Maintaining customer satisfaction is a crucial aspect of any business, but it’s even more important for construction companies that have earned the prestigious Diamond Certified award. For Spryscapes Construction, Inc. and its owners, Greg Spry and Michael Galousin, customer satisfaction is the result of a unique combination of planning, communication and quality service that’s earned the company the respect and praise of customers throughout the Bay Area. “Communication is paramount with us,” says Mr. Spry. “We tell our clients exactly what we’re going to do so they know what to expect throughout the process. Then we stand by our word and perform our work to their satisfaction.”

Spryscapes Construction has been providing general contracting and landscaping services for residential clients in San Francisco, Southern Marin and Northern San Mateo Counties since 1990. On the contracting side, the company builds additions, remodels kitchens and bathrooms, refurbishes home offices and other living spaces, and repairs dry rot and water damage. Its landscaping services include landscape design, decks, retaining walls, patios, fences, fountains, irrigation and planting.

Unlike construction firms that emphasize completing jobs as quickly as possible, Spryscapes Construction is known for its thorough pre-project planning, which includes providing a written contract that outlines the entire job. The company starts each project by providing a detailed line item estimate, which breaks everything down so the client can see where every dollar goes. “Once the job is done, we provide a written five-year guarantee,” adds Mr. Spry. “That’s very rare in this industry, but we value our customers, so we think it’s only right that we stand behind everything that we do.”

While many of its competitors work out of their trucks, Spryscapes Construction has a physical office space where customers can meet with its employees or drop by for friendly visits. “We love to have clients see how well we’re organized here,” says Mr. Spry. “The way we run our office translates to how well we do our job in the field, so it’s important for clients to see the behind-the-scenes work. We also like to showcase our 2,000-square-foot wood shop, where we create and build many of our designs.”

When planning a landscaping project, consider your budget to avoid disappointment and frustration. Hiring a landscape company only to discover the design it has customized for your space will exceed your budget can be extremely disappointing. So how can you be sure you and your landscape designer are on the same page when it comes to design sensibilities and budget? The following tips will give you a head start:

Determine your budget. Honestly evaluate whether your budget is reasonable for the amount of work you want done. “Some homeowners have completely unrealistic expectations about what landscaping costs,” explains Greg Spry, co-owner of Spryscapes Construction, Inc. in San Francisco. “Construction of any kind is expensive if it’s done right, so it’s important to be construction-savvy and reasonable about cost.”

Be honest with your designer. Before you do any other planning, meet with your landscape designer and reveal your total budget. This can circumvent miscommunication from the start and avoid the disappointment that comes from having a landscaping plan that’s far too expensive. Then, ask your landscaper for honest feedback. Is your budget large enough to work with? What are the ways the landscaper can design and build to accommodate your budget? If your budget isn’t large enough, what options do you have?

Be realistic. If you have a tight budget, don’t expect to be able to install a pond, an expanse of sod or a custom-built gazebo. In order to make your budget work, you may have to be willing to pick and choose what’s most important to you.

Get a few bids. Ask two or three reputable contractors to bid on your landscaping job. This will give you an idea of what you can realistically expect in terms of design and cost. Be sure to request an itemized bid from each contractor so you can see exactly where your money will be going.

Consider your options. If you don’t have a large enough budget to hire an experienced contractor to do all the work you’re hoping for, you have several options:
• Wait until you’ve saved up enough to get exactly what you want.
• Ask your contractor for good, better and best estimates that offer different options for materials, design and products. • See if your contractor will consider doing the project in phases. This will allow you to start your job and see some improvements while saving up for future expansion.
• Find a contractor that offers financing.
• Consider doing some of the work yourself to cut down on expenses. For example, your contractor may allow you to tear down old structures or tear out old landscaping, which may save work hours and drastically lower your estimate.
• Reuse some of your current landscaping materials. You may be able to salvage plants, fountains and structures or even reuse materials such as wood, stone and brick. This not only can shrink your budget considerably, it’ll also save space in landfills and make your project Greener. If you’re interested in doing this, be sure to inform your landscape designer well before the designing process begins—they’ll need a chance to visit your current space and work in existing plants and materials.

Q: Do I need a permit for your work?

A: In San Francisco and its surrounding counties, landscaping work doesn’t require permits, but almost all construction work does. We understand obtaining a permit can be difficult for homeowners, so we handle the entire process regardless of the location of the jobsite.

Q: How long does it take to get the permits?

A: If you’re not adding any square footage to your home, most permits are “over the counter,” which means we can get them right away. However, when you add any kind of addition to a home, it can take quite a bit of time to get a permit—generally between three and six months. We have a lot of experience with the permit process, so we’ll walk you through and help you determine how much foresight and planning your project will take.

Q: How long will the work take to complete?

A: That depends on the scope and type of job. We’re realistic in our project timelines and communicate honestly with our clients so there aren’t any unwanted surprises.

Q: Do you use subcontractors?

A: Our skilled craftsmen can handle almost every part of a construction job, so we like to keep as much of the work in-house as we can. About 85 percent of our work is performed by our own employees, but we do hire subcontractors for some work, like roofing, plumbing and electrical. That’s a huge benefit for our customers, because they get to deal with the same crews throughout the process.

Q: Do you offer design services?

A: Yes. We don’t impose our ideas on our clients unless they ask us to come up with something on our own. We’re very cognizant that we’re working for our clients and designing spaces in which they’ll be living. They’re the ones who’ll see the work day in and day out, so it’s very important that we keep in mind what they want.

Q: What if I already have a design or want to hire an outside architect?

A: We work with a multitude of architects and welcome cases where a client already has drawn plans. In many cases, we’ll help with the design work or even collaborate with the architect to achieve the best possible design.

Q: Will you take my budget into account when you’re designing my project?

A: Absolutely. Construction-savvy consumers understand that good landscaping doesn’t come cheap. It helps to have realistic expectations and be honest about your budget when you’re hiring a landscaping company. When we’re designing a new landscape, the first thing we determine is the client’s budget. A landscape designer can’t intelligently make suggestions if they don’t know what the budget is, and it’s a waste of everyone’s time to draw a design that isn’t realistic.