Get matched with top landscape curbing installers in Astoria, NY

"Tommy's Landscaping / Masonry did a great job within a timely manner . Tommy is trustworthy, reliable and exceeded all expectations when working on my project . I would definitely use them again for pavers and masonry work and I highly recommend them."

"This was a perfect appliance-purchasing experience. I called them at 2pm on saturday and the new washer was installed by 11am monday. Very efficient, prompt, professional."

"Anthony Gallo Landscape was wonderful from beginning to end. The crew came in and transformed my garden areas in a day with real professionalism. Anthony was easy to work with, gave me an on-the-spot estimate that was a solid $500 less than the last guy, and didn't sweat the small stuff. My only slight complaint is that his guys could have been more careful with some of the plantings, which were done in some haste. Even so, I highly recommend!!
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After years of putting up with poor landscaping services (Including unexpected charges , poor customer service and missed weekly appointments), we decided to start our own landscaping business and to provide the type of service and support that we would want for our own family , friends and neighbors. \n\nEstablished Since 2012\n\nOur Services Include:\nLandscaping Design and Maintenance \nSoft Washing and Power Washing\nGutter Installation, Repairs and Cleanup\n\nOur commitment:\nAlways On Time! \nFull Detail Invoice!\nService Follow Up!\nFull Transparency!\nNo Hidden Cost!\nNo Surprises!\n

"This crew is amazing!  My uncle needed to have a tree removed from our
backyard... I'm talking HUGE with many of the biggest limbs leaning over
our neighbors house.  He came over right away and gave a reasonably
priced quote.  I discussed it with my uncle and decided to go ahead and
use his services.  He removed this tree in two days, even with it being
some of the hottest days its been in a while!  His whole crew was
extremely kind and they made sure to clean up very carefully after they
were done. They even took a look at my broken car when they
noticed me filling my radiator with water!  We were thrilled with the
services this crew gave us and would recommend them to anyone.
"

"Hired this company to installed new tiles in kitchen and bathrooms. Interior painting as well. Very fast and neat. Highly recommended."

"It went really well and fast too. They were friendly, and compassionate about their work. Will definitely hire again"

