Reviews of local pros in Pontoon Beach, Illinois

We would like to thank Altered Grounds for the AMAZING job on our landscaping!! Me and my fiancé were more than pleased with the entire experience!! They gave us exactly what we had only pictured in our heads, and made it a reality!! Thank you so much again, for such an awesome job!! Wouldn’t recommend anyone else other than Altered Grounds!!

Some guy showed up to my work this morning, I nicely told him we didn’t open til 10, it was only shortly after 8, he then kept sitting there so I said we didn’t open til 10 again and then he just completely lost it on me and another coworker, calling me unbelievable names and yelling as driving off. He was driving your company vehicle. So maybe should make sure you have someone representing you better.

Finally a company that does what it promises
The experience was great from the bid to finish. The crew was friendly, knowledgeable and most of all hard working. I will recommend to anybody. Thanks for your hard work we are proud to show it off to family and friends.

Amazing!!! Altered Grounds work went above my expectations! Josh's design was great and all the guys were very friendly. I highly recommend and will definitely have them back for my next project!!!!

Altered Grounds does excellent work, couldn't be more pleased with the final product. I met with several landscapers before Altered Grounds (this was a complicated area to landscape on a sloping hill) and encountered the usual lack of follow-up and wasted time. Josh at Altered Grounds spent time with me so when the shovels hit the dirt we were 100% on the same page. Highly recommended. I will use them in the future.

Altered Grounds Landscaping recently did some much needed landscaping at our home. Josh, Jeremy and all of their workers were helpful, attentive, and professional. The landscaping work included removing and planting new trees, installing borders, new weed barrier, rock, small boulders, and replacing old, overgrown bushes with a variety of plants which complement the front, side, and back of our home where we had a deck and patio built last year. They also seeded and added sod in our back yard where needed. All of the workers worked well together and completed this project within 3 days. Very happy with them. We will be hiring them again to terrace and landscape the east side of our home early next year. Jim and Nancy Murphy

Our house was built on the side of a hill. As a result we had no backyard due to the 45 degree angle. The access to the back of our house was limited, but Altered Grounds performed a miracle and not only gave us a backyard, but 3 different patio areas, a flagstone walkway on the south side and hydrangea gardens on the north side of our house. Everything was also beautifully sodded, landscaped and lighted. We can’t wait to entertain in our new yard.

I'd have Altered Grounds do more work at my residential home, but I'd keep it to garden beds/border creation only. We had them do a front yard patio/landscaping job with some minor drainage aspects. I have mostly good things to say about Altered Grounds, though in the spirit of transparency, I have a few negatives that they could work on as well.

Downsides: Keeping the client informed with schedule was lacking. This could be due to being a residential customer, and also during August. Regardless, we had to call a handful of times to ask for updates to schedule. Also, the installation quality of the gutter downspout pop-up emitter was very poor and does not work as it is designed. The downspout extension that was installed was a black, corrugated, plastic pipe (which is fine). Unfortunately, the pop-up emitter was fitted onto a 90-degree PVC fitting at the end of the black corrugated plastic pipe. This 90-degree PVC fitting that makes the "L-shape" to daylight above ground is not bonded in any way to the corrugated pipe, allowing water to escape in the subsurface before ever reaching the pop-up emitter attachment at the top to allow for surface runoff (which causes a "swampy" area in your yard". Very very poor knowledge of drainage concepts here. Either use all PVC pipe runs with bonded fittings so the line is waterproof all the way to the pop-up emitter, or use one continuous stretch of black corrugated plastic all the way to the pop-up emitter. I'm going to have to get this fixed which will end up costing me more money unfortunately, so I'm not too happy about that. The black corrugated plastic pipeline was also not buried deep enough, and there's now a ridge in my yard that is very firm/impossible to grow grass on top of. This aside, the stamped patio looks okay I'd say. Although it was a hot sunny day and no shade cover/tarp was used. No curing compound either that I recall. So the front half of the patio that was exposed to bright sunlight earlier in the day dried out/cured differently than the rest of the patio.

Upsides: Reasonable price, they act professional and courteous, and are reasonable to negotiate with in the proposal process. The quality of materials that were installed were above-average and we are generally happy with the work, excluding the gutter drain/pop-up emitter installation.

They're "average", but nothing above and beyond in my opinion.

Josh and crew are engaged and focused on making your landscaping experience a happy one, one that exceeds your expectations. They are hard working and have the resources to do just about any landscaping design you may have in mind given budget and schedule. They created a large stamped concrete patio with fire pit and sitting wall built along with some landscaping for privacy, drainage, and aesthetics. Josh and his team kept to the schedule and accommodated reasonable changes.

Couldn't be happier!! These guys arrived when they said they would and were in and out in 2 1/2 days. Amazing work and went over and above on cleanup. We started this project getting a bid on a new retaining wall. Luckily we watched the videos on the website and decided to expand our project. We let Josh and Jeremy have creative license while staying within our budget. They delivered everything they promised and more.
Gary and Kim Bost

