What to check before you hire anyone for your backyard

The license record shows:

• Whether the license is active
• The business name, which should match the name on the proposal
• The address of record
• The classifications, which say what kind of work the license covers

Photos online show a yard on the day it was finished. Seeing one in person, or talking with the people who live with it, tells you more.

Look for work that started with a problem like yours: a slope, water by the house, an old pool or a narrow side yard. A hillside lot needs different know-how than a flat one.

If you talk to past clients, ask what surprised them, good or bad, and whether the work went the way the proposal said. When you read reviews, look past the star count. The ones that tell you the most describe the updates, the cleanup and how problems got fixed.

You can also look through our work and read our reviews.

Treat the visit as a preview of the job. Did they show up when they said they would? Had they read what you sent them?

A good visit is mostly listening. They ask how you use the yard, what bothers you about it, and what you want it to do: room for the kids and the dog, people over, shade in the afternoon. Then they look at what shapes the plan: the slope, where the water goes after a rain, how equipment gets in, and the sprinklers and utility lines.

They explain what they'd do and why. If part of your list doesn't fit the yard, they say so, and suggest what would work instead.

Be wary of a firm number given before anyone has measured. It can't account for your slope, your soil, your access or what's under the old concrete. The written proposal should come after the visit.

At an ACE visit, our lead contractor walks the yard with you, and we check what can actually be built before anything is drawn.

The proposal is the plan in writing. When you compare proposals, check that each one lists:

• The work, area by area: patio, walls, drainage, planting and so on
• What's included, and what isn't
• What could change it, like what's under old concrete or what your city asks for
• How changes get approved once work starts

A line like "backyard remodel as discussed" is hard to compare, and hard to check the finished work against. If two proposals list different work, ask why.

In reviews of backyard projects around LA, many of the worst stories are about how the job was run, not the work itself: calls nobody returned, a crew that didn't know the plan, a homeowner left to manage it all.

So ask:

• Who runs the job day to day?
• Does the person who walked your yard stay involved once work starts?
• How often will you hear from them, and how: text, email or a call?
• Who do you call when something comes up?

• Pressure to sign at the visit, or a price that's only good if you sign today
• A request for payment that runs ahead of the work
• No written proposal, or one that doesn't list the work
• A license number you can't find on CSLB, or a business name that doesn't match
• Cash only, with no paperwork

Bring these to every visit, and compare the answers side by side:

1. What's your license number, and which classification covers this work?
2. Who runs the job day to day, and how will I hear from you?
3. Will other companies do part of the work? Can I see their license numbers?
4. Who gets the permits, and from which office?
5. How do changes get written up and approved?
6. How are payments tied to finished work?
7. What hours will the crew work, and which days will be loud or need the driveway?
8. What happens at the end, and who do I call if something needs attention later?