Outdoor Living Construction

Unfortunately this is based on their lack of service. I purchased the 1-​hr design consultation through Living Social and tried for more than 4wks to schedule the appointment. Their ‘scheduler’ was never in the office and never returned messages, either by me to VM or other staff members. Pretty clear they’re not interested in the business. Living Social was great about refunding my voucher.

I had Outdoor Living come out to quote construction of my backyard in Folsom about a year ago. The designer I met with was very patient and walked me through the entire process. I ended up not staying at the property so I didn’t use them myself, but I referred them to a friend who I helped with finding a contractor. I was a bit of an assistant to her with the process, which was great for me as I wanted to understand more about landscape construction for my next property.
They came out and met with us to review the property and get a sense for her wants. I was very impressed with how patient and accommodating they were throughout.
The options are limitless — outdoor firepits and kitchens, grass variations, bark from chunks of wood to shredded pieces, flower and herb garden boxes, fountains, etc. She could have created a jungle if she wanted.
The design came out beautiful and she ended up choosing them from a few contractors to do the actual installation.
In the end, they did a great job and the yard still looks fantastic. They end followed up with her a few times after to ensure everything looked great. They even gave her and me a month of gardening at our places for free.
It was a great experience and I would easily refer them to anyone I know who is looking to redo their landscaping.

I am currently disputing my concerns with the BBB. I contacted this company to replace the lawn in my yard. I gave them an estimate measurement that was provided to me by 3 other contractors. OLC gave me an quote via e-​mail. They then followed up with an offer to give me a discount if I hired them. I agreed. They never came out to measure the job. I never met the owner. The employees started the job and we caught them cutting corners (not applying new soil and fertilizer) as my contract stated. They ended up short on materials and said that the area was not measured correctly and they could order the rest of the materials but they would quote me for a NEW job, inflating the price to charge me double per square foot compared to the first job. Their explanation was because the remaining 250 square feet was such a small job. It wasn’t a new job. It was them finishing the work. I negotiated several times with the owner and he refused to work with me. He was arguing over $ 67 worth of materials. Long story short, I ordered the additional 250 square feet of sod myself for $ 80 from the same sod supplier and only needed 100 square feet to finish the job. So, his measurement was off as well. My opinion is that he did not order enough initially to allow for waste and I think the measurement by the 3 other contractors was correct. The bottom line, the professional should have met with me and been responsible to measure the job. I was clear in my original request for a quote that I was providing an estimated measurement. Now OLC is trying to hold me responsible. Their website says that customer satisfaction is what is most important to them; it’s clear it is not because they were willing to make a mess out of $ 67 in materials. Beware of on-​line quotes and not meeting with the contractor first for a presentation. On all of the work I have done on my house, the contractor comes to my home and meets with me. OLC states they provide quotes via email to save money and pass that discount onto the customer. It’s not a discount if they then try and rip you off on «finishing» the job because they did not measure in the first place. They tried backing me into a corner to force me to pay a ridiculous amount ($ 650) to lay $ 67 worth of sod. If they would have been willing to settle on a fair amount, I never would have left this review. I don’t like to leave negative reviews because I don’t want to hurt anyones business but I was left with no other choice.