Outdoor Architects, Inc Mark Storch Outdoor Architects Drained My Wallet...Not My Backyard! Elkridge Maryland
On March 31 2015, I contracted with Mark Storch of Outdoor Architects to install a drainage system in my backyard. The contract estimated a start date of June 1, 2015 and completion date of July 15, 2015. Mr. Storch had done two prior hardscape designs in the past, at my previous home, with good results. I had also discussed with Mr. Storch installing a patio and doing some other landscaping work along with the drainage system installation. I had requested that the drain installation be done earlier in the spring, because I had planned for the patio to be installed, closely followed by an underground sprinkler system. However, Mr. Storch was too busy with other landscaping jobs to combine the patio installation with the drainage installation. Mr. Storch told me that he would only be able to do the patio work sometime later in the summer, with no definite start date. Therefore, since Mr. Storch could not accommodate my patio installation request, I informed him, that I had contracted with another landscaper to install the patio, so that I could have the sprinkler system installed on July 13, 2015. Mr. Storch's crew installed the drainage system on June 3, 2015. The total cost of the installation was $1500. On June 9, 2015 I contracted with Matt Gately of Gately Scapes to install my patio. Mr. Gately began the patio installation on July 2, 2015. During the installation process we noticed a strong feces-like odor coming from all three of the drains that Mr. Storch installed. Upon examination we discovered black water was filled to the top of the drain boxes with a mold-like substance growing on top of the water. Mr. Gately also showed me that the drain pipes had not been attached properly to the drain boxes and there had been no flow of water through the drain since installation on June 3, 2015. More, importantly, Mr. Gately showed me that there was no swale in the design of the drainage system. The pipe was almost flush with the rest of the lawn, leaving no pitch in the line for the water to drain. The lack of water flow created the stagnant water growth. Also, the systems was not properly prepared. The trench should have been filled with gravel, a mesh should have been laid down around the pipe and the pipe should have been covered with another layer of gravel, before placing top soil and replacing the sod. I called Mr. Storch, and sent him pictures of the area. He informed me that he would send out a foreman. I then went on the internet to educate my self about how the drainage system should have been installed. Everything that Mr. Gately told me was true about the planning, preparation, and materials needed to perform the work satifactorily. I then asked Mr. Gately how much he would charge to repair the inadequate work that Mr. Storch had performed. He charged me $1200 to install 5 drains properly in my backyard, with the understanding that if more are needed, he will return to further seek a drainage resolution. After 3 days of heavy rain, there is no excess water in any of the 5 drains, and I have had to water the area daily because new sod was laid around the patio floor. I feel that Mr. Storch literally defrauded me out of $1500 for a job that even the do-it-your-self TV channels would have turned out better. There was nothing even close to professional about the work that Outdoor Architects performed on June 3, 2015. I would never recommend Outdoor Architects to anyone. Again, I feel that I was defrauded out of $1500 for positively poor service, because I hired another landscaper to install my patio, which meant that Mr. Storch would loose an additional $14,000-$15000 in fees. |
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Outdoor Architects Drained My Wallet....Not My Back Yard
#3Author of original report
Thu, July 16, 2015
The builder of our home offered to pay for the drainage resolution, however, since we would have to sign away any rights to adjudicate any drainage area problems in the future, we declined their offer of payment. We paid Outdoor Architects $1500 to install the drainage system on June 3, 2016.
I called Mr. Storch the day after the June 3, 2015 installation inquiring about any maintenance issues required. Mr. Storch told me at that time to just keep the grates clear of any debris, and that there would always be some standing water in the drain box. About 2-3 week after the installation of the drains, I did notice a strange odor coming from the drains, as well as, I noticed that the water was not moving, just standing in the bottom of the drain box. I kept the grates clear of debris as instructed. We had been having a lot of rain that week, so I thought that the rain would wash out the odor, or so I had hoped.
