We are absolutely pleased with how Eco Minded Solutions transformed our entire front yard. They always made themselves available to communicate with us about the project from start to finish. We shared with them our ideas, they created an amazing design and together we collaborated on a final plan. We are extremely happy with the final results.
Excellent experience from start to finish. We even augmented our initial design and Barry and team were accommodating. The workers were polite, respectful of neighbors and offer a number of helpful suggestions. In hindsight their suggestions improved the outcome of the project. Thorough clean up at the end and we recommend EMS with no hesitations.
REVIEW UPDATE: So as time passes and and all the flaws in my landscaping design become apparent, I have buyers remorse. I can't say I'd recommend this company anymore.
1. Ineffective yard drainage. When I was going through the design process with EMS, I remember expressing that my number one concern was drainage. We had an unfinished yard on a new construction home and water was pooling everywhere. They installed drains, true, but as time passes I'm learning that all the drain heads aren't connected the way they were laid out in my design. It becomes a detective game with a hose trying to figure out which drain connects where... this is especially problematic when troubleshooting a clog. Additionally, several months after completion I was horribly disappointed to see moisture trapped against the foundation of my house. The filler construction muck on my lot allows for very little drainage. I would have hoped a knowledgeable landscaper would notice this problem during the design process. It would have been very convenient to have known about this prior to hardscaping so that we could have easily installed a French drain system around the foundation of the house. The design that was installed left drain heads in place at ground level, so all that water below the surface can't escape to my newly expanded yard drainage system. I'm not looking forward to tearing things up to fix this.
2. Cut corners on gas lines. We had a fire pit installed. Where ESM tied into my gas main, they used an incorrect fitting that would not tighten correctly. Whoever installed the fitting knew it was leaking because they filled the gap with sealant to pass the gas inspection. Three months later the sealant cracked and we had to call out a plumber to fix the gas leak by installing a correct fitting.
3. Plant massacre. Bad timing, we ended up planting in the hot season. Within one month we had lost over 100 plants. Our Project Manager told us as soon as we made the final payment he could schedule the replacement of the dead plants. After 2 more months of getting blown off by him we had to directly contact the owner to get it taken care of per the warranty in our contract. We were happy that they finally replaced the dead plants, but disappointed that all the care we had taken to choose specific plant species or colors no longer mattered because our warranty only covered like kind replacement. It had taken so much effort to get to replacement that we just let it go. 7 months later we are still waiting for many of the plants to start to look established. Spring is here, so who knows, maybe they'll come around? I can't help but feel that we should have hired a horticulturalist to know which species would have been best suited to our soil type and sun or not be decimated by wildlife. I don't think these guys were very knowledgeable on that front. I'm also convinced that the basic soil amendment I was promised during the design process never happened. Holes were dug, plants were put in holes, and space in between was covered with mulch, that's it.
I would still recommend them for hardscape. The fire pit looks great. Our concrete turned out well. And all of the fence work and wooden screens have nice straight lines. The pavers are nice and level, but I do wish they would have used the sand that locks in place between pavers. We've lost a lot of sand, so in the near future we're going to have to address that as well.
After an intense process of finding the right Design Build company we choose Eco Minded Solutions for a large home remodel project for our Carlsbad home. From the initial consultation to the completion of the project, everything ran smooth. The crew was always on time and often worked longer than expected to keep the project on track. Loving our newly remodeled home and would highly recommend Eco Minded!
My yard looks fabulous! EcoSystem Minded just completed a major landscaping project at my new home, on 2/3 acre. This included 3 acid washed patios, RV parking, custom gas barbeque, retractable pergola, DG paths, lots of trees, lighting--too many beautiful features to list. I am thrilled and the project experience was great. Mike Leggett managed the entire project and he and my foreman, Tony, made excellent recommendations along the way. I had a very firm $100k budget, which they were very mindful of and helped me make tradeoffs that did not compromise the beautiful outcome. I highly recommend this team!
We are very pleased with our home remodel and ground floor extension. We have an older Encinitas home that was long overdue for an upgrade. I am always skeptical of hiring contractors but I have to say my expectations were exceeded. They were easy to get a hold off and the whole project ran pretty smooth. Our Project Manager was committed to ensuring the project was delivered on time and we were happy. 5 Stars!
I was a client of them a few years ago. I like the style of most of everything they did to my yard.
The one reason I cannot rank higher is the sprinkler system. I would try and get something written into your contract that they will handle the repairs for the first year or something. I started having problems almost immediately.
The valves have broken, the system itself has broken, and they did not correctly segment the yard (meaning that the different areas that are watered do not match what they initially told me).
I don't know much about home improvement. So if there was one bit of advice...get them to spell out how they will cover the sprinkler system.
This has been an expensive error on my part.
And stay safe San Diego!
We were in search for an environmentally conscious contractor to massively upgrade our background. Other companies we met with seemed to have cutter cookie plans and the Eco team was creative and understood our vision from the start. Backyard looks amazing and neighbors are already asking who handled the the project. A huge thanks to Eco Minded Solutions!
We recently hired Eco Minded Solutions to remodel and upgrade our backyard. We hired their team because of their "eco minded" approach to landscaping and designing of backyards that was not only drought tolerant, but also comprised of attractive native landscape. They were also able to design hardscape, including a stairway and deck which added utilization to our otherwise unusable backyard hillside. Their team was timely, professional and transparent in their scope of work. Even in the few instances when we had questions or concerns, the owner made a special effort to personally address any open items so that the end product matched up with our vision. We now have a beautiful backyard that we can enjoy and actually utilize!
Eco Minded Solutions designed and completed a remodel of our side yard. It had been a mess of bark chips and an old garden shed. They helped us create a great park-like atmosphere along our house with a lighted flagstone path. Eco Minded Solutions did a great job and were very responsive to our input. We would definitely use Eco Minded Solutions again.
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