J & J Landscaping

Shady business practices! Driver lost a load and said load hit my car. Driver pulled over and proceeded to provide me with all of their information and was extremely apologetic. When filing the claim the owner of this company tried to say that their driver was never in the area and they tried to deny that their driver illegally had a load that wasn’t secured properly. However, the fact that I have all of the insurance info
American Fire Casual Company — Premier Agency INC — Liberty Mutual — Policy BAA56133291 can only be obtained by the driver giving me this. I wonder… Don’t try this shady liar that still avoids my calls!

I hired him to redo the retaining walls and some decking…
As the job got done, I paid in full with promise of him coming back with a load of soil and invoice.
I should not have paid him in full…
It has been more the 2 or 3 month since job has been done. And I still got no invoice nor a load of soil.
I made an appointment 4 or 5 times, but he never show up. Now he is not getting my phone call.
Be aware…

I think this is the same jose hernandez that just did my beautiful fence. He did not call himself J & J. He did a few fences in my neighbors and they said he was good. I loved his art. He is an artist with the fence building and his estimate was the same as the basic fences. He uses bigger posts which give the fence a noble look, the stain just brought out the redwood so nicely. He was on time both days, did a great job, went beyond the the estimate, though I made up for it when I paid him as I believe he is well worth the price! He’s an artist and very generous and he has found his niche in this wonderful style fence. His crew was also very hard working and good. I am happy beyond words with my new fence!

I have worked with Jose for the past 2 years on two different homes. He has always been very fair in his pricing and has done great work.
I see a lot of complaints about them getting spread thin at times on jobs, but having worked with many contractors in the past… it is not uncommon. However, when I have had a major deadline Jose has had his guys work until 7 or 8 PM on a Friday to finish things up.
They are also good about change orders and unexpected issues. recently when working in our home they found that the previous owner did not add any support to a drop ceiling in a basement. Jose called me and showed me the issue. We talked about it and he said I can still put everything back and complete for what we talked about, but long term you have a risk of the ceiling coming down. it was very clear looking at the work that had been done there was a real risk. We agreed to make the change and redo the ceiling. With contractors I have worked with in the past this would be the perfect time to make additional high profit money. most contractors will think… what are they going to do. rebid this small job… and they kill you with the cost. Jose has always been very reasonable. Some changes he only asked me for the additional cost of materials.
The best part of Jose and his crew is you can trust them. I can not be home all day when they work so they have full access to my home. With other contractors in the past it was never a comfortable feeling, but with Jose and his team I have never worried. (once I got to know all of them!)
I have reached a point now with Jose where I add on work and he tells me the cost at the end. He has never been unreasonable and has always been fair. He and his team have often done small things for me while doing a major project and not asked for additional money.
They most recently added a new deck to my home and it looks amazing. I have had several friends comment on the quality or work and style. When we did the deck I gave a rough idea of what I wanted and J&J did the rest. They did a great job.
They also will talk honestly about costs. If you give them a suggestion they will come back and say… yes we can do that but it will be costly…

UPDATE: FINALLY heard from Jose. It seemed he was having some complicated family issues, and was in and out of the country. He came by and will be finishing up the job. I have changed from 1 star to 3 stars, because I’m still upset that he wouldn’t call to let me know what was going on. But fair is fair, and he has come back to finish, even though it is a month later. Personally I would actually hire Jose again, but next time no final payment until the job is 100% done.
Hate to do this but since I previously recommended Jose I think it only fair that I post this warning. I liked Jose and the job he did for me, and despite some of his communication and timing deficiencies, he did a good job for me. Subsequently I hired him for a few small jobs, and even gave personal recommendations by phone that got him other jobs.
Recently I hired him to redo the front of my house basement steps and lower patio, and this project was a whole other story. First he got busy so was hardly ever here, and the 2 people he left to do the job was a young kid who was nice enough but didn’t know much, and a tile guy who was not only bad but had a bad attitude. The job went WAY long, and it was filled with problems along the way. Not the least of which was that the tile guy set up his saw outside and without tarps got sediment on everything and managed to put a long gash in my upper patio.
But here is the thing that felt like a stab in the back and a warning to others. As the job got done I paid Jose in full with the promise of him coming back to finish up some things. After he left I found out that 2 of the watering nozzles he put in were not working properly and instead of watering the plant was shooting up 6 feet into the air, one of them shooting across the sidewalk in front of my house. Plus one of the steps he put in was not graded properly and was holding water in a puddle on the step instead of draining down. Also he was supposed to get a different drain cover, and help me seal the tile I spent about 800 bucks on. Last time I spoke to him he made an appointment to come over and finish up. I waited and he didn’t show up (not that unusual) but here it is over 3 weeks later and he has not returned ANY of my calls and has basically left me holding the bag. I am pretty pissed and feel betrayed.
Things sometimes happen and maybe there is something I don’t know about, like an accident or something in the family etc. But I’m pretty sure he just decided he did enough and he’s not coming back. So if you decided to hire Jose you have to be concerned about which one shows up. The guy who does good work for a reasonable amount, or the one that is going to screw you over and leave you hanging. If you’re reading this Jose you know what I’m writing is the truth. Right now I feel badly that I recommended you and hope you didn’t screw over folks that might have hired you because of my say so or comments here.
I gave Jose a week of warning that I would be updating this review if I didn’t hear back, and so now you know.

