Sand Castle Construction and Hardscapes Reviews (%countItem)
Sand Castle Construction and Hardscapes Rating
Address: PO Box 1946, Seabrook, New Hampshire, United States, 03874-1946
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This company is extremely difficult to work with. I hired them for Hardscaping and landscaping my new home in Hampton NH. They received a large deposit in May with a completion date of July 15-September 15. The project involved some wetlands so there were state and local requirements that had to be met. I had an erosion barrier in place which Ian agreed to remove once my lawn was established. They agreed to plant my wetlands plants which were also a state requirement, and "guaranteed"my lawn. The project was badly delayed resulting in my grass and plants being set too late in the season to get established. All of my wetlands plants died, which Sandcastle refused any responsibility for. My lawn is terrible, which he blamed on me not watering although it rained nearly every day in April and was watered faithfully when it did not. He also refused to remove the erosion barrier unless I taped a $500 check to the front door. There were numerous issues in addition. I am sorry I ever met this person and sorrier still that I hired him. He will promise anything to get your deposit then threaten you if you expect him to complete his work as promised.
We signed a contract with this company on 6/18/2018 for completion of a major landscaping project to occur by 11/1/2018.
Contract was signed on 6/18/2018 for completion of a major landscaping project ($90,000) by 11/1/2018. The project was only partially completed by that date and the owner told us that we would be his "1st customer in the Spring for completion". This has not occurred. He has continued to make promises, not follow through, and then get caustic with us. He had a major anger outburst during one phone call, using high volume and lots of expletives. He has threatened us with legal action for "slander".
We have lived in this area only 2.5 years. Neighbors who have lived in this area much longer than us stated that the owner, and his company, are infamous for poor follow-through with contracted services. Workers employed by this owner have informed us that this owner has had many other similar problems with other customer contracts.
We have tried to communicate and collaborate rationally with this owner, but to no avail.
Thus far, we have paid this owner $80,000 and the project continues to languish. On the plus side, the work that has been done thus far has been high-quality.
We continue to wait for the following to be completed: (1) Stone work: the construction of two stone columns to support an estate gate at the base of our driveway. (2) Fence and gates: we have contracted for an aluminum fence with three walk-through gates to be installed... in addition a large estate gate is supposedly on order. (3) Sod: the yard is to be fully covered with sod. We have concerns that with this delay of many months, that sod will not be able to be put in place during the hot summer months and therefore, may get delayed even further. (4) Patio blocks: there are small areas that were not level when installed and therefore, water pools after a rainstorm and does not drain. This is a major safety concern in the winter as the area can ice over.
Document Attached***
New England's winters are brutal let alone winters in New Hampshire... Sand Castle's crew worked well into November of 2018 until the ground had frozen to see that substantial progress be made on the project. Come the Spring, work continued as planned. March 3rd 2019, homeowners signed a second contract with Sand Castle for additional work to be done at the same residential address, homeowners took several weeks to decide on custom ordered materials in turn causing delay of completion. Furthermore Aprils rain showers set back progression. It is for this very reason that our contract states a weather clause. July 1st 2019, homeowners file a complaint to the Revdex.com regarding Sand Castle's tardiness; what they failed to mention is the $15,000 in additional work they added in March and $7,500 in July of 2019. July 23rd 2019, homeowners sign a third contract with Sand Castle for additional work after submitting their complaint to Revdex.com on July 1st. Sand Castle proceeded with the contract agreement blind to the fact that the homeowners had submitted a complaint against them. Please see attached contracts for proof of accuracy. Surely Sand Castle's professionalism and quality of work cannot be as bad as claimed if prompted a second and third time by homeowners for rehire.
Cordially,
Ian R ( President )
Sand Castle Construction
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The initial contract stated that the work in that contract would be completed by November 1, 2018. Though the contract was signed on June 18th, the company did not initiate work for several months. When we asked Mr. R why he was not initiating work during the summer months, he stated that he "did not want to leave (us) with a muddy backyard" for the summer and that his company would have "sufficient time to complete the project by November 1st". Mr. R mentioned "winter weather" as a reason for the delay. Winter starts officially in December. This work was to be completed by November 1st.
When the work was obviously not going to be completed, Mr. R assured us that we would be the "first" project he would complete in the Spring. Certainly, April was a rainy month. However, there were many weeks of good weather, yet it seemed quite clear that Mr. R was not prioritizing our project. I happened to talk with another individual who had engaged Sand Castle for a project. Like us, that individual's contract called for completion of the project in the Fall of 2018. And like us, that individual was told that his project would be "the first" that Sand Castle would tackle in Spring, 2019. I know also that currently, the work on that individual's project is languishing, similar to ours.
