Groundscape Construction Inc.

We are so pleased with our decision to hire Groundscape Construction for our backyard renovation. We met with several contractors, but no one made us feel as comfortable and listened to as much as Sal and his team. From the very beginning, we were impressed with Sal's knowledge and his ability to help us develop a plan that would allow us to realize our vision and create the oasis we have been hoping for. Sal always took the time to review ideas, consult on last minute changes, and provide advise throughout the project. His professionalism and pride in his work came through every day that he and his team were on the project. Groundscape Construction is definitely next level when it comes to grading, design and product installation. We are looking forward to the next phase of our project which will entail planting. Thank you Groundscape!

THE COMPANY: From first contact to project completion, it was a pleasure doing business with Groundscape Construction.

When we first met Sal in late 2020, we could tell right away that he was going to be the right person for the job - he is passionate about his work and full of great landscaping ideas. Shortly after the initial meeting at our house, Sal provided a detailed estimate that accurately reflected our sketches and project requirements. From the time of booking till the project commenced in Sept, 2022, Sal kept in touch, was responsive to emails and calls to deal with design revisions and provided a number of samples to help us make material decisions.

As skilled as Sal is at landscape construction, he may be an even better project manager, communicator, and teacher. Throughout the project, which spanned about 1 month, we were regularly in touch with Sal and always felt that we knew the current status and plans for the near future.

On a daily basis, we witnessed Sal taking the time to show his team how to complete work properly, demonstrating the patience and wisdom to know when to let them fly solo and when he needed to be more hands-on.

THE WORK: We hired Groundscape Construction to:

1. Install granite flagstone on a newly extended front porch and new front steps.

2. Build a 15' x 14' stone front patio connected to the front steps.

3. Build a smooth stone seating wall around the the patio.

4. Build a 25' custom grey armour stone garden wall around the front garden beds.

5. Build a 7' wide stone sidewalk from the driveway, through the gate, into the backyard to connect up with existing hardscaping.

6. Regrade and resod the entire front lawn.

7. Install driveway curbs.

The Banas Black Pearl granite flagstone on the front porch and steps was expertly installed by Tyler, who is part mason, part artist, and entirely amazing at his craft.

The stone sidewalk involved the removal and disposal of an existing concrete slab, excavation of a 7' x 45' area, followed by expert building up of the base layers and the careful laying of Nueva pavers with a Nueva stone step down to the driveway. As an aesthetically pleasing touch, Sal's crew added stone borders around 2 trees and side garden that abutted the sidewalk.

The front patio involved the excavation, base layer preparation, and installation of 210 sf of Nueva pavers for a raised patio in front of the porch. Approximately 30' of Nueva 150 custom stone seating walls were installed around the new patio.

Sal sourced beautiful grey armour stone and built a stunning, custom, curved garden wall along the outside perimeter of the existing front garden bed.

The driveway curbs involved excavation and installation of ~ 80' of Bestway Stone Driveway Curb.

Sal's team showed up on time, worked full days, and kept on schedule throughout the project. You can see from the pictures that the porch looks amazing and will soon become our favourite place for a cup of coffee in the morning. A few gorgeously clad steps away is our beautiful new patio, surrounded by an impressive seating wall where we look forward to many years of welcoming neighbours for impromptu visits. The grey armour stones are both beautiful and functional, forming a durable and elegant focal point around the front gardens.

Groundscape Construction delivered everything within scope, calmly handled any scope change requests, and worked with us to resolve problems to our mutual satisfaction.

THE CUSTOMER SERVICE: Any time we had questions about why something was done in a certain way during the project, Sal was quick to respond with explanations and options - he always had a plan and revised it to accommodate changes and other trades as the project proceeded.

We are so pleased with Groundscape Construction that we have recommended their services to the many neighbours who stopped by to admire the work in progress and after completion.

We are happy to recommend Sal and his amazing team at Groundscape Construction. Very professional, great process, and a great team. They keep you involved in every step. The team works extremely hard on-site and their work is impeccable. They were fantastic to work with. They did a beautiful job replacing our old stairs, landscaping, pathways and driveway borders.

Sal and his crew completed a complete update of our backyard, removing our old wooden deck, and replacing it with an interlock patio, installing new sod and planting areas.

Sal was informative and responsive at every stage of the project, with helpful suggestions, and thorough attention to any issues that came up. This consistent communication and effort from Sal gave us full confidence in the work's progress and expected outcome.

The crew started and ended the work days consistently, were very careful with the property, and cleaned up each day.

We could not be happier with our new backyard, and really appreciated the care and attention to detail that Sal and his crew maintained from start to finish.

We had been through numerous baffling experiences getting quotes from the full gamut of contractors from the suspect to the kids (Pro Tip : Don't send a quote to a paying customer via text, folks...we need a document we can pass around) and everything in between - it was a season where everyone was busy and no one needed the work and it showed. My partner saw the work being done by Groundscape in our neighborhood and saw the way the crew interacted - energetic, cheerful and co-operative, working quickly and with precision.

We went out of our way to ask them to quote our little patch. Sal came by at the appointed time and gave us the straight goods, the real method of doing it, the real time-frame and the realistic costs. He was open to negotiation but his price was based on the worth of the work, and the deal making was in designing the finished product we could afford, and in that Sal was happy to accommodate.

