Smart Scapes, LLC

I used these guys for a few major projects in the past. They were pretty good, now they are a disaster. I realize it was because they had some good installers, not because of knowledgeable and concerned ownership and management. Today there are all new installers, and I would rate them as the worst in Middle Tennessee. It is unfortunate I had to give them a â 1â rather than a deserved -10. We were told that Smart Scapes was putting their â best crew on our job God help the customers that got their worst crew. I could write pages of what is wrong with the decking they installed around our pool, but the highlights are: â ¢ Badly uneven pavers â ¢ Joints done by â eyeball , not using spacers. Joints were spaced from zero to 3/8â wide â ¢ Crappy cuts with large spacing to be filled in with polymeric sand â ¢ Steps designed dangerously (not even close to code) with widely varied rise and run that caused tripping most time they were used â ¢ Minimal polymeric sand (about 1/8 to ¼ thick), so when it rained, the finished grout washed away, and crappy dirt showed through â ¢ Edges along the landscaping were not finished so there was no grout to the edge of the pavers and the rough-cut edges showed â ¢ David Schmutz and the crew were handed the pattern required by the manufacturer and chosen by us for proper installationâ ¦ the idiots put them wherever they wanted. The heck with what the customer pays for ¦ â ¢ They cut the pavers using a dry saw ¦ most real professionals use a wet saw to prevent dust and a cleaner cut. The dust was all over my property, trees, house, outdoor furniture, etc. I pressure washed it off. â ¢ The pool ladder needs to be removable for the cover in winter ¦ they used construction adhesive to permanently secure it. I used my 2-ton bottle jack to safely remove it and it is now usable again. â ¢ Oil from their leaking machines spilled all over my driveway, they said they would come back to clean up never did â ¢ Terrible communication. No one on the job spoke English, and when I asked the foreman, David Schmutz, to check in with my wife each day when I was gone on business, he said he would. Never did once no missed calls, no texts, nothing There are many complaints in other reviews of this guy talking down to women and being disrespectful. I believe it. When confronting David Schmutz with the problems, instead of acting as a concerned businessman who took pride in his product, he acted as a spoiled 5-year-old blaming everyone else for his mess. He essentially said his installers are unable to provide quality work. I wish I knew that prior. I did not have them come back to fix the problems because if they had ANY idea how to install pavers there would be little to fix and the entire job basically needs to be redone Smart Scapes personnel are no longer allowed on my property. As a result, I am re-doing the entire job myself about 2,000 sq ft. I am 73 and riddled with arthritis but I am taking my time, and the job is looking like a professional did it (I never installed limestone pavers before)â ¦ it no longer looks like a Junior Achievement project gone bad. Bottom line, if any hardscape supplier recommends Smart Scapesâ ¦ immediately find another supplier.

When installing pavers a main concern is movement after installation. About 10 years ago, David and Smartscapes replaced our concrete driveway (destroyed in the 2010 flood) with pavers. No small job as the paver area ran almost 200 ft to the road and a huge turnaround. As of today, nothing moved... no sinking, separation, etc. Every paver is in the exact space and at the same level as when it was installed. People I know in the construction industry are amazed when I tell them the driveway is almost 10 years old. We were so pleased with the work, we had Smartscapes build a "water feature" on the hill next to our built-in pool. The waterfall is 30 feet from the base to the top... huge. Water flows every summer (we shut it down in the winter since no one is out there) and continue to get compliments. We now have David creating a patio area to replace our 25+ year old cedar deck. Another major project as the deck is over 1,500 square feet. Looking forward to working with he and his crew again...

I highly recommend them.

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They are some good people.