Black Diamond Paver Stones & Landscape, Inc. - Thousand Oaks, California

Brian B.

We dreamed of our vision of a new front yard for some time. The time came to make it happen. After several bids we decided on Black Diamond. From start to Sam was there every day overlooking and keeping us informed what to expect. I only have a couple of before pics. I'm much more proud of the after look. Professionally done start to finish. Very happy.

JL G.

UPDATE: The CEO, William, has reached out to us to discuss our issues with our project and make matters right. Our conversation revolved around our experience with the project manager Ray, and William was apologetic for his behavior.

We are hopeful that when the project is complete, we are given a generous discount on the final price to alleviate our time, energy, and grievances with the project.

I will be updating this review appropriately.
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I would not recommend Black Diamond Pavers for any of your projects. Our backyard paver project was supposed to be completed in a little over a week, and is unfortunately now on its 6th week. We initially chose them because of the 27 year warranty on their work. However, the warranty is definitely not worth the frustrations we had/are still going through.

* The project start date was delayed.
* The first crew that was sent only worked one day and then did not show up the following day. We were later notified their employment was terminated due to them being deceitful to their supervisor and abandoning the project. This crew also left their trash in our backyard. Also, our backyard was left a safety hazard with sharp concrete and wood debris from the demolition while we waited for a new crew to finish the work.
* We were also not informed of a critical design change that had to be done due to safety reasons; however, the scale of the change was not communicated and approved with us at all, requiring it be redone. This lack of communication and lack of respect for our time further delayed our project.
* Pavers with very noticeable chipped corners were installed. There were also pavers that were damaged due to carelessness of the crew with their power tools. All of these had to be replaced.
* Some of the installed pavers are still not leveled and pose a potential tripping hazard.

The project was deemed “complete” a few times, even though there were numerous repairs that were yet to be resolved. We even had to go as far as reach out to the regional manager, David, in order to get the proper customer service as was advertised on their website. This led to a meeting with him and he listened and agreed with our concerns.

Unfortunately, we had to have a second meeting with David due to the ongoing mistakes made by the crew:
* Different colored pavers were installed and needed replacement.
* There were still areas of pavers not leveled.
* Chipped pavers were still present.
* Dried concrete present throughout the pavers.
* Two smaller width bullnose pavers had to be placed at the front of the step; however, these smaller pavers were placed adjacent to each other resulting in asymmetry of the step design.

Honestly, we feel as though our time is not being respected and that the project has become rushed, which has led to numerous preventable errors and the project being far past its expected completion date.

We decided to work with Black Diamond Pavers because their website advertised that they have "Best Prices for Highest Quality Work," "Honest & Trustworthy, 100% Committed to Customer Satisfaction." We believe that we have not been receiving any of these promises.

We are currently waiting to hear when the crew will return to complete the project. Not receiving proper updates from the project manager Ray Ramirez has made this process even more stressful and frustrating than it already is. There were multiple occasions we were notified to expect him and/or the crew, only for them to not show up, and this not being communicated with us.

The excitement we initially had for our backyard transformation has been eliminated by this unnecessarily stressful project. Instead, the excitement has now turned into anticipation of the project completing to get relief from this burden, recover the backyard for our family, and regain normalcy in our lives.

Tracey Y.

We chose Black Diamond to complete out backyard renovation and are extremely happy with the results. From our initial consultation with Steve Hess through the completion of the project we were happy with the experience. Steve was accessible for all of our questions and concerns throughout the process, allowing us to change our minds and tweak components without ever making us feel like we were a bother. He ensured that the project started and finished on time and that every detail was perfect before his team left. The team of workers were pleasant and professional and cleaned up meticulously at the end of each day. As promised, the job was completed in 3 days!
I highly recommend Black Diamond and Steve for anyone considering a backyard renovation!

Mark L.

Update as of June 20, 2024:

We had some more rocks for the front added and David and his crew were as efficient as ever.

Update to review as of Feb 8, 2024:

The back yard with the artificial turf still looks wonderful but the front yard with the desert landscape (rocks and a few succulents) is starting to become inundated with clover and other weeds along the edges (see photos) and even spread around the middle areas of rocks. We are hoping, per Black Diamond's suggestion, that the application of (organic) weed killer will remedy this but are disappointed that we have to go to this extra step as our understanding was that the plastic under the rocks would prevent the lawn from growing in again.

David Brook and his team at Black Diamond Paver Stones & Landscape, Inc. did a wonderful job on our draught-tolerant landscaping project. We had artificial turf in the back and rocks and succulents in the front and it looks great. David designed, supervised and oversaw every aspect of our project and filled us with confidence at every step. I really appreciated them keeping to deadlines and especially loved the fact that they cleaned up ALL the detritus, dust and stuff to make it all spic and span. Bravo!

Kris K.

I was referred to Black Diamond by my brother because they did a good job on his backyard. I talked to a number of other companies and Black Diamond was competitive (not lowest bid, but no where near the highest bid). What sold me on Black Diamond was my interactions with Sam Aranda. He is very personable and knowledgeable and helped us understand cost drivers and options. He developed a design for us and created various 2D and 3D renditions that helped us visualize what our new backyard would look like. Having a Black Diamond office / showroom near us helped us because the colors of paver samples that he brought by looked different than the pictures in the catalog. Seeing a few samples of each color paver. They also have samples of a variety of artificial turf - each one a little different. They allowed us to borrow a few samples to take home and keep for a day, so we could see them in different light and against our existing fences and walls. After a few iterations with Sam, we had a designs and colors we wanted. While they took a day longer than was originally expected, the Black Diamond crew, led by Chavez, did a great job of creating the gentle curves we wanted and laid these out so we could approve them before they started cutting pavers and turf. All in all, the end result speaks for itself - it transformed our yard from an eyesore that we tolerated since we moved in a year ago, to a beautiful show piece. Now we need to get more planting done to finish our new backyard paradise. I would highly recommend working with Sam and Black Diamond.

Charles H.

Black Diamond just completed the makeover of my backyard, and I couldn't be happier. The project was completed on time and on budget, and the crews did great work. Thanks to Sam Aranda for leading this effort!

Paul D.

These guys do great work! Ray Ramirez and the whole crew are excellent communicators and made sure I was happy every step of the way. The quality of the work is excellent. Pricing was competitive and comes with unmatched service, Ray worked with me to design the project and was there himself the days of construction to make sure it all went as planned. Turned out better than I imagined!

Ted G.

Ryan Albert and the Black Diamond team recently completed a backyard redo for me which involved removing old concrete and installing about 1100 square feet of pavers. During the initial consultation with Ryan, he offered up some outstanding recommendation that enhanced the overall project. Ryan communicated well prior to the start of the project to keep me appraised on the start date...which was very close to the date he estimated when I signed the contract. Ryan was on site during the concrete removal, ground prep, and paver installation. I was particularly concerned about proper drainage and Ryan and the Black Diamond team did great in that respect. I had other work ongoing in the area, and Ryan coordinated well with the other contractors to ensure things went smoothly. The final result looks great. Kudos to Ryan and the Black Diamond Team.