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Kenosha Landscaping Inc

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Kenosha Landscaping Inc Reviews (1)

Review: In September 2004 I contracted Kenosha Landscaping to landscape and seed my yard as part of a new home construction. I also requested to have a retaining wall installed for a portion of east side of my front yard and in the rear of the house. I had requested a timber wall but the representative from Kenosha Landscaping recommended that I use a bolder wall instead of a timber wall. He said that “it would last forever” when a timber wall would only last for about 20 years and that there was “no maintenance required” for a bolder wall. I agreed with his recommendation and contracted them to install a bolder retaining wall. This wall is on the east front yard in an ‘L’ shape, following the sidewalk staring at driveway heading east approx 30’ in length averaging 2’ in height (2-3 boulders) and then it turned towards the house running another 30’ in length and ending at the house foundation increasing 4’ in height (5-6 boulders). The wall starts again from the foundation on the east rear side of the house approx 20’ long and averaging 4’ in height (5-6 boulders). The entire yard, seeding and foundation wall was completed as requested and everything seemed fine.

I was deployed in 2005 to Kuwait so I was unable to notice any issues with the bolder wall over this time frame.

In the Summer of 2006 I noticed that the wall was ‘falling in on itself’. This was more pronounced where the wall meet the house. The bottom layer had remained in place but the rocks above were leaning inward. The upper level boulders had moved anywhere from 2-4” inward from their original placement. It seemed that the dirt behind the rocks had been washing away. I contacted Kenosha Landscaping to have them look at the wall. They sent a representative to my houses and said “this was normal”. I asked them if they could fix this or if there was an issue with the installation of the wall but he again said that this movement was “normal” and there was nothing they could or would do.

In 2007 I again noticed that the wall was continuing to ‘fall inward’ now 3-5” off it’s original placement and now I noticed that not just the taller sections near the house were bad but the rest of the wall was showing the same signs. Again I contacted Kenosha Landscaping who again sent a representative. I reiterated my concerns from the previous year and showed them how much the wall was moving and showed him where the soil was washing away between the boulders. He again stated that this was normal and not to worry. I stated to him my specific concern of this wall that would “last forever” with “no maintenance” and 3 years later it had moved and needed to be repaired. The representative again stated that there is nothing he could do this is normal.

In 2009 my wife contacted Kenosha Landscaping to replace a tree that they installed in 2004 that had died. They came out to replace the tree and my wife again expressed grave concern to their representative regarding the shifting rocks and soil within the entire wall. She was also noticed the fence posts in the back yard near the wall were now leaning as well. My wife expressed her concern that these shifting boulders were becoming a safety issue. The representative told her that there is “nothing wrong with your rock wall.” I was deployed to Iraq during this year so I cannot confirm how much the wall shifted this year.

In the Spring of 2010 I noticed an appreciable difference in the rock wall from when I last saw it in the fall of 2008. It was also very apparent that a number of the fence posts lining the back wall were leaning as well. I again contacted Kenosha Landscaping very concerned about the structural safety of this wall especially where the wall met the foundation in the front and back. These areas were showing the greatest amount of movement. Again they sent a representative and we talked at length. I was convinced that there was an issue with how this wall was installed and that their “no maintenance” wall was in dire need of maintenance/repair. After a half an hour conversation their representative he was set that this was “not there issue”, “it was installed correctly” and “this is what bolder walls do”. They were unwilling to fix the wall.

I am not a landscaper. Kenosha Landscaping had told, me many times, that this was normal and wasn’t willing to do anything so I just continued to watch the wall to see what happened. Also during this time I started to notice many other bolder walls throughout my area. Most much larger than mine and much older and they were all standing upright. There are a number of walls in that my old neighborhood that I know are over 10 years old and anywhere from 5’ to 10’ tall that still look like the day they were put in, they are still upright.

In the Spring of 2013 I noticed that a number of boulders on the front wall near the foundation had ‘popped’ out of the wall and rolled into my neighbor’s yard. It was very apparent that was result of a continuing and I was convinced that this was not “normal” for a bolder wall no matter what Kenosha Landscaping has been saying for 8 years. So we called them again stating this new issue and our ongoing concerns since 2006. We told them they needed to come out and assess our wall again as it was now falling down. They again sent a representative to look at the wall. He and I talked at length. He stated that this was most likely wash-out from over-watering of our bushes and grass. I then asked if it is from over watering my bushes why is entire wall falling down not to mention the one in the back without any bushes. I didn’t get an answer. I then showed him photos of many other bolder walls that I had photographed that were older, longer and taller than mine that was still standing like they day they were installed and asked him why my wall didn’t look like this. Again, no answer. He did agree that there was finally an issue with the wall but since it had been 9 years since it was installed that there was nothing they would or could do. I reminded him of the numerous times that we contacted them prior that we noticed this issue only 2 years after it was installed. He then said he could help. He asked what did I expected him to do to. I asked for him to fix the entire wall and he said the best he would do was to give me an estimate on what it would cost to fix the wall from the foundation out approx 15’ in the front and the same in the rear and he would pay ½ of the cost. I asked why won’t Kenosha Landscaping fix the entire wall at their cost since it was obviously installed incorrectly. He said they wouldn’t cover that and he “was being more than generous”. He was very persistent that this was his best and only offer and if we didn’t take it they were not going to do anything. I didn’t think this was a fair offer as we had brought this issue to their attention numerous times with no resolution and that I shouldn’t have to pay for something twice. Again he said this was his only offer take it or leave it.

As of today, I still have no resolution on this wall issue. I paid Kenosha Landscaping over $10,000 for my entire yard project in 2004, and never got an itemized bill so I have no idea what it actually cost to install the bolder wall. This has become a safety issue with the boulders falling out of the wall not to mention my yard that is slowly washing away. The facts above speak for themselves and I believe that they installed this wall incorrectly.Desired Settlement: Request Kenosha Landscaping to repair my entire bolder wall back to it's original condition at no cost.

