Scott in Toronto

Clean Slate landscaped our front and back yard 2-1/2 years ago. I had waited until now to write this review in order to give them a chance to rectify the deficiencies but the office manager/wife, Nicole has become non-responsive to my emails. The deficiencies include – 1) the sanding between the patio slabs was not done correctly and large areas washed away within the few months and much more since then - the day they did the sanding it was beginning to rain/snow and they obviously rushed the job, not to mention you shouldn't sand with rain in the forecast; 2) a section where beach pebbles were put started growing weeds, upon further inspection, it turns out this was an area they neglected to put in under-cloth; 3) the front patio border was not finished properly and the front leading slabs are now tilting into the garden; 4) The natural stone front step should have been configured differently as they cut and installed the stone step in such a way that the natural contour had a significant depression in the high traffic area. Marc attempted to chisel the area leaving it with a greater depression and making it look broken and jagged; 5) the slabs they installed were not uniform in colour, one particular shaped slab was much darker than the others. I brought this to Marc’s attention when they laid the first few slabs and he checked with the supplier who said over time it would fade – not so – We had many discussions with Nicole abut this which fell on deaf ears. We addressed the sanding and the front step with Nicole numerous times and finally in January 2020 she replied in an email that they would re-sand and replace the step at the start of spring 2020. They never came back and Nicole has not responded to 4 follow-up emails. Furthermore, don’t take their word on a project start or completion date. They seem to overbook and always have various excuses as to why they aren’t coming as planned. Marc and the crew were good guys and they do relatively decent work but the management and their follow through is terrible. We paid them around $24,000. If you choose to take the risk and hire them, I would suggest keeping the initial deposit, at the time of signing, to 10% instead of the requested 30%. Also, hold back 10% if they say they need to come back at a later date to fix a few "minor" things. Lastly, beware of having beach pebbles put in, they are more like beach stones and rocks. I feel they misrepresented these in a sample photo where they had obviously wetted the stones to make them look shinny whereas when dry they look terrible. Such a shame that the office manager totally lacks proper business manner and etiquette. She doesn't seem to care about their customers anymore once the job is fully paid for.