Jose takes pride in his work. I hired him to re-​landscape my entire front yard. I get compliments on it every day. He was a great help and continues to be a great help by now maintaining my front yard and picking up additional plants for me when I need them. I highly recommend him.

Jose and team did a great job. I highly recommend him. He gets the job done right, on budget, on time and along the way advises you on what the best way to do things are. He also goes above and beyond, he laid the electrical line and put in my low voltage lighting and it was not part of the original job. He also rerouted all my gutter drains to the sidewalk which was also beyond what was in the job.
His estimate was very fair and he was eager for the work. He came in exactly at the price he quoted and did the extra work. He and his team started on time and finished on time. That is huge for this type of work where things have tendency to take longer than expected. I had him replace my driveway and walkways with pavers and expand my back patio along with the other work noted above.
I pulled several bids, his price was very competitive and he was very eager for the work. Allot of others were higher and for some it was just too big of the job. For landscape work he and his team will get the job done right at a great price.

I also really wish I could give a better review. I also don’t want to take any business away from someone with an unkind review, but I feel the need to vent a little. I was not happy with the process of the job, but the finished end product is okay with a few issues.
Jose and his crew are very nice hard workers, but they are only a crew of 5 and as the weather gets nice they have to split their time between several jobs, if your job happens to be small it is lower priority. That being said I will try and NOT be slanderous and just write the steps of my experience and you can judge for yourself. Overall opinion was the job went over time and over budget.
1) called up, Jose came same day with verbal estimate of $ 3900-​$ 4600, the high end being if I wanted the wall taller than 2 ft, and said would take about 2 days to finish an oval shaped retaining wall/​planter.
*first red flag was he would not give me a final set price and a signed written estimate. (with all the great reviews I decided to trust him). I paid down payment in check = $ 2000
2) Day2, workers did not show up, I had to call and Jose said they don’t work Sundays… fine.
3 Day3, Jose’s brother came with a helper, the wall was only ¹⁄₃ finished.
4) Day4 different workers came and finished almost to the top.
5) Day5 Jose said the workers will be back the next day to secure the top of the stone wall with Liquid Nails and the job would be done, if I could pay him, I agreed… total cost including down payment $ 4,600.
6) Day6−7 no workers, called Jose promised again he would be at my house to finish.
7) Day8−10 off and on rain, called again and he said when the rain stopped and the stone dries, he would finish.
8) Day 11, sunny with no rain and still no workers, called Jose and said he had a truck problem, would be there next day for sure.
9) Day 12, same as day 11
10) Day 13 had to call again and finally he came with one person and finished 1.5 hrs later.
Concerns:
Overall appearance of the wall was nice from far, upon closer inspection, the edge of the stones of each level should be offset to ensure strength. In 2 areas the 3 levels of stone edge go from bottom to top, so there is a weakness in the wall in that area. Jose’s workers said this was fine the wall is strong…
Even though I did not want the wall higher, the price was the higher quote at $ 4600. Advice, do NOT pay in full until ALL work is done and final.
I was not happy I had to initiate phone calls almost daily to find out what the hell was going on with my wall.
No signed and written estimate or receipt is highly unprofessional and shady. Beware, I am not sure the workers are all bonded and insured, so if they get hurt on your property, they may be able to civil suit you for loss of job if they are seriously hurt and can’t work and your home insurance will only cover so much. They are licensed, but that doesn’t mean they are bonded and insured, other legit contractors gave me copies of this documentation during the estimate.
I believe this may be an isolated incident and that they have stretched their resources by taking too many jobs at the same time, but that is not my problem. Promises were broken and I don’t like that, even if it is the norm for home improvement contractors.
I planted myself, they are not plant experts. After planting a bunch of plants from Lowes and Half Moon Bay Nursery, it’s a nice level wall/​planter. Not perfect, but decent built and my neighbors like looking at it also.
*again if there happen to be any responses saying I’m lying… I have audio and video documentation from home security cameras and microphones of the whole process from start to finish that confirm this.
I really wanted Jerry from Verdi to do my backyard, but he is pretty booked and doesn’t return phone calls.

