Core Landscaping Inc

Core Landscaping did a wonderful job on our front yard! The combination of Marc Core and Chris Windmueller was impressive. Marc did the paperwork. Everytime we reached out to him, he always got back to us in a timely manner. Marc is very detailed with his paperwork which made it easy for us to understand and make decisions. Chris and team did the landscaping. Prior to the project, we contacted Santa Clara Valley Water and our plans and design were based on their recommendations. There were a few changes, but Chris listened and executed with efficiency and perfection. His team provided, planting, irrigation, paving, and built a nice accent wall. Chris even built us a new gate which was not part of the plans. We highly recommend Core Landscaping! C & G L B

Chris and his crew completely redid our landscaping (front and back yard) a year ago. After 10 years of neglect since we moved in, it looked like a crime scene in our backyard: a mess of weeds & ivy, crab grass, unkempt trees & bushes, rusty overhangs, gaudy hardscaping… we were that backyard the neighbors talked about. We wanted to live in our backyard and decided for a 100% renovation, complete with new pergolas and sitting areas, hardscaping, and landscaping. We liked Chris the moment we interviewed him. He was transparent about pricing and we felt we could trust him implicitly. He and his crew did not disappoint: Over the 3 months they worked with us they exceeded our expectations. Chris and his crew embodied competency, professionalism and integrity from the get-go. We were happy with the design they provided us based on what we wanted and gave options on how to make things cost effective while not compromising on design and functionality. As he started work, Chris met all our neighbors to make sure they knew the crew and to address any concerns they could have. He developed a friendly, respectful relationship with the folks on the court and always left the court cleaner than he started each day. We had 3 young kids (5, 3, 3) and they were always so kind to them and our family. We all enjoyed getting to know the workers and helpers. They worked diligently for us for 3 months, even through some torrential rains and the arrival of a new baby (!) We also appreciated their flexibility and adaptability; they were willing to add on scope and changes to the design such as putting in a new pergola even when it required some re-work on their end. I always trusted Chris and relied on him to give me his honest opinion on any decisions we made and that he had our best interest in mind; I never felt they were trying to push unnecessary services or improvements. In fact, when they accidentally broke something (as will happen in a major construction project, whether a hummingbird feeder or our lemon tree), they immediately replaced or fixed the issue without cost to us. They only work with well qualified people and I was impressed with the electrician and tree expert they brought in. In the end, costs were within the original budget and we were so happy with their work and professionalism that we gave them a bonus. Their pride in their work is evident. I absolutely love our yard, the quality of the work done and we enjoy it from 7 am in the morning until it gets dark. I am so grateful for Chris and this new outdoor living he has given us; it’s truly improved our quality of life.

The job that wouldn't end... Core Landscaping completed a landscape project for our front yard that included replacing our driveway with colored cement, adding a walkway path from our driveway and street into the courtyard of our front entryway and back gate with travertine pavers. We added several new planting areas and added new plants to an area under a large giant sequoia redwood tree. The bid was about $70K. We had completed a much larger project in our back yard that included over 2000 square feet of the travertine pavers around our pool which was completed in 7 weeks a few years back. After that project we had a sense of what to expect with this project. Too bad our previous contractor recently retired because we had no idea what we were in for with Core Landscaping. The project was a disaster in so many ways: * Time frame: we were quoted 5- 6 weeks to complete the job, it took 14 weeks! Started on Oct. 3rd and finished January 9th.There were days that they just didn't show up without any notice. After we paid them for a milestone, they would go work another job and not show up for several days in a row. * Absent owner: We saw the owner, Mark Core, a total of 2 times; when we signed the contract and once because we insisted he come and discuss the schedule with us around Thanksgiving (when the job should have already been completed). This was very frustrating because the foreman, Chris Windmuehler, and the owner didn't seem to communicate much either. There were constant miscommunication about the schedule, the ordering of the plants and even what was being invoiced (many times we would be invoiced when the milestone was not 100% completed). * Quality of work: We didn't expect that we'd have to be the quality control for the project but the foreman or the owner were not doing this. It seemed like they just covered stuff with mulch and hoped we wouldn't notice. The 2 main crew working at our house were nice but they didn't have the experience to manage themselves. For example: - Planting: They couldn't read or follow the planting plans so many of the plants ended up in the wrong place. Several we later realized were in our neighbors property. We ended up replanting about 80% of the plants because they were in the wrong spot or they just didn't dig the holes deep/wide enough (see attached photos). - Installing Travertine Pavers: We give them an "A" for cutting the stone (they brought in someone to do it) but then we'd give them a "D" for the installation. We remember how it was installed in the back yard. It's even on YouTube but they did the work backwards by installing the French pattern stones first and then adding the border stones. The result was unlevel/uneven pavers. They also cracked/damaged many of them with their installation method. - Irrigation: The plans called for drip spray irrigation but they used drip tubing (netafim) with emitters every foot. We didn't realize it was not what the plans called for when we signed the contract so that's on us. It's ridiculously easy to install but it's not the most efficient for many types of planting areas and plant arrangements. What really annoyed us is that they could have done it right without much more work or cost. The problem with drip hose is that many of the emitters aren't near a plant so most of the water is wasted. * Change Orders: We weren't happy with how they tried to gouge us with changes to the plans. For example, we originally had planned for the travertine pavers to also include a pathway to our backyard gate. In an effort to reduce costs we asked them to bid without that extra pathway but include 24x24 inch stepping stones to the gate. They reduced the bid by $1600 dollars, not much but we decided to do this. However, the pavers we selected didn't come in 24x24 so the contractor suggested using two 16x16 pavers in parallel. We agreed assuming the cost would be similar. They billed us over $2K for the change. So, it ended up costing us over $400 for our 3rd option. They didn't seem to understand why this upset us.