Mirror Lake Designs

When I met with the homeowner at her golf course lot she explained her goal of creating an outdoor living area. Before collecting our design fee, I explained to her that the cost of building this project would be higher because the houses on her street were so close together we could not get excavating equipment behind her house from the street. The only access to her backyard was trecking over 300 feet through the golf course.

We would have to get permission from the course owner (for a price), pay an additional amount to the excavation company, and then repair all the damage which would include sprinkler repair, grading and sod for an area about 12 feet wide and over 300 feet long. We would also have to repair a sidewalk which would surely crack with the weight of a fully loaded dump truck.

Ms. Russell seemed to love the design but not the price and yes, it was over $100,000. She asked how to get the price lower (although she would not say what price she was hoping to see) and we showed how we could reduce some of the walls and pavers a bit, but the price did not come down low enough for her budget. She asked if we could just build a pool without fountains and walls, less patio, less planting and lighting. My response was yes we could but that, but she would not be receiving the type of living area she was imagining when she called us – that it would just be a tiny pool without any of the characteristics we have built our reputation upon over all the years. She was unhappy and I suggested another alternative. I said that if we designed a water feature with planters, lighting, lush plantings, and patio she could have an exquisite, beautiful, livable garden at a significantly lower price since the cost of the pool and golf course repair would not be involved. And that new design would NOT be at any additional cost. She rejected that idea also and decided that since we could not build our design for her unspecified price that Mirror Lake was at fault.