Given the many delays in our project, I then texted my partner and he forwarded the text to Mr. R. In that text, I expressed my exasperation and stated that if the project did not get moving, I would be contacting the Revdex.com, social media, and perhaps the courts to get satisfaction. Mr. R called us, screaming with an expletive-filled rant. Mr. R then stated that we "would have to deal with (his) lawyer".
We then did hear from the lawyer (Mr.) who stated that Mr. R wanted a "new contract". We then had a civil and productive email exchange with the lawyer in which we went line by line and indicated to him that we had been abiding by the contract, and submitting monies at the designated times... but the project was languishing. On 7/3/2019, Mr. wrote the following to my partner and me.
"The remaining work will be completed as follows: Stonework/patio repair will be completed within 17 days (probably sooner) of this written addendum/assurance. Fence and gate install to be completed within one week of delivery of material (custom gate and fence scheduled to be delivered in 3.5 weeks). Construction of natural stonewall and columns for custom gate completed before delivery of custom gate and fence. Complete sod work, front yard landscape bed, and final cleanup following install of fence and gate. Gate install and fence install are dependent on delivery date of those materials. If they are delivered on time, then that puts job completion at approximately 5 weeks. - ***"
I wrote back with great appreciation for all of his efforts.
Note: That letter from Mr. was written on July 3rd. I had submitted my complaint to the Revdex.com on July 1st. Apparently, Revdex.com had reached out to Mr. R on two occasions with no response. Seemingly, Mr. R was not aware of the Revdex.com complaint until recently.
I wrote the following to the lawyer, Mr., on 7/31/2019.
Good morning Mr.: My partner, ***, had telephone contact with Ian R yesterday. Per ***, Ian stated that I had made a complaint to the Revdex.com (which is in fact true). According to ***, Ian stated that "*** needs to reverse his Revdex.com complaint before (Ian) will come back to work on (our) landscaping project". Per ***, Ian went on to state that "(we) need to sign a document that (we) will not trash him on social media. If (we) don't, he will involve his lawyer".
For the record, the report to the Revdex.com was submitted several weeks ago on July 1, 2019. I know that the Revdex.com had notified me that they had reached out to Ian on two occasions in order to get some kind of resolution of the situation.
From my perception of Ian's statements to my partner ***, it seems that Ian is literally trying to blackmail *** and me, which I believe is illegal. Additionally, it also appears that Ian is reneging on the contract (note: 7/3/2019 "written addendum/assurance) which you had so carefully drawn up. That contract and timeline had the full support of *** and me.
*** and I are hopeful that with further intervention from you, this situation can be immediately remedied. Otherwise, we will need to turn to the courts for appropriate resolution.
Thank you, ***"
Status report: As of today (August 2nd), no work has occurred on our landscaping project for over a week. Much to my dismay, my partner (without my knowledge) signed a contract with Mr. R (on 7/23/2019) for his company to install a new driveway. Per my partner, this was to be a "surprise". While I would like our driveway repaved, and may have contracted with Sand Castle to do that job in the future, I most assuredly would not have signed a contract for further work, when the previous work remains undone.
During my partner's conversation on that day with Mr. R, Mr. R shared that the "fence had been delivered" but he "did not know when he would be able to get to it... and he would let us know."
Mr. R made a point about the quality of Sand Castle's work, and I am in agreement that the quality has been very good. When my partner and I have noticed problems with construction, Mr. R has instructed his work crew to make the necessary changes. We are pleased with the quality of the work to date.
We are NOT pleased with the timeliness and the drama.
All along, all we have wanted has been to get the project finished, with sufficient quality. We have been very diligent with our contractual obligations. We simply want Sand Castle to do the same.
Respectfully submitted,
***.
We stand by our original response. We remain in direct contact with Bill's partner and are seeking to get this situation resolved in a fair and timely manner. The partner and I spoke today, August 12, 2019 at 10:03am and he has full updated information on the status of the projects.
I too had heard that Sand Castle does good work. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with my project. Delay after delay, no timeline for completion, the work that was done was subpart. I would not recommend him to my enemy, never mind a friend. My sense is that he over commits and when he gets in a bind, will use subs that lack the experience. If you are lucky to get his core team, great, but if its his B or C players, heaven help you. Clearly, not a professional way of doing business.
In 2016, *** hired Sand Castle to install his paver driveway, walkway, and granite staircase. This year, 2017, he hired Sand Castle to install a deck and patio. If our work was so unsatisfactory, as he claims it to be, then why hire us a second time? Surely not for our prices as this was an issue too.
The motive for this negative review stemmed from this years bad weather delays. All but one of our 50 customers were understanding of New England's wild weather causing delays. It is unfortunate that out of the hundreds of happy customers we see each year there aren't more positive reviews written, rather only people stewing with anger take the time to write negative reviews.