Jose and crew were awesome — efficient and very professional.
What they did:
Filled in and covered a small pond (to match existing patio)
Repaired a broken pump and cleaned a large outdoor fountain
Honestly, the fountain looks brand new (and works as well, too) and I can’t distinguish where the new patio starts from where the old one stopped at the pond — they matched the slate and rock landscaping perfectly. The backyard looks great and I’d recommend J & J to anyone.

I really wish I could give a better review, all the previous ones seem so positive!
Jose & his crew gave me a low estimate the same day I called for one, which was great! What was not so great is they ended up being several hours late for our scheduled work day.
They did a fantastic job clearing out the tree branches from the power lines, and a poor-​to-​ok job cleaning up the rose bushes (instead of trimming they hacked half the bush off in a straight line, it took months to grow back so it didn’t look like a lawn mowing accident). Unfortunately I have to 2 dock points for being 5 hours late and not keeping me up to date with what was going on.
Side Note: other reviews say these guys are really great at clearing branches, cleaning up the yard, and putting in pavers/​building systems, and I am sure that is true, but if you’re looking for special plant care with specific knowledge about taking care of the plants you already have, call an arborist or gardener.

I had a similar experience to Debbie L. Scheduled an appointment and a NO SHOW. Left a message to see what happened, NO CALL BACK. I guess they do good work, if you can ever get them to come to your house…

If I call you based on Unilocal reviews, then I feel it’s fair to review you on Unilocal reviews. I set up an appointment to talk about Jose about re doing my front yard in Palo Alto (my rental house). Jose was a no show which infuriates me, of course, because I spent 45 mins getting to the appointment and another 45 mins in traffic once I’d waited and assumed he would be a no show.
Before Unilocaling, I called Jose early the next a.m. and best he could say is «oh I left the paperwork at home.»
If you want to waste over 2 hours of your time in the hopes that Jose and or his team might show up, then this is the company to call.
It’s pretty clear that this company and Jose don’t need the money. In combination with that fact, and the fact you can’t guarantee he’ll show up when one is supposed to make the BEST impression, I’d say this is not a safe pick for landscape services.

Initially our yard was nothing but dirt. I tried to save money by doing the work ourselves and we did a decent job putting down pavers. But the work was so tiring that after we finished about 250 square feet we stopped and the yard has been sitting as is for about a year.
So we called J & J Landscaping after seeing their reviews on Unilocal and they came out and together we decided on a plan on how to finish up the rest of the yard. We hired them after receiving their quote which we thought was very reasonable.
The amount of time they take might run a few more days longer than what they say but we didn’t mind because having the job done right was the most important part to us. The last thing we wanted was a rushed half finished job. They even came on Saturdays to work on the yard which was nice.
They installed an irrigation system, grass, more pavers, retaining wall and plants in a little over 2 weeks time and let me tell you that the difference is like night and day. We absolutely love what they have done and couldn’t be more pleased that we decided to choose them.
Thanks Jose for the job well done!

Jose and his crew did an amazing job transforming my backyard & front yard. It went from concrete, white pepples to pavers and paver wall. He also redid our fences on the back and side yard. He planted trees/​plants & took me to a couple of nurseries to pick them out. He was really easy to work with & someone who I can trust. After completing the backyard project, he paved our driveway & redid our front yard.
I’m extremely happy with his work and will recommend him for pavers to whoever asks.
PS. Our neighbor across the street also ended up getting her driveway paved by Joseafter seeing ours≠

J & J Landscaping transformed my boring backyard into a garden that will have many uses for my family. I called Jose for estimate, and he came the same day. He was prompt and courteous. I told him that I wanted an area with grass, an area with sandbox for my son, an area for a bench & table, and an area for planting, all connected by a path of River Rock pavers. Anastasio did a fabulous job laying down pavers. After seeing his work, I requested an additional path, that wasn’t originally included in the estimate. Towards the end of the job, I asked for minor changes, and Jose promptly complied. He charged me additionally for the material, labor, and hauling of debris. I like that he uses own ideas and but is open to my own. My yard is slanted on a hill with challenging access, but Jose & his crew carried out the project without any difficulty. I hope to have Jose come back to maintain my garden.

I did not know what to expect from hardscaping. I heard horror stories and issues of work starting and never getting finished. Jose and his crew exceeded all my expectations. They were there early in the morning and worked until late in the afternoon. They even showed up on a Saturday to finish the work. All their workers are very courteous and hard working. There were some complicated turns and angles for my patio and J & J was able to meet every expectation. We had some extra pavers and they were able to come up with something unexpected and pleasing. We wanted a concrete patio for the dog run and it was necessary to have it completed before my next business trip. So instead of waiting for the cement truck, OMG… they carried the 50 bags into my backyard and mixed it by hand… On a Saturday… All this work and they completed everything in 3 days. I would recommend them in a heartbeat. Great job Jose.