Del Mar Landscapes - San Diego, California

Julie Ann Sih

My husband and I are extremely pleased with the high-quality hardscape and landscaping work done by Del Mar Landscapes, owned by Doug Kepner. We felt we received solid value for the price, especially in comparison to what other companies offered in their bids. I don't write many online reviews, but I feel compelled to give a shout-out to our wonderful crew of Jason, ​Jaime, Junior, Jesse, ​and Aviv, under the leadership of the many-talented Ramón.

We had sought four bids on this complicated front and back yard project, which involved multiple dumpsters' worth of demo, new concrete, a retaining wall, drainage​ alterations, irrigation, and planting, while also accommodating tricky slopes and ​some existing hardscape areas​ we wanted to keep. Del Mar Landscapes won our business for three reasons.

First, although owner Doug Kepner's cost estimate was lower than the other bids, he assured us that he wouldn't be cutting corners quality-wise, employment-wise, or insurance-wise. (He attracts and retains excellent workers by paying and insuring them properly, and in his words, "These guys don't know how to do a half-assed job.") Del Mar Landscapes' cost savings were due to two facts: ​Doug was willing to offer us many of the materials and ​rental items like dumpsters at his own cost, and he has no office staff or rendering staff to add to the costs of the actual construction. ​T​he larger landscaping companies we consulted had professional-looking packets and offered 3D computer renderings to help us visualize the project. While these perks were appealing, the competing bids also came with significant markups​ on every line item, presumably to pay for the additional overhead. Working with Del Mar Landscaping means having a more direct relationship between what you pay and the construction work you get. The downsides of this are that you don't get pretty pictures to look at, and you may need to refer to your own written notes when double-checking changes and additions agreed on orally after the initial contract is signed.

The second thing that won us over was ​our confidence in Del Mar Landscapes' ability to be flexible and change things on the fly in response to terrain challenges, or simply to things we changed our minds about. Doug, Ramón, and the team were able to draw on their expertise and present us with options in response to actual site conditions, which included a few surprises along the way​. (For example, during demo, some buried drains and sewer access points were discovered in inconvenient spots, and the slopes of the existing hardscape made the transitions we had originally envisioned to new concrete areas impossible without some clever adjustments they recommended.)

Third, Doug's pride in his top-notch crew was obvious, and ​that pride ​convinced us that we would be very happy with their work. This proved to be the case. They showed up promptly and cheerfully during the two hottest weeks of the year, kept the worksite immaculately clean and organized, and everything they touched looked fabulous. I was struck by the fact that everyone on the worksite seemed to enjoy each other's company, and when overhearing my compliments for a teammate's work, others would often chime in to brag about each other's particular talents. I still remember the​ serene enjoyment on Jaime's face as he stuccoed our beautiful new retaining wall like the master craftsman he is. Ramón did a stellar job of accommodating our last-minute changes and additions gracefully, with transparency about what the half-day of extra labor would cost us.

Our neighbors are very happy with the transformation of our front yard, and we look forward to inviting them to enjoy our new backyard, too.

Before, during, and after photos of the backyard attached. (In case they load in a different order, the one with patio furniture in it is the after!)

Julie Ann Sih

pateler15

We are extremely pleased with the high-quality hardscape and landscaping work done by Del Mar Landscapes, owned by Doug Kepner.

We were looking to do a low maintenance front yard makeover including pavers. We got four quotes and Doug’s was the most reasonable. We were skeptical given his competitive pricing but given his reviews and photos we decided to proceed with Del Mar Landscapes.

It was easy to communicate with Doug despite our busy work schedules and we appreciated his suggestions with the design given his expertise. He remained flexible with last minute questions or changes. Even during the weekend we received prompt replies from Doug. His crew was also great especially Ramon and Jason.

Doug and crew communicated daily with us, were on time, organized and left our home in a tidy condition every day. Doug stuck to his word with everything and did not go over the quoted price like other contractors do.

We’d highly recommend considering Del Mar Landscapes for your future project and if we decide to do more with our backyard would call Doug first!

-Erica Patel

Nga Phan

This is an overdue review. Del Mar Landscapes did a fantastic job installing our front patio living concept. It was a significant job to install a retaining wall, a modern horizontal fence, concrete pathways and a patio, a planter box, drainage, and pergola installation. The team was professional, arrived on time, hardworking, and easy to work with. We are very pleased with the result and received many compliments from our neighbors.

Carl Dyszkiewicz

Bottom line is that we received a timely and quality landscape project at a competitive price. We enjoyed working with Doug (owner), Jose (supervisor) and their team, who were timely, courteous and very hard working. Doug was straight forward and focused from first quote to project completion. He was on the jobsite every day, and did a good job with Jose in overseeing the work of his team. The project was completed as originally communicated and scheduled. Work continued every day until completion. Daily and final cleanup was excellent.

We were very pleased with the final results. It was exactly how we had hoped that the project would be run.