Last year I spent thousands of dollars for these guys to regrade my entire backyard, install a stamped concrete patio, extensive retaining wall, and 8ft by 2ft inground kiddie pool that seconds as an inground fire pit. You may ask, why are you giving a review a year later? I was so upset by their lack of communication, refusal to complete the project as requested, and unprofessionalism in dealing with the issues they left me that it has taken me this long to bring myself back to give a formal review. It still upsets me to think about. The most aggravating part about the whole thing is that I met with these guys at least three different times before the project started and at least twice during the project to ensure all the details were clearly understood. I even asked for an itemized contract so no details were missed at which point both brothers came to my house threatening to pull out of the project because they didn't think I was ready to commit. At that point I broke down in tears because all I wanted was assurance they knew what they were doing and would do a great job, otherwise I said please just leave. They immediately recoiled and said they'd take care of me. I should've kicked them off my property at that point had I known. And no, they never gave me an itemized contract. To echo other reviews, they were horrible in communicating when they would start the project, even tho they said we would pick out the materials together. There was no selection prior to, we were surprised to find materials dropped off one day. I called to find out when they were starting. The first day Jeremy and I walked thru the yard I showed him exactly where the ground level needed to be. He said ok with hesitation. I reiterated to make sure he was clear where the ground level needed to be and he said yes. I came home from work to find the yard at least a foot higher than it was supposed to be and the retaining wall already started and the patio foundation framed out. I called immediately to say we have a problem. Was it resolved? No, I was told that is where it needed to be and it would cost me to start over. I was stuck. So while he was there I reverified where the wall was going to be and had I not intervened, they would have put the wall a foot off the patio, which according to the DRAWING WITH MEASUREMENTS I gave them, it was supposed to be at least 15ft off the patio. Something I explicitly expressed at my first and second meeting prior to starting. I was told my drawing was not to spec. Duh, I'm not the professional landscaper, that's why I hired YOU. I told him my drawing while not to spec had measurements that were also verbally given to his brother, the salesman. Another sign these boys don't communicate well even with each other. The project moved forward with adjustments made to kick out the wall as much as it could be, but I was stuck with a bad grading job. I also said I needed confirmation when the pool should be delivered as I asked them to tell me before the project started. He of course said I should've had it already. So I rushed to get that delivered the next day. Then they got to working on the pool when my husband said there was an issue in that there was no drainage for the fire pit hole. So my husband met with Jeremy be this time and they discussed drainage for at least 15mins. My husband was concerned the hole would fill with water if there was no underground drainage. Jeremy insisted the water would meet up with the French drains behind the retaining walls and drain away. To say the least, that was way wrong. We're now paying another company next month to fix this issue.
Pros: The patio looks good. The retaining wall looks good. The employees who did the work were hardworking. Only good for simple work.
Cons: No experience or understanding of drainage at all. Can't follow direct verbal directions and actually pushes the project so as to rush and disregard your requests. Have attitudes, use intimidation if you question anything even though you're spending the money!

Josh and his crew did a fantastic job with our landscaping. I let Josh tell me what he thought would work in our yard, he walked me through the design as well as working with my wife on plant selection to suit her taste and it turned out great. Couldn't be happier, highly recommend Altered Grounds.

Altered Grounds Landscaping just completed a landscaping project with a new deck at my home. Josh, Jeremy and all of their workers were very professional and made sure everything was done to my satisfaction. There was always great communication and they got the job done very quickly despite all of the rain. I would highly recommend them if you’re looking for someone you can trust to do what they say for the amount they quote you on the project. If I have any future projects They will be my one and only call.

Very pleased! Great work at a great price. Every step of the way, they kept in contact with me and provided updates and solutions as needed. Most impressively, they went above and beyond what we discussed to give me a more complete/finished look. All the little things I didn’t think of initially, they saw and took care of! Very professional, clean, and detail oriented crew. They worked fast and hard and seemed happy to do it. I will absolutely use Altered Grounds for the next phases of landscaping. Highly recommended. With any project, issues will arise. Josh and his team handle them with grace and ease but also have solutions already worked out. The end result far exceeds my expectations. Nuff said?

I called Altered Grounds to help with some landscaping and Jill came out within a few days after my call, I received the bid within a few days and was on the schedule after I approved it for 2-3 weeks out. They called almost 2 weeks ahead of time and got me in. They showed up and got all the landscaping done within a few hours. Cleaned everything up too! Would highly recommend them for landscaping, they are also taking care of my pool and have been extremely happy with the service I have received.

I know Altered Grounds has done excellent work in my area. It was highly recommended to me. However, this is the second year where I have tried to get some simple work on my property scheduled and completed. Both years I have returned a signed contract and deposit but by mid-summer still have nothing scheduled. No response to my calls and emails.

We hired Altered Grounds to make some repairs to our landscaping after it was destroyed when we had new utility service ran to our house. We were absolutely thrilled with the professionalism and attention to detail they gave to our project. We had no idea how much better they could make things look! Josh was also extremely patient and understanding while he waited to be paid by the utility company. I cannot say enough good things about this company. They are wonderful!

I'd give more than 5 stars if I could.
These folks are professional, expedient and friendly.
That shouldn't be a rarity these days but it is.
They leveled and graded our back yard FAST and well done.
They were nice to my dog.
They had branded equipment and trucks.
Pretty much everything you would expect and more.
I'd hire them again in an instant.

Josh and his team did a amazing job on my pool. Josh came to meet me in person with his engineer and we designed the perfect pool for my yard and family. The 3D design helped paint the picture for my yard and Josh helped make my dream of a pool for my family come true. The project manager Rob kept me informed thru the entire process. The workers especially William did an amazing job on my pool and my yard and pool look amazing now. If you want the pool of your dreams and done with first class service and expertise use this company. Josh and his team made me feel like family.

Altered grounds is without a doubt a superior landscape company. It doesn't matter the size of your project, doesn't matter what you are trying to do they can do it. If you have a project that needs to be done in a timely manner there isn't another landscape company capable of meeting your needs within a specific timeframe more than alter grounds. If you are looking to spruce up your home, have a pool installed, or build a landscape monstrosity in your backyard I would highly recommend you use altered grounds.

Altered Grounds did a fabulous job on putting in our pavilion and out door fireplace. Very professional and easy to work with. We are 100% satisfied, can not compliment them enough with the beautiful job they did. They started and completed the job as promised. We highly recommend them!