Business

Response:

The client built a new house and hired us to install his lawn almost 10 years ago. The builder rough graded the yards with very steep slopes at all the lot lines. This grading consisted of adding fill to bring the yard up to the house foundation elevation and sloping it down to the outer lot lines. It was graded mostly flat and then pitched severely the last 4 or 5' near the lot line. This caused the yard to be very small and not very usable because of the short distances to concrete and lot lines. It also made the steep slopes almost non mowable.

The client asked if a timber retaining wall would work to make the yard more usable and avoid the unsafe slopes for mowing. I told him it would and he asked for the cost. The timber wall by itself was approximately $10,000. He asked why so much and I explained that with a timber wall there is a great amount of base preparation work and major soil and gravel back-filling and compacting. Additionally timbers are buried and anchored perpendicular to the wall and back into the sloped hill and anchored as well. I also explained timbers would rot out in about 10 years. He didn't want to spend $10,000 for just a wall because he was already spending $7500 on his lawn and plants. He asked if there was a less costly alternative and I told him boulders would be the less costly choice. That is because boulder walls are built in an informal way. No base prep or gravel back-filling. You just place the boulders on grade and tamp soil behind each row or course as you build it up. At this time I specifically told the client his yard was going to be unique because all the yards were built up and the slope areas were very loose and not compacted. This was because rough grading equipment could not drive on the slopes to pack them down like the rest of the yards flatter area. He didn't understand what this meant in relationship to the boulder wall. I explained that with his wall, if we built it, it would have two things happen to it over the course of approximately ten years. One, the wall would never stay vertical over the years as it would settle or lean back into the yard until the ground finally stopped settling which is almost always about a ten year process. Second, boulders would start to move or pop outward from the wall to some degree related to water runoff. Water would slowly carry eroded soil to the location where it spilled over the wall and the eroded soil would slowly settle behind some of the boulders and start to push them out away from the wall and yard. I told him a boulder wall is informal and allows for settling and shifting boulders unlike other formal walls. He asked what he would have to do if/when the boulders started working out and I explained it was simply lifting a boulder out of its place, removing some soil behind it and replacing the boulder. He said he understood and stated he could deal with that and it sounded easy enough. I also said we should divert the water flow from two downspouts at the top of the wall to under the wall so that water flow to the wall would be minimized and help avoid some of the erosion. I told him that water from rain or watering the lawn or plants has to runoff somewhere and that the path would show up where the boulders start to work out or pop. I gave the client a cost of $2500 for the wall and burial of two downspouts. This made the entire job cost approximately $10,000.

When he called me back the first time in 2007, the walls had settled back a couple inches into the yard. I could see a couple of the boulders were starting to push outward from water erosion. I told him this was all normal and anticipated and that this is exactly what I had originally explained would happen. It seemed apparent to me that the client had either forgotten or disregarded the information I had given him when I built the wall. The client insisted we come back and rebuild the entire wall to make it perfectly vertical and flat faced. I told him we wouldn't do that and he had been told what to expect and how to take care of it. He was angry and said he would just rebuild it entirely himself. I told him it looked normal and fine except for the few boulders starting to pop and that he simply had to remove some soil behind a few boulders. He said if we weren't going to agree to rebuild it then to just forget it.

In 2009 we came out to replace a tree that had died after five years. The client was deployed and his wife had me look at the wall again. It looked approximately the same with a little more settling. I stated the same information from when I built the wall and as I had in 2007. She pointed out that the posts for a newly installed fence were starting to lean different ways. I told her the grade was still settling just like the wall. In 2010, the client called again to state the same thing. I met with him again and we had the same conversations as in prior years. He wanted his wall to be perfectly straight. We have a very good reputation and constantly do our best to preserve it. No matter how difficult the complaint is we always talk to the client and try to do what is right to find a solution. In most instances if it is minor enough and not our fault we try to just take care of it. In this case the client wanted us to completely rebuild his wall when it was not our fault and we had clearly gone over all the scenarios of what could/would likely happen over time.

In 2013, the client called again and said that some boulders have now popped out of the wall and something had to be done. I called him back and stated I would not come to just rehash the same conversations we previously had. I stated I would come out to give him an estimate to make the wall into what he wanted it to be. He agreed and when I got there he clearly didn't intend to get an estimate. He went back to the same conversation and again I told him it looked fine to me except where the boulders were eroding or popping out. At this point I started to think this would never end and for the sake of closure offered to cover half of the costs to take care of the popped boulders only. He said he would not pay anything to cover what should have never happened and wanted the wall rebuilt at our expense. At this point, I gave up. I offered one last time to split the costs and said once I left that I would no longer offer to do so. I also want to state that the client had told me he had at least two other landscapers look at the wall and they both stated to him that the settling and erosion was normal and the wall was fine. Why he told me that, I don't know.

In 26 years of business I have had only one other complaint with a planting and I did everything possible to try to resolve it but could not. In that instance, the Revdex.com ruled in our favor. We have built at least 100 boulder walls over those last 26 years. All were built the same as this one. All have some back settling which is normal. Only one other wall had a couple boulders pop out and the client paid us to remove the boulder, take out some soil and replace the boulder rather then doing it herself. We have done this process for the same client two or three times over the years because water cannot be diverted elsewhere and they understand this. With the complaintant, I offered to split the cost to help resolve the issue at our expense but that offer was rejected as well. I believe asking us to rebuild the wall at our expense is an unreasonable request.

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Description: Landscape Contractors, Lawn Maintenance

Address: 7301 60th St, Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States, 53144-7485

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