LiveWell Outdoors (formally the Sharper Cut) is a first class company. They designed and built an outdoor patio living space for me in February 2020. The project managers and installers are professional and efficient. The workmanship is excellent. We are thrilled with our outdoor living space, it exceeded our expectations. A big thank you to Troy and all the other folks who were part of our project.

Congratulations to LiveWell Outdoors on your new name and brand! We have worked with Bill and Justin Banford under their former company name, SharperCut, for more than a decade. They have done multiple hardscape and landscaping projects on our school campus. From creating a memorial garden in the memory of a deceased student to the legacy entrance of our Fine Arts and Athletics Center to the patio and courtyard outside of our new Student Life Center, and the recently completed contemplative prayer garden, their attention to detail and thoughtful design has captured the essence of these meaningful spaces on our campus. As we now break ground on a new Science and Innovation Center, we have once again contracted with the Banfords, now under their new name LivingWell Outdoors. This new space will be the largest and most ambitious project they have done for us to date. The Legacy Courtyard will tie our campus buildings together in a beautiful and inspirational design while providing both historical and contemplative areas for our students and families for generations to come. I could not recommend them highly enough! From residential to commercial, they do it all and they do so with an honest and personal touch. LiveWell Outdoors is our first and only choice for all of our outdoor needs!

Thanks to Bill and the LiveWell Outdoors team, I am a satisfied client. My initial contact (I was referred by another client) was for landscaping services. Bill met with me and listened to my wants/needs and provided knowledgeable insight for the design of my landscaping project. The crew was friendly, courteous, very respectful of my property, extremely neat, very professional in their duties and upon completion, clean up was the final task to a job well done!

Another project (deck and screened gazebo) with this wonderful company was exemplary. Working with Bill and the design team to see a completed project on the computer, prior to installation, was amazing. Again, throughout this experience, Bill, Justin, the design team, the front office staff, and the crew working at my home were all very professional. The workmanship of the project was excellent!! I have and will continue to recommend LiveWell Outdoors to family, friends, and anyone for landscaping/hardscape and outdoor living needs. So if you are looking for a company to make your outdoor dreams a reality, look no further LiveWell Outdoors is your one stop shop company to make your outdoor dreams come true.

With much appreciation,

Denise C.

I am late in my review but during the summer of 2022 LiveWell installed a patio/deck for me. From the design to the finished product LiveWell was very professional, courteous, and responsive. Matt was fantastic with the design process. He was very patient as we hammered out the final design. During construction, he was available to answer any questions I had. The construction team was on time, neat, and very friendly. They too were able to answer any questions I had in a timely manner. The team discovered an issue I was unaware of with the area way from my basement during the installation that we were able to resolve. I was pleased that it was discovered now because it would have been a mess to deal with later! Connie handled the admin side and she was a pleasure to work with My deck and patio installation overall was really seamless. I have a beautiful product in my backyard for relaxing and entertaining. We will be expanding the area and plan to use LiveWell.

If you are looking for a company to make your outdoor dreams come true, look no further than LiveWell Outdoors! From the design to the finished project, you cannot go wrong! Troy with design, he came up with ideas that we hadn’t even thought of! Andy, project lead, was in constant communication with us to let us know what was coming up and kept the project on schedule. The hardscape crew – Jovani, Antonio, Ismael, Josue, Carpentry/Fireplace crew – Oswaldo, Oscar, Joel were all very easy to work with and true professionals in their craft, at the end of each day our jobsite was cleaned up and ready for the next day! Even the subcontractors on this project were outstanding,
Electrician – WiresInc – Mike Wade
Granite – Dynamic Stone – Myra Hernandez
Pavilion – Country Lane
The backyard of our dreams was completed on time and exceeded our expectations exponentially! Thank you LiveWell for making our backyard the place to be!

I hired LiveWell to replace and expand my existing roofdeck on my condo in Shaw. Overall, I am very happy with the finished product–particularly the craftsmanship of their carpentry team–but there were some issues along the way that gave me pause. I would consider hiring them again, but I would want to make sure there were appropriate safeguards in the contract if I did.

