How does this look?

[dpullen4]

I live in a neighborhood that just began construction 3 years ago. We live in a loop and in order to "build up" the entry way, the builder asked permission to add landscaping at their expense and to maintain these areas until all the homes were built. My neighbor and I agreed.

It's been 2 years now and they look horrible. My idea and their idea of "maintain" must be completely different. My trees look horrible and one has already been replaced, as they couldn't get it to stay in the ground without a small gust of wind blowing it over. I finally cut it in pieces to make a point. Weeds have taken over the mulched area as they've done absolutely nothing to put down any kind of weed barrier or anything. It takes dozens and dozens of calls to get anything done in terms of them bringing out new mulch or anything.

Simply put, the landscaping was a nice idea, but that's all it is. The last thing I want is to inherit a scrub job that was poorly done and will require me to break my back and wallet to have it done correctly. Had I known they would have done such a poor job, I never would have signed on the dotted line to begin with. The way I see it, they're failing to perform under the conditions of the agreement. My idea is to file suit in small claims court for the costs of coming in and removing the crappy job at their expense.

If they contend they want to fix this and make it right, what steps should I demand of them to make it right in your opinion? Quite frankly, nice green grass would look better in my opinion. Here's the best part-two people have filed complaints to the HOA about me for the landscaping because it looks so bad. However, it ain't my responsibility to pull the first weed yet.

[dpullen4]

Three more pics.

[Green Pastures]

It looks like it's been neglected for a long time.

[dpullen4]

It looks like it's been neglected for a long time.

I know that. In terms of the builder being reponsible for maintaining it, I'm curious about everything I should demand the builder do so I'm not left with it looking like this next spring and have to pay for this out of my sweat and pocket.

[sheshovel]

Are all the homes built yet?

[dpullen4]

No.

I'm really thinking of filing a suit against them for not performing their end of the contract as there are still 20% of the lots not built up yet. We went through leaps and bounds to get them to do anything last year. Crabrass, dead trees, trees that fell over, stickers, you name it.

[Popper357]

hard to tell how the landscaping looks without seeing this in person. I'd say it's poor too, from my limited perspective.

Sounds like a reasonable deal in the begining, but if this is on your property, you are 100% liable IMO

If due diligence doesn't work, sue if that makes you happy. Builders and sub contractors having problems is a common issue, think of your position as a sub contractor. You need a written agreement spelling out the terms and specs, before and after photos and copy of payments. Your allowing use of your land should be the payment portion,

I don't see any sense in neglecting the landscaping or sueing the contractor. You're responsible reguardless

[Appalachian landscape]

quit being lazy and pull the weeds. :rolleyes:

[Soupy]

How old is this landscape? Are you sure your being reasonable? What is your neighbors take on this situation.... Do you have pictures of his poor landscape?

Sorry for all the questions...

[dpullen4]

I will be 100% liable when all the homes are built, I understand that. Those are the terms of the agreement. But if you were offered to have something put on your property, would you settle for something that looks like crap? All 4 of the pine trees look terrible. They've put up no kind of weed barrier at all. Their idea last summer of "maintenance" was taking a trimmer to them rather than pulling them, so it's no wonder why they came right back through.

The landscaping is 2 years old. Pretty sad, isn't it?

[Pro-Scapes]

if they are in breach of the contract you signed take em to court. Alot of times if you pay them a visitin person and show them the pics and the contract you will get alot further than just phone calls. I know thats not right.

definatly need to feed thoes trees and prune em back. Thoes weeds need to be yanked up and spot spray to help keep em down. I know its not supposed to be your responsibility but consider asking them if you can just find a lco to take care of it and submit them they bill. They are probably just too busy to deal with calling someone themselves.

[KathysLGC]

It doesn't look like it would take much to make it look nice. First i would do a soil sample to see whats going on then deal with the trees either by pruning or replacing them. I would then deal with the weeds and try preventing their return. Next i would think about adding/replacing shrubs. After that I would re-edge and put at least a 4" layer of mulch down preferably Cedar.
I know thats not what you want to hear but the beds do have some potential...

[treedoc1]

My 2 cents
I wouldn't allow the landscape to decline if it was on my property.

Pull out the dying spruces, weed the beds and lay some mulch down. It's your property, It would look nice if you had put the least amount of effort into upkeep of your own property in the past two years.

