I wouldn't recommend working with Sam for any concrete or landscaping jobs.
We hired him in Fall 2022 to complete outdoor concrete walkway, fencing and sod removal and replacement at our family home in midtown Toronto.
Phase 2 for Spring 2023 was for fence and sod work. He quoted a premium rate of just under $8000 for 480 square feet sod removal and disposal, replacement and a 25 foot fence removal and replacement. When it came time to collect deposits, Sam seemed anxious, dropping by my home on short notice multiple times to obtain his cash payments. 3 in total. 5 visits in total. Unfortunately, this was the most we ever saw him throughout the project.
His crew did okay with the concrete work, but mid-way through the project, what his crew delivered fell way short of our expectations:
A fence with a poorly built gate that he promised to and never replaced
2 concrete post blocks were left in the ground from the old fence removal, inhibiting lawn growth
For the sod work, he said his crew was continuously delayed on completing it for health reasons. Then he claimed a personal injury, hospitalization and recovered really quickly and was able to disappear in Ottawa for over a week to work on a more important project, etc.
Eventually Sam & I agreed to cancel the rest of the sod work and he agreed to refund the $2K third deposit. Repeatedly, arrangements and attempts were made for him to return it; however, to date, he has not refunded the deposit nor completed the gate replacement. I'm not sure what's going on exactly - if he's having cashflow problems or something else - but it has been an upsetting experience. I wouldn't recommend hiring this company at all.
See photo for the fence he charged ~ $6k to build (includes tear down of the old one).
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