INSTALL-IT-DIRECT Landscape Design & Build San Diego

I hired Install It Direct for a large outdoor project that included pavers, drainage, and artificial turf. Unfortunately, this turned into months of stress, constant follow up, and me having to catch issue after issue that should have been caught by any competent crew or quality control process.

For context, I have done a lot of remodeling in my life. I am comfortable managing big projects and I know what is normal to expect. The issue here was not the size or complexity of the job. The issue was the subcontractors they used. The attention to detail was extremely poor and it felt like corners were being cut at every opportunity.

The biggest theme of this entire project was lack of attention to detail and lack of oversight. I felt like I had to be the project manager and inspector full time, because problems were only addressed when I personally noticed them and pushed for corrections.

Here are some of the issues I dealt with:

Drainage and pavers

A lot of polymeric sand went down two drains because the drains were not covered or taped during sand application.

Drains were installed inconsistently and not aligned. Some drain covers faced different directions and the drains were not set the same distance from the patio cover, which made the downspouts and angles look mismatched.

Multiple paver areas still have drainage problems, including new spots I identified later.

Paver border around the turf was not set correctly. About 10 border pieces were loose and not attached to the concrete.

Shower / border work

The shower drain was not installed in the center. This is not a “design preference” issue. A drain is expected to be centered unless there is a clear reason and it is documented. It was simply installed off center, which is a workmanship issue.

Artificial turf
This was the worst part.

Within weeks of install, I had grass and weeds coming through the middle of the turf in multiple spots (not at seams or edges). It eventually totaled 18 spots.

The turf was uneven and lumpy, with dips and bumps that should never have passed final inspection. I was told this was because of gopher activity (we installed gopher wire and i have a full gopher fence around the entire yard)

The infill was spread by hand, not with a spreader machine. The result was obvious: about 80% of the turf had little to no infill at all.

When they came out to inspect it, I was told that infill on a 2 inch blade height turf was “optional” and that not having infill was not a big deal. That is not consistent with what other turf professionals have told me, and it clearly affected the feel, stability, and overall performance.

Regarding the weeds, instead of addressing the underlying cause, the company would come out and remove them from time to time. To me, that felt like it was being done to minimize or hide the extent of what was happening rather than fix the install.

When I said the turf needed to be completely redone the right way due to the improper install (lumps, dips, weeds coming through, lack of base prep), they sent me a “change order” for $45,000 to redo it “correctly.” In other words, I was being asked to pay a massive additional amount to get what should have been done properly the first time.

I ended up hiring another company to redo the turf, and during removal they showed me recycled base had been used that was heavily contaminated with dirt, and the base depth ranged from about 0.5 inches to 2 inches depending on the area. There was also no weed fabric installed under the base.

At a certain point, I lost confidence completely. The pattern was clear: corners were cut, quality control was missing, and the burden of catching mistakes fell on the homeowner. I expected a reputable company based on reviews, but my experience was the opposite.

UPDATE: The fire pit installed by Installing Direct exploded into my girlfriend’s face. An independent inspection confirmed the gas connection was completely loose, causing gas to build up and ignite. Due to this gross negligence and the resulting injuries, we are currently in litigation.

We recently bought our home knowing we wanted to have the backyard redone. It was covered in dyed mulch which was a complete nightmare. When we started looking for vendors, we had several companies come out and got a variety of answers of what was possible or not, and also how long the process would take. They all had delayed response times, and odd requirements that were really off putting.

On a whim we reached out to Install It Direct to get yet another option. Man we are glad we went with them. Steve was great and quickly turned around a rendering and captured our vision almost to a T after our first conversation.

The shinning star of the entire project was Troy, from day one we knew he was understood our vision and had our best interest in mind with every decision we had to make. He checked in with us regularly, kept us abreast with everything happening and whenever an issue arose (which were all minor and expected) that we were presented with pros/cons for each solution. He made us feel like we were a priority and that he genuinely cared about the outcome.

All in all, it was a great experience. We love our new yard and would highly recommend IIT and Troy to anyone. They were able to make our dream backyard come to life.

Pavers done to extend a driveway, with built in LED lights. Reasonable pricing, very professional work