If your neighbors realize you are in the maintenance business, I wouldn't expect much business from them. It's a sh**h*l* eyesore that the whole neighborhood looks at at least twice a day.

Why are you even in a pissing contest with a builder...they don't give 2 s***s about landscaping anyway. They do just enough for the OP and away they go. That's why I'm in business...upgrading builder's packages.

[Soupy]

My 2 cents
I wouldn't allow the landscape to decline if it was on my property.

Pull out the dying spruces, weed the beds and lay some mulch down. It's your property, It would look nice if you had put the least amount of effort into upkeep of your own property in the past two years.

If your neighbors realize you are in the maintenance business, I wouldn't expect much business from them. It's a sh**h*l* eyesore that the whole neighborhood looks at at least twice a day.

Why are you even in a pissing contest with a builder...they don't give 2 s***s about landscaping anyway. They do just enough for the OP and away they go. That's why I'm in business...upgrading builder's packages.


I agree. Free landscaping is awesome and now this guy wants to ***** and moan because they won't take care of it too. I understand they said they would, but come on... get out there and maintain your free landscape. :cry:

I

[desertrat]

You are talking about a 2-3 hours work with a couple guys. It's your yard, fix it and bill them if you want.

[joshua]

i've seen worse, much worse. talk to the contractor tell him your complaint and that he is in breach of contract. if he fails to fix the matter then file in small claims, you'd most likely win but good luck on collecting money to fix it yourself. the best you could get out of it is being able to put a lean of his business or that he'd fix it. its almost a lose- lose situation.

[dpullen4]

I'm the homeowner and not in the landscaping business. I just thought I'd ask the opinions of some pros so I don't get stuck.

[sheshovel]

OK here's my advice,take pics and get written statements from your neighbors about the fact that no one has maintained it in 2 years.Then hire somebody to clean it up and replace the trees or to lay sod in it and keep the invoice,then take him to small claims for breach of contract to get your $ back.Don't worry if your ducks are in order and the contract states what you said it does and you show pics and have statements you will win..

[Remsen1]

Please specify the terms of the "maintenance". I'm not saying what they did was right, but it could be intrepreted to mean what you've stated that they've already done ie. trimming, and disposing of a tree. IMO you're barking at a brick wall, because the work was done for free. Unless specified differently in the contract, if I were a judge I would estimate that the maintenance would be minimal/discretionary for a service that was done for free to begin with. Forget complaining about it and get yourself or somebody else in there to fix the problem. Unless you like throwing money and time at court fees and still have to spend money to get the work done.

It's funny how you jumped at the chance to get some free "improvements" and probably didn't put too much thought into it then, but now that you see what you really got you feel wronged somehow. You get what you pay for.

[dpullen4]

Please specify the terms of the "maintenance". I'm not saying what they did was right, but it could be intrepreted to mean what you've stated that they've already done ie. trimming, and disposing of a tree. IMO you're barking at a brick wall, because the work was done for free. Unless specified differently in the contract, if I were a judge I would estimate that the maintenance would be minimal/discretionary for a service that was done for free to begin with. Forget complaining about it and get yourself or somebody else in there to fix the problem. Unless you like throwing money and time at court fees and still have to spend money to get the work done.

It's funny how you jumped at the chance to get some free "improvements" and probably didn't put too much thought into it then, but now that you see what you really got you feel wronged somehow. You get what you pay for.

When you live in a nice neighborhood(200-300k homes), you expect a certain standard of quality. The builder approached me with the proposal to install landscaping on my property to improve the entrance to the community to help them sell more lots. It helped enclose our community from the other neighborhood.

First came a truck load of rock hard dried clay that they dumped in my yard to build up the landscaping. Next came trees that would have almost fooled you for the Snoopy Christmas tree because they were on their last leg. A second round of trees were brought in and as you can see from the pics, they aren't much better. Last spring, the weeds were ridiculous. Did they come out and pull them before they put down mulch? No-they took a trimmer to them, put down 2" of mulch, and threw a handful of preen on them. I need another load of mulch spread out and now there's more greenery from the weeds than the actual landscaping itself.

