I travel a great deal with my work, and was out of town the week that the job started. I left a check for the 40% payment with my father and asked him to give it to Mark when he arrived. The project started on Monday, May 10, as planned. On Thursday, I was surprised to receive an e-mail from Mark stating that he would need to get the payment from me upon my return on Saturday. My father had gotten confused and did not give him the check when the work started, thinking he was to hand it over upon completion. I told Mark to ask my father for the check. I was amazed that they had worked 4 days on faith. I think their trust in me says very good things about the character of the company. The original plan called for pavers to be laid over an existing patio and the new patio created adjacent to that. After I thought about this awhile, I decided to leave the existing patio as-is and just increase the size of the new patio. This also required some changes to the extension of the retaining wall and the french drain. I asked Mark to please adjust the design and the estimate The contractor who installed the french drain also installed drainage lines for gutter downspouts, in case I ever decided to install gutters. When Mark calculated all of the changes, he told me that I would have a $1,900 credit. I questioned his calculations, as I absolutely believe the changes should have increased the total cost rather than decreasing it. He recalculated and determined that I would have an $800 credit. I questioned this figure also, and was told that the figures had been triple-checked and the price was good. Mark recommended gutters and arranged for an estimate which came back at $925, a very reasonable price. I asked that an additional change order be implemented to install the gutters. In total, the job took almost seven weeks to complete. We had a great deal of rain during that time, so I was not at all surprised. All of the workmen were very professional and did an excellent job. All of the trash was picked up and discarded. Mark even cleaned off my previously-existing patio. I was most pleased by the fact that everyone was very friendly and kind to my Dad who "supervised" the project throughout. I was on travel for 5 of the 7 weeks of the project, so only met a few of the workmen for very short periods. Mark kept me informed about progress via periodic e-mails and phone calls. I'm still convinced that Durable Designs short-changed themselves on the total price, but they stood by the ffinal. In all, I ended up with everything I wanted, plus previously unplanned gutters, for only $125 more than the original estimate. One of the reasons that I wanted this work done was to eliminate the rainwater seeping into my basement. I can already tell that this problem has been resolved. Working with Durable Designs was a great experience. Everyone was professional and friendly. My new hardscaping looks gorgeous, and I feel like I got great value for my money. I