Carolina Outdoor Living Design Carolina Outdoor Living Design inexperienced, overpriced, unethical, unprofessional; 'retaining wall' is an eyesore Greenville, South Carolina

Carolina Outdoor Living Design was hired to build a retaining wall 10' high by 90' long to prevent further erosion in the backyard.  The design itself was basic and not aesthetically pleasing; the designer gave the impression that no other design would work for this project and that I could plant trees in front of it to prevent only seeing the bricks.  I had to call to receive the final proposal since the designer did not send it when promised.  The project was to take 4 days--after 4 months I had had enough and called it quits.

The wall was built in 2 rounded sections with my existing stairs in between.  They did not remove the rotten wood retaining wall (like they wrote in the proposal) so it remains very visible.

The walls went up quickly, but the largest one cracked under the weight of a hybrid fireplace they put at the outermost point on the curve.  They had to rebuild that section 2 more times because the 1 worker who started it over left gaps between the blocks that were unacceptable.  Then the fire hydrant at the end of the driveway was cleaned out sending a river of water into the backyard and 2 dump truck loads of dirt and gravel into the lower yard!  The new fire ring was now hanging without a foundation.

The final rebuild was as sloppy as the previous one, and the gap they left between the wall and the steps allows the yard to wash over.  They placed a large stone to cover it up.

They reluctantly removed some of the dirt dumped into the lower yard--they were going to spread it out, gravel and all!  They never buried the drainage pipe even after being asked 4 times.

The equipment they used was not well maintained.  It took over 30 minutes to cut down a tree <10" in diameter.  The front loader leaked gas because they didn't want to buy a new cap.

If you check out their website, they make promises they don't intend on keeping.  My drawing was on the back of a scrap piece of paper.  If you go to the section to 'meet' the designers, all you see is their pictures.  My designer had only worked 2 years and has no background in landscape or design.  They did not obtain a building permit for the project.  The owner of the company never contacted me or came out to see the project.  They offered bandaids to cover up the obvious mistakes in their work instead of correcting them.

If you choose to use this company for any project, make sure you ASK more questions than you think you need to, check the credentials of your design team, and talk to other customers if possible--I did, but they were pleased with their results even though they are still having repairs made 2 years later.

I don't think my wall serves its intended purpose.  I think this project was far beyond the ability of the designer--he just wouldn't admit it and was only after the quick buck.  Unfortunately, my nightmare isn't over, and I will have to work many more months to fix my destroyed yard.