Did the landscaping cost me a penny? Not yet. However, in years to come, it will. Until the builder is done in the next year or so, I'm off the hook per the contract, which does specifically state they will maintain. In my opinion, if the landscaping looks worse than nice green grass, why would have I ever have authorized them to do this to my land? I wouldn't.

[Remsen1]

You don't want to fire the guy who does it for free and hire somebody who will do good work for a price.

If you had paid him to do the work, then I would be on your side, but seeing that he did it for free, I disagree with both of you.

So stop wasting your time with this guy, call a reputable landscaper, pay a reasonable price, and that eyesore will no longer be an eyesore.

There is one way to get this fixed and that is to PAY!

There are 3 ways you can pay:
1.) Your time spent suing. And you will still have to follow-up with #2 or #3 below.
2.) Your sweat, doing the work yourself. Buying your own materials.
3.) Your wallet.

[lucky4511]

That is garbage - if they said they would plant and maintain the landscape job then they should....you can either buy decent landscape material and install it or you cannot, you can spend a reasonable amount of time maintaining the area as promised or if not, as the builder - hire someone who can, it is surely not the homeowner responsibility at this time. I think you should go to court and if the builder is unable to comply then they should be the one to hire out the work, not the homeowner. This is not a case of the homeowner looking for something for nothing - the builder approached the homeowner!

[sheshovel]

To try and answer your last question.What steps to ask for.#1-Remove all dead and dieing plant material including tree's
#2-remove all mulch and weeds completely and haul all debri away
#4-Install weed barrier pinned down and or install new hardwood mulch at least 4"deep.
#5-Hire landscape contractor to replant the area with new material and install a drip irrigation system to the garden beds and plantings rather than sprinkler heads that encourage weeds and errode soil.
I wouldent go for new grass in the area,only because I dont think it will ever match the old.Anyway that's what I would ask the Judge for.Don't get nasty or sound vindictive Judges hate that just handle it in a calm buisinesslike manner but do it now before time runs out on the contract.

[dpullen4]

That is garbage - if they said they would plant and maintain the landscape job then they should....you can either buy decent landscape material and install it or you cannot, you can spend a reasonable amount of time maintaining the area as promised or if not, as the builder - hire someone who can, it is surely not the homeowner responsibility at this time. I think you should go to court and if the builder is unable to comply then they should be the one to hire out the work, not the homeowner. This is not a case of the homeowner looking for something for nothing - the builder approached the homeowner!

I'm glad you can understand that. I approached a lady in the sales office for the builder and told her I better hear something PDQ or I'm going to file a suit for breach of contract to remove it at their expense. She claims all of the trees will be replaced, weeds pulled, and new mulch put down. I'm going to give her until Tuesday and if nobody has spoken to me by Friday, I'll be at the courthouse next Monday morning. For crying out loud, landscapers have been at work for 6+ weeks in the area, yet they don't give a damn about our stuff.

Word to the wise...stay away from Hansen and Horn if you're in Indianapolis.

[AintNoFun]

For crying out loud, landscapers have been at work for 6+ weeks in the area, yet they don't give a damn about our stuff.



the landscapers im sure only do what they get told and if the builder didn't tell them to clean it up, im sure they wont...

you got a typical builder landscape job, they all look the same, like crap... i would say have them clean it up and replant stuff, pay money to get it fixed, or have them rip it out and restore your yard to what it looked like before they did the planting....

[dpullen4]

the landscapers im sure only do what they get told and if the builder didn't tell them to clean it up, im sure they wont...

you got a typical builder landscape job, they all look the same, like crap... i would say have them clean it up and replant stuff, pay money to get it fixed, or have them rip it out and restore your yard to what it looked like before they did the planting....

I realize the problem is with the builder and not so much the landscaper. The builder has made all sorts of promises from the start of the buying process up til this point and never delivered. Right now I'm in favor of them pulling up the landscaping and putting grass in its place. It would look better than the crap they've done so far.

[lucky4511]

i am in indianapolis also, where is your subdivision located?

[kris]

I can't believe the responses telling this guy to eat the cost and fix it himself. :dizzy:
Only thing I would pay for myself is a soil sample test.....when it then comes back as garbage I would recover the cost of the test also.

[dpullen4]

i am in indianapolis also, where is your subdivision located?

Franklin township around Franklin/Frye road.