Good:
-High-quality work
-Good price and largely stayed on-budget
-When I raised issues they largely worked to resolve them in a satisfactory way

Things to Improve On:
-Zoning/Regulatory: The third-party they worked with to help shepherd my project through DCRA approvals was horrible. It took a long time to get the project approved–admittedly partially because of the pandemic–but the third-party was slow to reach out to DCRA to get questions answered, submit revisions, etc. I had to step in and essentially take over this part of the process, otherwise I would still be waiting on DCRA approval.
-Communication: Often lacking. I often had to call/email/text my contact multiple times before receiving a response. This was particularly frustrating given the zoning issues described above. Even after I stepped in and ensured DCRA approval for the project, I never received any sort of acknowledgement or apology from the LiveWell team for the work I had to do. Justin was much better about communicating once construction was imminent.

We reached out to Sharper Cut for a consultation last summer after reading a number of rave reviews and getting a personal reference. We began designing a mid-size project last fall and signed a contract after the holidays. Our house sits on an incredibly steep slope over half an acre, and we needed help designing a space that would provide us some practical use while minimizing the amount of lawn we’d need to mow. We wanted level patio spaces, garden walls, and a walkway around the side of the house that brought you into this new space. Retaining walls and lots of them were in our future.

The design team drafted a few concepts for us and we loved everything about them. We saw so much potential in both, and posed a lot of “What if”s and “Could we”s in order combine elements of both designs. We felt like we were becoming one of those clients that could never make a decision, and were requesting tweaks in the conceptual stage to no end. But we were constantly met with professionalism, insight and a willingness to really help us get our outdoor space the way we wanted it.

Sydney’s design eye is exceptional, and Bill is friendly while remaining straight forward, a combination we both liked and respected. Every option was discussed from a practical and a cost perspective: materials, plants, what would be worth doing now to save money over the long run or what we could do ourselves in order to save money. Our project did incur some unforeseen costs due to our county and changes in the permit and inspection process: an issue no one saw coming. But the Sharper Cut team was forthright with those costs whenever they arose and worked diligently to find the most cost effective solution for everything.

It really felt like a partnership with a team of people that were on our side as opposed to a business looking to profit off of a client. We were either corresponding via e-mails or jumping on phone calls every other day throughout the project. And Bill and Sydney both came on site to check in with the crew and project manager to monitor the overall progress and make sure things were being done the way they knew we wanted them.
Even when we saw little things we were sure would be addressed through the project, we’d reach out to ask questions just for assurance, and we always got answers quickly and respectfully.

Our front yard was a mess longer than we expected due to a lot of rain days, and the amount of materials our project required made it difficult getting in and out of our house for a while but it was worth it. Overall the project went smoothly and came out better than we could have imagined. So much so that we are starting a 2nd albeit smaller project with them in a few months.

We’d recommend The Sharper Cut anytime for a project of any size. They clearly know what their doing, and they do it very, very well.

We contracted with Bill, Connie and Matt to design a landscape plan for us. All three of them were an absolute delight to work with and very professional. We had tried several other landscape companies before Sharper Cut and were very unhappy. With Sharper Cut, we were impressed from the first minute. They listened to our hopes, responded to our questions, presented us with a beautiful design proposal and were even able to help my 3D-challenged husband see, feel and understand the proposed design through technology. They also provided the minute details we had requested. I wish we were moving forward with the development phase! Quite unexpectedly, we stumbled across the place we want to retire and decided to buy a home there instead of going through with the project on our existing home. But I will be recommending Bill and his team to all of my friends!!

Sharper Cut are my “Go-To” company for work ranging from replacing my pool deck, erosion control, landscaping, and installing pavers. I don’t know how much I have spent with them but it is close to $80,000 for numerous jobs. The first large job – replacing my pool deck – I used them for I got numerous bids. They were not the lowest bid but I felt they were by far the best value. They did an exceptional job of designing the work solution and visibly presenting it. We wanted numerous small changes and they were completed on the design drawing as we discussed them. When all was discussed and modified to our satisfaction the design was locked and the price recalculated. All work was completed as noted on the drawings and the area cleaned and restored. There were no price adjustments after the work was started. Since that large project, I no longer get bids. Sharper Cut has always provided me reasonable prices and exceptional work. Once contracted for a job they complete it without delays. In the last week, heavy rain has started washing away my driveway. I called Sharper Cut and they have developed a solution to re-direct the water and stabilize the area using rip-rap. They have responded within a day from being contacted and should do the work in less than a week.