The work of laying the new parking pad in cobblestone required excavation around fragile root systems of pre-existing and valued plants and along with transplanting a beloved cedar beautifully, not a single plant was harmed.

When it came to the work there is nothing to criticize as that is the way you do that work. The lines were cut laser straight and the permeable barrier cloth was overlapped and deep-stapled. The first layer of clean-screen coarse gravel was put down to a depth greater than code, topped with fine draining gravel laid to a level standard I've never seen before. The standard of care and finish is total. Everywhere heavy machinery needed to move, thick protective plates were laid so that in the end, you would have no idea such force was brought to bear. The worksite was left pristine when everything was packed up.

Groundscape take on the work they believe they can do to their standard and pursue it with clarity - the quoting process is seamless and the payment schedule is clear and predictable, and everyone knows where they stand. The price point is mid-range but the service is top-of-the-line.

It is a great pleasure to work with people of high standards who obviously take great pride in a flawless finished product.

11 out of 10.

Sal and the team at Groundscape totally transformed our property. Initially we hired Groundscape to add a interlock path and seating area around the side and back of the house, including a new lawn and flower beds. Sal always had great ideas and his team's work was impeccable. The job site was cleaned at the end of every day and the work progressed smoothly. We were so happy with the transformation, that we hired Groundscape to come back again this year and update the front of our property. It now feels like we have our own little oasis in the city. I highly recommend Sal and his team.

Sal and his amazing team did a fantastic job on updating the front exterior of our home. We had our old walkway, front porch and landing replaced and the results are just beautiful. It was such a pleasure to work with Sal and his team. Sal took the time to walk us through the process, make recommendations and answer all the questions we had. We felt comfortable to trust Sal throughout the process and leave the design up to him, we only needed to agree.

The Groundscape crew was professional, meticulous, always on time, gave 100% all the time, polite, clean and let’s just say that I would definitely recommend them for your landscaping needs.

After a year of owning our home in Etobicoke, we decided to prioritize converting our outdoor space into the backyard we've been dreaming of. I met with Sal to discuss and quote the work, and really felt a sense of trust, transparency and partnership. He understood our wants and needs, and was able to create a design that incorporated everything that we had voiced to him and also a budget to match, which broke down every feature so we could see where the money was going and adjust if necessary. From there, we felt extremely confident in hiring Groundscape and work started in June 2022. They demo'd our overgrown greenery as well as our tired, small patio and created, well, some magic :) We now have a MUCH larger patio space that runs the entire length of the house, using a variety of gorgeous modern pavers to bring some visual separation to the dining & lounge areas. To bring some added ambiance and relaxation, Groundscape also created a custom fire table for us, installed a hot tub pad and added beautiful lighting that really makes the space look so dreamy in the evenings. To frame the patio space they created all new garden beds with trees and grasses to bring some additional privacy and also added irrigation to ensure everything was low maintenance. Sal and the crew were extremely professional, communicated every step of the way and made us feel comfortable and confident throughout the project. They worked from 7am to at least 6pm every day (through some extremely hot days might I add) and were 100% committed to creating an amazing end product and bringing the makeover to life. We now have a beautiful backyard #backyardgoals and have Groundscape Construction to thank for it! I would absolutely recommend them to anyone looking to rejuvenate their backyard, and make the outdoors a space they truly enjoy.

We had our front and backyards landscaped and overall were very pleased with the work performed by Sal and his 4 man crew. Sal is very professional, communicates effectively every step of the way. The crew were courteous, on time, and worked steadily while on site. This was a 3 week long major project.

They put in a proper drainage system in our front yard, leveled the front, then sodded the entire lawn. As well they built up a garden under our front trees.

In the backyard, the team removed all grass, soil, stones, and patio stones to lay a bed of course crushed gravel, finer washed limestone screenings, and then laid interlocking stone as well as a retaining wall. Part of the patio area in a corner was raised and planter stone boxes were created on both sides. This work was done mostly by hand, and working around an existing pool which was tricky with respect to return lines. A great amount of detail was given during the installation so that in the end all patio areas were graded properly for water run off.

We were very pleased with the results and would definitely recommend Sal.

Groundscape Construction was amazing to deal with, from start to finish of our project of our complete backyard reno and both sides of our house.

Sal and his team were very professional, super friendly and wonderful to deal with. We never had any issues getting in touch with Sal for any questions we had, and the response time was very fast as well. He was very receptive to our needs and ideas, made great recommendations and offered different options to choose from, and always keeping in mind this space was also for our kids. Their safety with choosing proper materials and planning the layout of the backyard project was important and well thought of.

Sal and his crew members were incredibly hard working, cheerful and always showing up on time. They are so knowledgeable, professional and the results are incredible and built to last. They always cleaned up at the end of the day and left everything tidy and organized, even our driveway was swept after each workday. The timeline of events such as deliveries of materials or bins were so very well-timed and organized.

All the materials used were very high quality. We had interlock stones installed for our backyard patio, surrounded by armor stone, steps and also a retaining wall across the back of our cedar edge. River rocks and pavers were installed on the sides of the house. The new sod installed is very good quality as well. It was a great experience working with his Groundscape Contractions, and I would definitely not hesitate to recommend Sal and his team. They really took care of every little detail that makes the complete project stunning and long-lasting. We are very happy and satisfied with the end results.