Mike Mull

Del Mar Landscapes did a great job on our front yard project. The crew showed up at regular times each morning and left the site neat at the end of each day. Our crew supervisor (Jason), who can apparently do anything, worked with us to get details right and make changes to the plan. They stayed within our budget, and most importantly the final results exceeded our expectations.

Michael Foglia

Over the last 2 months, the team at Del Mar Landscapes transformed our yard from a complete disaster to a beautiful functional paradise. We are extremely happy to have hired them. A detailed review follows but to summarize: they were very easy to work with during the bid/negotiation phase, followed through on all of their promises, and were very friendly, clean, timely and prideful in producing exceptional work. We highly recommend Del Mar Landscapes!
We first met Doug and Jim when they came out to walk through our property and compare it to the plans done by Ocotillo Design Group. They spent well over an hour walking the yard and asking pertinent questions, verifying measurements and confirming our thoughts. Our design encompassed various materials: pavers, trellis, sit walls with veneer, decomposed granite walkways, mow curb, plants, drip irrigation, lighting, and more. In each case Doug and Jim demonstrated their expertise and gave us a real sense of confidence. Before leaving they asked about our budget, timing and priorities, but there was never any salesmanship. About a week later, we met again and they presented us with one legal-sized page holding the complete quote. Jim explained each line item in great detail and pointed out a few places where the quote did not match the design plan. In each of these places he explained the reasoning, which was not only sound, but worked out in our favor. In addition to their expertise and professionalism, the pricing was extremely competitive.
Within two weeks of signing the simple contract and shaking hands, the demo crew was at the house making quick work of removing the old ugly cement patio. Our corner property is on a hill and there were many challenges in getting the equipment into the right locations, but in each case they figured out a way to get things done. After the demo was done, Ramon, Jaime and Rigo showed up. These three were friendly, approachable and very knowledgeable. Doug brought in others to help when necessary, but this was our everyday team. I’m pretty sure that Ramon can not only do landscaping(masonry/drainage/irrigation/etc) but he could probably build an entire house. When we discovered that a previous owner used PVC to plumb the main water line, he was able to fix it quickly. (We had just hired some plumbers to do our bathroom and Ramon’s work was comparable.)
We had a design in place when the job was started but there were times when the design needed to be changed. An example of this was that the sit walls were too close to the fence for the plants I had chosen. Ramon was very flexible and knew just how much to move them out. We did this and everything looks/fits perfectly. Another example of their flexibility was that our sit walls were curved and a decision had to be made to either do poured in place cement or precast caps. We had no idea which way to go but after their detailed explanation of both processes, we went with poured in place (their recommendation.) We were given plenty of time to make this decision too. No pressure. The sit wall benches came out fantastically. A couple of similar things came up and all were handled with clear communication and cooperation.
We hadn’t ever done anything of this scale before and one of my worries was an escalation of costs beyond the fixed price contract we had signed. Of course, there were a few unforeseen issues...the aforementioned plumbing, a problem with one of our retaining walls, and an issue with an existing step. But there was no gouging here at all; the extra charges to correct these issues were very fairly priced.
Over the past few weeks a number of neighbors and family have toured the new yard and they are highly complementary but jealous! We are still in awe ourselves and utterly amazed at the transformation of the yard. It is like we doubled the square footage of our house as now we can enjoy plenty of time on the outside It is so comfortable and inviting. A huge thanks to Ramon, Doug, Jim and the entire team at Del Mar Landscapes!

Nick DiMeglio

Doug, Ramon, & Junior did an awesome job installing my exterior landscape lighting system at my house in Pacific Beach. Quick response, quality work, good price. 5 STARS

Victoria LaBruzzo

From the top we want to say how thrilled we are with our landscape project. This was a complex and lengthy project, mostly due to the enormous amount of rain we had this past season. Our entire yard was completely renovated – front, back and both sides. It included taking out a side hill along the house and grading a hill in our front yard to accomplish a complex paver design layout. Doug’s crew did everything from building walls, pavers, stone caps, stacked stone pillars & siding, 2 water features, fire pit, plants, irrigation, drains, artificial turf, etc. We love our new outdoor living space and so does our neighbors – who regularly comment as they pass by on walks.

Doug was professional, reasonable and very timely with his responsiveness. He stayed in touch throughout the project – his crew was extremely capable and courteous. Multiple neighbors commented on how nice the crew was. The onsite project leader was very experienced and had a firm grasp on all parts of the project. He was knowledgeable and clearly wanted to make us happy and he accomplished that.

As with any major construction project there will always be some frustrations, whether it is with the weather not cooperating or with discovery of needed changes during the demo and construction process. These issues were dealt with professionally – and in the end, Doug never forgot who the customer was. We utilized a designer for our process (which Doug recommended). Del Mar Landscaping crew was able to execute the vision of the design even as changes and challenges came up. We are very pleased with the hard work and are very satisfied customers!