used to a whole new living space. I found Land Effects on Homestars based on other reviews and am happy to add my name to the list of those that would recommend this company. A pleasure to work with!

Marlene

This is a very professional landscape design and build company. I am a very satisfied customer and I would definitely recommend them to anyone who asks. Thank you so much Keith!

Keith and his crew were an absolute pleasure to work with and I would recommend them without hesitation to anyone looking to have landscape design/construction work done. Keith always responded promptly to my calls and emails and he and his crew were always professional, on-time and listened to any concerns we had. Thank you, Keith, for transforming our backyard. We look forward to working with you again!

I highly recommend Land Effects, so my review thoroughly details some key experiences I had with them. I believe that contractors with good work ethics and who give good results deserve to get some recognition.

PROMPT REPLY TO INQUIRIES:
I contacted Land Effects through their website’s Contact Form in mid-May 2012 to discuss landscaping ideas for my home and get a quote. I found his company on Home Stars and on the Landscape Ontario website. Keith Evans called me back and we briefly discussed the services that I was interested in. He also gave me a heads up that they primarily worked on larger projects (aka bigger budgets).

WORK REQUIRED:
My list of “landscaping- work-to-be-done” had accumulated over the years. I wanted to replace the front steps (which were falling apart), the railing, and cracked concrete driveway. As well, I wanted to plant a front and rear yard garden (to replace the forest of weeds), trim back existing trees, improve the grading in the front and back (because of water issues we were having), replace all the existing “red-and-white checkerboard” patio stones, and allocate space for my kids to play in and a space for a future storage shed.

INITIAL MEETING:
At our first meeting, Keith came out to see the property and discuss design ideas. He gave me some great ideas for features that I hadn’t considered before. He gave me a high level, ball park figure for what he thought the project could cost, based on what I said I wanted or liked. I understood that a more accurate cost estimate could only be obtained, if I could pinpoint what I really wanted done, so the labour and materials could be priced out.

DESIGN SERVICE:
Measurements were taken of the property. I told them what I liked and showed them sample photos I found on the internet and in catalogues, so they could get a sense of my personal taste and my husband’s (which sort of differed from mine). Then approximately 4 weeks later I met with the assigned landscape designer to review a draft landscape proposal plan. The plan consisted of poster-sized drawings of my property layout with info for the hardscaping (driveway, pathways, steps, patio), grading and dimensions, and proposed plants for my front and rear yards.

I gave them feedback by e-mail, after further review with my husband, and then the designer made some revisions for me. Though we had a landscape plan, it was not rigid and unchangeable. We made changes here and there throughout the project, with Keith’s guidance. He and his staff respected our design wishes and tried to seamlessly integrate them into the original plan.

DETAILED, ITEMIZED QUOTE FOR EASY BUDGET PLANNING AND TRACKING BY CUSTOMERS:
An important part of the whole process was the review of the initial quote. Keith provided me with a spreadsheet that itemized, in detail, the work and calculated costs. We were able to go through all the items and adjust them, based on our budget and priorities. For example, we eliminated some design features, reduced the size of certain stone areas and substituted the materials to upgrade or downgrade (e.g. natural stone vs. manmade). Keith patiently assisted us in balancing our budget with our wish list of features. The changes were documented and we received a revised quote to sign off on, which also outlined the payment schedule. In the end, we spent more than the quoted cost but that was because of the informed decisions we made about the final design. There were no costs that were a huge surprise to us. We were given a final statement at the end which accurately showed us our payment history and balance owing.

THE WORKERS:
Each day, the workers arrived approx. 8:30 am and left by 5 pm, after cleaning up the site. Equipment, tools and materials were always placed aside, so we could get in and out of our home and driveway. Some days, they would leave a little bit earlier because of the brutal summer heat. My retired neighbour commented to me that he thought the guys were very hard-working, as he saw them outside every day--even in the rain. We saw lots of progress each day.

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AND CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS:
Keith knocked on the doors of our neighbours to introduce Land Effects, and brief them on the work that will be done and the potential impact to them. At the end of the project, Land Effects laid down new sod for the neighbours, where it was dug up near the property line. They even helped improve the look of my neighbour’s patio stones by replacing a few of their pieces with leftovers from our demolition, since it required very little effort but would improve the relationship with the neighbour during the project.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN LEVELING AND RE-GRADING THE PROPERTY:
Prior to the start of the project, I thought that we possibly had a leak or crack somewhere in our walls or foundation because we would find a small pool of water in our basement after every major rainfall. However, Keith advised to let them take a look and try to address it with the grading before we contact someone else. We had a number of major thunderstorms in the Toronto area over the summer and in recent weeks. We have not had any flooding or pooling of water inside or outside our house, since the re-grading was done. We have noticed that the surface water disappears quickly after it rains now.
I must say that I am extremely impressed with the staff’s ability in completing the masonry and grading. My front door faces the west, and the property slopes down from north to south and from east to west. The different grading was not noticeable before, as we had nothing but a lumpy, hilly lawn, uneven patio and sunken driveway in front. However, we had them lay down paving stones in a large area in the front. They were able to successfully get the new stone walkways, raised planters, stairs and driveway to all meet up at various grades, so that they did not look crooked or awkward.

GREAT COMMUNICATION AND INTEGRITY:
There were a few occasions where issues or errors arose during the project. I believe that a large part of the project success we had with Land Effects was the constant communication, and being fair and reasonable in our dealings with one another. Keith was the Project Manager. We communicated back-and-forth throughout the entire project in person, by phone, e-mail and text messages. He always responded promptly and had his workers address any issues immediately. He always ensured that I was comfortable and satisfied with the work being done and the materials selected.
One item in the quote ended up costing a bit more but it was because someone didn’t correctly measure out an area. They absorbed that cost, since it was their own issue that caused the oversight. They never approached us to pay for the extra labour and materials needed to do the job.
When the workers moved our existing portable BBQ to our new rear patio, a plastic wheel broke. Keith went out and bought a new replacement and installed it for us.

A new storage shed was built for us. I was particular about the hardware I wanted and tried to source it out myself. It took some time for me to get it. Even though everything else was completed and Land Effects was paid in full, Keith followed up with me weeks later to see if I had found the hardware. He actually came back and helped me install it.

Because Keith seems to sincerely value his company’s and his own personal reputation, I think he would do whatever is right to ensure that customers are satisfied and that the work his company puts out meets his own high standard. He has committed to providing warranties to prove that.

SUMMARY:
The project resulted in the entire property re-graded with new drainage areas, a new driveway, walkway and patio areas laid with paving stones, natural flagstone borders and stairs, planters and retaining walls, some new fencing, new garden gates and a large pergola. Plants were selected and planted for us. Land Effects also constructed a wooden storage shed with sliding barn doors and aluminum roof. Our family and relatives were impressed with the dramatic new look of our home -- even though our new grass hadn’t fully grown yet and the flowers were pretty much gone by the time the plants went in. I cannot wait to see what the place will look like when everything is in bloom next year!

Overall, I found Land Effects staff to be honest, skilled and courteous professionals and their results were of a high quality. We did not have any negative experiences working with them during the whole project. I would definitely recommend them if you are the type of person who wants a structured landscaping project with organized details, items in writing and the opportunity to collaborate with a customer-focused team to create an outdoor space that you can enjoy.

I hired Land Effects to complete the landscaping of our backyard, front yard, walk way, stairs, and retaining wall. The work they did was well done. I would recommend anyone looking for a landscaper to get a quote from Land Effects; quality ideas and quality execution.