Complete renovation of two backyard gardens, including brick wall
Tom and Bestway Removal are fantastic, not just for demolition and removal, but for any number of construction services. Tom is a dream to work with---you will not find a nicer, more accommodating person, and he will not rest until you are completely satisfied (a real feat, since I am a serious perfectionist). The same is true of the hardworking sons, nephews and skilled tradespeople that are part of Tom's local and extended team.
I first contacted Tom about removing a large concrete pad and walkway in my largely paved-over backyard in preparation for putting in a garden and patio; he did so for a very reasonable price (around 1K) even though the job turned out to involve much more work than we originally thought (there were layers upon layers of brick, gravel, and concrete underneath). In the course of this project, I found out that Tom (a former contractor) has connections to highly skilled and reasonably priced tradespeople, including bricklayers, carpenters, and flagstone installers. From then on, we embarked---with me doing most of the designing and Tom arranging and supervising the various projects---on turning my backyard into a real garden paradise.
Our first big constructive project was to put in a beautiful aged-looking brick wall around the garden area. This was tricky work, requiring that Tom install a deep foundation (you can trust him to tell you exactly what you need to do to ensure a result that will stand the test of time) so as to avoid injuring existing plantings on our property and our neighbor's, and also with an eye to precisely and stably installing a heavy antique gate. Joe, the "brickie" that Tom brought in, did a beautiful job---here again, not easy, since the aged-looking bricks were quite uneven. The result was amazing---so amazing that my semi-neighbor wanted to do the same thing on his side, and indeed, we ended up taking down the fence between our backyards and extending the brick wall to make a unified double-wide enclosed garden.
Other projects that Tom arranged and supervised included installation of a large cedar deck with diagonal boards, almost every cut of which had to be specially measured, and the installation of green flagstone patios for me and my neighbor (the green flagstone, which looks great with the aged rosy brick and light green gate, was Tom's excellent suggestion). Again, the results have been really beautiful.
Beyond the basic structural elements Tom and his helpers regularly went above and beyond, putting in loads of dirt wherever I wanted, helping me with plantings (sometime even unplanting and replanting, with never a word of complaint), taking me to the masonry yard to pick out bricks, to the lumber yard to pick out cedar boards for the deck, to the nursery to pick up plants, etc. etc.
On top of all this incredible service and skill, Tom's pricing is always fair, and even with his supervising the various construction projects (highly recommended) I estimate that the costs for these was about 1/3 less than quotes I had received from individual tradespeople and about 1/2 of what it would have cost if a landscape design company had done everything (plus, I doubt the results would have been as good, since most don't have Tom's connections to skilled tradespeople). Summing up: Tom's a gem; I recommend him and his company with no reservations whatsoever.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $25.00