Client wasn’t happy with the final product but she told me I had free-reign on the entire thing. She just wanted a pathway from her patio to the gate including a small section she can take the trash out to.
Her old pathway was ripped out, excavated, base compacted, border, paper, pavers and river pebble. I think it turned out well. What do you think?
Client said she expected way less pebble, more pavers.
by Adamc1217
20 Comments
Client should’ve given more specifics, not your fault, you’re not a mind reader.
Well, the end of the metal landscape edge is unfinished and sharp, the pebbles will be a pain to roll the garbage cans, and with older clients it will be a trip hazard. It looks nice but it can be finished better and closer to what the client expect.
Key for every client is a little more communication and putting the work order IN WRITTING. Maybe sample pictures. Some clients have an exact vision and are easy, and others tell you “do whatever you think” and complain later. It is more challenging to deal with them but you have to make sure you have a much better idea of what they want.
Live and learn. Good luck!
Umm, it looks like it has the potential to be a trip hazard – I’d look at your homeowners insurance.
Eh it’s ok if I was doing that for myself I would of went 24×24 pavers or in keeping with the stone theme added more. But since she didn’t give you any input to what she was expecting she can’t complain. Good work.
Could you add any of the old pavers back into the voids?
Edge looks bad (to me) with how much it distracts from the rock work.
Buy more flagstone , tighten up the pattern with large pieces not small , edging in ground a in h or so more , remove those rocks and go with stone dust with a bunch of preen mixed in the gaps.
I would not be happy with this.
Looks sloppy.
Metal edge is not uniform, there’s a big bulge there on the right side then necks down narrow at the far end. Height of the edging also fluctuates a lot.
River rock is not a good choice for flagstone, you can see right there in the pic there’s a stone laying on top. They don’t stay put. Should’ve gone with poly sand made for wide joints (ideal) or cracked/crushed rock (sharp edges keeps it locked in better).
The flag stone isn’t packed as tightly in the after as it was in the before, agreed with client there should be less pebble and more paver/flagstone.
Anyway, if this was diy by an amateur my feedback would be more positive but someone paid for this and you should know how to do it better for next time.
Bad job even if this were DIY. The edges are horrible (sharp, uneven, too tall). More pavers would be good too, but this is a matter of preference.
Client as in you got paid for this? Yikes
uuhhhh don’t half ass anything. including the lawn maintenance. of yourself you could, but if so, why waste all this money on materials?
honestly, I liked the before better. Just needed lawn maintenance and
edging and it would look great. my father has stones like these leading to his pond but he takes care if his yard. overall, execution was done bad.
The path looks drunk! It doesn’t have a cohesive shape, all the edges are wonky
As a client, the step stones and pebbles would work for me and I wouldn’t mind the spacing. I particularly like the colors together. What bothers me are the curves & that border – they seem “forced” or “contrived”, perhaps “inhibited” – not sure how to explain it. Particularly at the top of the pic by the fence. They don’t flow well. And it’s not that they aren’t exactly the same width down the path – I vary mine all the time. I lay out lines beforehand and adjust them til it feels natural, I guess. Long sweeping curves add elegance. Short, choppy ones seem …. short & choppy. You know it when you see it – it just clicks.
As to your client, she didn’t give you any direction – that’s on her. But, she wants more solid surface, so add some large step stones with finer crevices of pebbles between. Fix the border. When the border’s top edge towers over the path, it looks like only the minimum of filler was used. I’d put the top of the border level with the pebbles & step stones and ensure it has no little waves in it.
Personally I hate those rocks. It isn’t a solution to weeds and are a bitch to tool with… liked it better before
Yeah this looks like shit. An average DIYer could do better with a few minutes of internet research. It would all say what everyone is already saying here. Geesh.
You need to redo this for free, if you care about your reputation or work ethic at all..
These guys are trying to make you out to be a hack and it’s clear you tried, And weren’t just doing things to get paid, but I would definitely try and understand the client better
After hearing her mention a pad for her garbage cans, I would Assume she’s going to be wheeling them down the path, I wouldn’t have added pebbles/rocks and removed the large stones as that would create a rougher terrain for wheels to move on, I would instead do a full paver path
Some things I’ve learned so far is I try to present a few ideas for the client And let them choose the direction when they say “just do what you think best”, they may find it annoying that your asking them when they just told you do what thinks best but that leaves you in a potential situation like this where a client is unhappy with the work, when she didn’t even give a direction to go in
It looks 7.5/10 , I don’t really like the borders personally and try to stay away from them, I think you created too much void by removing the stones and adding pebbles but it doesnt look terrible
When I’m asked to make a path for garbage cans; do a test run with the garbage can to determine path, path width, and stone spacing so the wheels roll easily.
It was easier to use the old base but you should have changed the path. Keep a consistent width and make a straighter path or smoother curved path. I wouldn’t be happy with this either. She has to zig zag and drag through rocks. If the trash can’s wheels are small she’d hate this.
I’ve never liked the cheap 8′ sections from big box stores. The longer and thicker steel edging from a landscape supply store will bend less and give smoother natural curves. I will put the edging on site and play with it to determine bed or path shapes before install. Sometimes the path changes when you have materials on site. Then you run it by the owner to make sure they like it.
For edging, I use an angle grinder to round corners. Grind a line halfway through the side of edging and you can bend it to make hard angles.