However, on the day that Gately Scapes began the patio installation, I noticed that they were all wearing face masks, and had a fan running. I asked my husband to ask them why, and one of the men said to just come outside. The smell of feces hit me as soon as I came outside to the drain area. So,it was from Day One of the patio installation, that we noted how the water, that I had noted 2-3 weeks prior, had not moved, but laid their in the pipes stagnating. You can also see from the pictures that rust had formed on the inside of the drain box, from the standing water, proving that the system had totally malfunctioned. The pictures clearly show that mold had grown on the water surface from stagnating so long. I contracted with Gately Scapes for patio installation only. Mr. Gately explained how the drainage system should have been installed. He told me that an obvious problem was with the pitch of the drain pipes itself, which was almost even with the rest of the lawn.
After my conversation with Mr. Gately, I went on the internet to educate myself further on installation of yard drainage systems. On every landscape site, the professionals used slotted pipes, filter fabric and gravel when installing yard drainage systems. Mr. Gately's explanation to me was right on the mark. Furthermore, I had given Mr. Gately a diagram from Outdoor Architects, clearly showing where the drainage system had been installed, to avoid any damage to the system during patio installation.
Frustration would not be how I would describe what I was feeling after Mr. Gately’s explanation of how drainage systems should be installed, along with reading about what other professional landscapers do to install drainage systems. My husband had taken pictures of each and every step of Mr. Storch’s drainage system installation on June 3, 2015.The pictures show that there was no installation of slotted pipes, no filter fabric wrapped around the pipes, and no gravel. Mr. Storch used PVC pipe and soil, and most importantly, the pitch was all wrong, to promote the correct drainage.
According to HGTV when installing a French drain:
"The most reliable way to eliminate undesirable, free-standing water is to install French drains with slotted pipes, filter fabric and gravel. The old way of installing French drains is to do it without the gravel and the fabric. Without the gravel and the fabric, however, the drain can clog up with sand and soil over time.”
Since Mr. Storch installed the drainage system against the industry's standards by not using standard materials, and since the system had never functioned properly to begin with, I decided to end my business relationship with Mr. Storch. If I had not hired Mr. Gately to escavate Mr. Storch's drainage system, I may never have discovered why the system did not function properly. One lesson learned is to do your homework on how the job should be done, before hiring any contractor to complete a project. I would never recommend Outdoor Architects to anyone.
Pamela Millersville, MD
Mark
Elkridge,Maryland,
USA
Complaint without Merit
#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, July 16, 2015
The complaint has no merit as the client would not let us return to the property to honor our warantee & correct the problem. We believe that she is frustrated with the home builder who created the drainage issue in the first place and took it out on us. And frustrated with us because we could not start her project early in the spring due to our schedule being full through June at the time. We were surprised by all this as we had completed work for the client in the past with very good results. We feel that not allowing us to make the repairs and then complaining about here is a very unreasonable position to take.
We installed a drainage system for the client on June 3rd, 2015. When we completed the work, the drainage system was tested & working very well. The client paid for the work as she was happy with the results. A month later and a few days after another contractor started work on a patio project that was just 5' away from the drains, the client contacted us about a problem with the drainage system.
We have no way of knowing if the other contractor took measures to prevent exposed soil from draining into the drains during heavy rains. Or other measures to prevent heavy equipment from damaging the drains. When we installed the drains, we knew that adjustments would maybe need to be made after the patio was installed and were willing to make these adjustments. We wanted to come out the very next day after hearing from the client to examine the drainage system problem and make the neccessary repairs. The client would not allow us to come out and said she would have the other contractor make the repairs.
The client claims that the drains were installed incorrectly and there had been no water flow since the draiange system had initially been installed. This is not the case as there would have been a puddle of water in the yard as there was when we started the work. For the whole month of June, there were never any complaints from the client about the drainage system with over 4 inches of rainfall. We have installed hundreds of drainage systems in the 26 years we have been in business and never had any issues like this. The call to us was only made after the other contractor started his work.
Since we provide a 2 year warantee on our drainage work and we would have been able to fix the issue very easily, we feel that this complaint has no merit because the unreasonable client did not give us a chance to come back on site to make the repair.
We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Burea and we are ranked in the top 5% of companies rated on Angie's List.
Mark StorchOwner