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I can't rave enough about Billy Vamvakidis and his crew.
Billy is a pleaure to deal with, and understood the vision for the new stairwell and patio that I described. He clearly explained things that I hadn't thought about (such as drainage concerns) and reviewed with me the simple pictures that I had drawn.,
He came back with a quote in a week (which was exactly how long he said it would take). We revised the quote only once, as I had been revising the drawing. We realized we had underestimated the square footage of the patio.
After all was said and done, the final cost was only about 4% higher than the original quote - because we needed additional retaining wall blocks, based on the issues detailed below.
As the actual work got under way, Billy made -- and made good on -- a number of and quot;Don't worry - I'll take care of that for youand quot; promises, Some of the snags and solutions we encountered are detailed below.
1) Yard was difficult to access.
The only access to the backyard was from a neighbor's driveway, which is about 4 feet below the grade of the yard. Billy removed our chain link fence, and backed a flatbed up to that wall, and very carefully drove the bobcat and digger across a steel plate bridge. I'm pretty sure other contractors would have looked at that access problem and walked out.
2) Rocks, Rocks, and more Rocks.Our house is in Cliffside Park, on top of the Palisades. You can't dig down more than a foot or two before you hit big rocks and/or the cliff head. Billy and his team unearthed some giant rocks (and kept them for us to decorate the planter boxes) as they were grading down the yard. Finally, toward the back of the yard, they hit a rock (or the cliff head) that would not budge. The top of that rock would have to become the lowest point we could grade to. Billy's crew then had to UNDO the grading that had already done to bring the rest of the yard back UP to that minium level. They didn't charge me extra for that work, although -- that meant there was less material to remove, so - that may have been a wash, cost wise.
3) Solving design issues as they come up.The original plans called for a much wider stairwell down to the ground floor entrance. When the old, narrow stairwell was removed, it became clear that there was no bricking on the exterior of the house below grade. Rather than try to re-brick the newly-exposed wall - or create some kind of stucco finish that wouldn't match, we re-though the return walls of the stairwell to create more of a and quot;flareand quot; -- so that the more and quot;openand quot; feel would remain, even as the return walls came closer to the door.Also, once the big, immovable rock re-set the grade of yard about a foot higher than planned, it became clear we would need to add a step up from the patio entrance (at the side of the house). Also, the new curved retaining wall suddenly seemed very short next to the raised patio. Billy added a course of wall block to raise the retaining wall (bringing it back to and quot;sittingand quot; height) and created a nice design element uniting the stairwell's return wall to a single step up to the patio.
4) Little Extras without nickel-and-diming.I did not haggle with Billy on the initial quote. and quot;I'll pay you what you want, but I don't want to be dinged for the little extras here and there.and quot; I think that understanding worked out quite well for us. The only thing he charged me for (beyond what was quoted) was extra wall block: because of the and quot;big rockand quot;, we needed to raise the entire length of the wall by another course to preserve the and quot;sitting heightand quot;, and we needed wall block for the riser for the new step that was needed. Also, as we finalized the grading, we realized that the curved wall really need to extend around about 12 feet further than planned. What's important to note is what I DIDN'T specifically pay for that Billy felt added to the overall quality and appeal of the job:
4a.) Two window wells - since the yard was graded higher than expected, we needed two window wells at the house. He didn't charge me for these.
4b.) Cinder-block cap to outside retaining wall on east side of property. When we raised the curved block retaining wall by another course, it's top was now higher than the outside retaining wall facing the neighbor. Billy added a and quot;capand quot; of blocks to this existing wall so that its height would match.
4c.) Bury a conduit for me: in the back of the yard about 40 feet from the house is an 8' x 8' quaint-looking painted cinder-block building we use as garden shed. I've always dreamed of having electricity out there. Since the yard was being all torn up, I asked Billy if he could run a conduit from the house to that shed, and he did - at no extra charge. He also drlled the difficult holes in both the house and the shed to complete the run.
4d.) Double-sided block for the end of the wall: The original plan called for the curved retaining wall to and quot;disappear into the ground' as the grade behind it sloped down to the patio level. When completed, this looked a bit odd -- there was about 8' -10' of wall cap that just seemed to be sitting on the ground - begging you to step over it - or worse - trip on it. It seemed clear that the wall needed to be the same height all the way around, and just and quot;endand quot;. The problem was that - for this last 8' - 10', we needed double-sided block - because you would be able to see the and quot;other sideand quot; of this higher wall from the lawn. Billy somehow managed to get his hands on a few matching double-sided blocks to complete this, without making me buy a whole pallet of them. (or maybe he cut some single-sided blocks and put them back to back?) I don't know. Don't care. It looks great.
4e.) Small and quot;porchand quot; patio and interesting wall return at the Garden shed. Hard to explain - but totally his idea. Looks great. Pictures coming soon.
4f.) Totally unrelated repair. On the other side of my house is a three-step stairwell down to another ground floor entrance. The return wall on that stairwell is falling apart. As we were closing the deal, he off-handedly mentioned - and quot;Oh we can fix that up for you.and quot; It wasn't mentioned in the quote/contract, and - he could have easily 'forgotten' about it. But he didn't.
All this work was done over the course of about four weeks. His crew consisted mainly of two guys who were here every day. Billy would come by every day in the morning and late in the afternoon. We talked about the yard - while actually standing it it - almost every day for 15- 30 minutes before I left for work.
I would recommend Unique Custom Landscaping for extensive hardscaping work to anyone without reservation.

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"Work was done quickly, efficiently and thoroughly with care for furnished areas through which debris had to be carried. Workers were polite, on time and responsive to requests. Extra "touches" were completed without hesitation and in many cases without even needing homeowners request."

"Great group to work with, work was done super fast and very well. Would highly recommend."