RS Grading and Landscaping

Fall 2020 Update: While Ralph is very personable and informative my following statements are not personal and are reflective upon the quality of work. The first red flag was the fact that Ralph insists on being paid by check and he refuses taking payment by credit card. The next red flag was the unethical predatory pressuring tactics he uses to pressure customers into signing and agreeing to hire him without first providing a bid for the job. Sadly our landscape job was only partially finished when Ralph left. We spoke several times before he left regarding my concerns that the grading wasn’t done according to my blue print landscape plans. He suggested I alter my plans and said that if there were any issues with the the grading then he would come back out and fix the mistake. So we called him up After confirming with our landscape designer that in fact the job was only partially done. So Ralph came out and said he couldn’t remember any of what transpired in the spring and insisted on giving a new bid to come back and fix the grading! He came out A second time to meet and deliver the bid but Instead he refused to let us see the bid without being ready to sign it. So I noticed a tactic of Ralph’s is to insist on giving and signing contracts all in the same day so if you are collecting bids in order to make an informed decision you may not get a bid from Ralph without a lot of pressure to sign it right then and there on the spot. If you are not working with a general contractor I highly recommend getting one before hiring a grading professional. I Have been my own general contractor for several different personal jobs on our various properties, I had my blue prints, I had my landscape designer and contractor and I knew what needed to be done and I kept insisting on Ralph following my plans but it just didn’t happen! I feel that he may have listened better to a general contractor. We have lost a few thousand dollars To Ralph and now need to pay another few thousand dollars to hire someone else to come in and do the job we already paid for and didn’t get done so this is very upsetting. Spring 2020 Ralph showed up to meet with us about our residential landscaping excavation and grading. He was very thorough and professional and started working with us the next day. He offered invaluable insight and suggestions to us from helping us to better understand how to install 2,900 sq ft of sod ourselves. He is very courteous and patient as well as offering sound professional recommendations when we ran into road bumps along our project. I highly recommend hiring him for any size job. He is reasonably priced and open and receptive with communication. I had tried calling other landscape contractors for the better part of two years but they either didn’t take on “small residential jobs”, didn’t return my calls or emails, or blew us off. What Ralph does is come in and get the land level and ready for whatever is coming next. For us this involved grading our 2,700 sq ft front yard so that we could install additional garden beds, mulch, grass edging, and install our sod. Then he moved his attentions to our back yard which is another 2,400 sq ft grading/leveling and cutting the soil down in preparation for Installation of cement patios, walkway, garbage slab, and bbq landing pad. He is also prepping the back yard for us to install our xeriscape plan of road base and fine crush topped pathways, garden beds, and open yard space for raised garden beds, shed installation, and a fire pit area. So he gets everything level and dug down and ready for home owners or professionals to come in behind him and finish the landscaping materials and building it all back up to a finished product.

I’m needing a lawn planted but they don’t do this actually but Ralph gave me step-by-step instructions…very helpful!!!

Does experience count? You bet it does. The builder left us with less than desirable grading with dirt that was a mixture of road gravel and cut cement with some real soil mixed in. There was little slope and I even wonder if the slope was enough to be legal. Ralph was recommended to us by several people who had experienced similar problems. He measured all the slopes around the house from various points at the foundation to points in the yard. He took time to understand what our landscaping plans were and adjusted his grading plans accordingly. In the cases where there just wasn't enough slope he offered several solutions. The end result of his work is we have a very workable grading solution that gives us a lot of flexibility in our final landscape plans. You will get everything from him that he has committed to, and then some. He is committed to the old fashioned value of a full measure of quality work.

Ralph is a fantastic contractor to work with. He communicates throughout the whole project and doesn't try to sell you more than you need. I can't recommend him highly enough.

Ralph asked me what my problem was when I called R&S Landscaping. Even though he knew he would not be able to provide the service I needed, he spent time explaining what I would need to do to resolve my problem! What an unselfish professional!

Ralph did a fantastic job on our project! Even when we threw him a few curveballs he got the job done quickly and professionally. We definitely recommend him! One thing I really appreciated is that he broke down the pricing so we knew exactly what we were paying for.

Ralph did such a great job on our yard! He graded it for us and put in a drainage system because we had water that would collect in a pool at the back. He knew exactly what he was doing and has years of experience. He was also very good natured and patient and we really appreciate all of his hard work. We would recommend him to anyone!

Ralph did a fantastic job ! His communication and attention to detail were wonderful! We’re so happy we won’t have to worry about water in the basement ! He did a great job!