HEADWATERS  Landscape Design/Build  

Headwaters Hardscape is owned and operated by Josh and Ian Kemp, brothers and East Bay natives. We did a project with them at our downtown Berkeley home in Spring 2008 — we can't imagine a better contracting experience, nor a better outcome. Josh and Ian combine outstanding design sense, knowledge of plants and materials, and draft and construction skill, with remarkable timeliness, attention to detail, congeniality, collaboration, and joie de vivre.

Our job involved taking a 500 sq foot background — barren and dusty — and completely developing it with a combination of redwood decking, exquisite stone patio and walks, plants, and other features including a beautiful fountain and lighting. We had no definite plan for any of it, just some ideas and general sense of how we would use it. No problem — Josh worked with us to develop a beautiful design with great features, workplan and estimate, and as the work got underway and evolved (including our finding cool weird Indonesian wood screens and posts and asking him to incorporate), Josh adapted the design and plan. We of course paid for the modifications, but he calculated these with flexibility and alternatives, exact costs, and with our complete understanding and agreement.

I could go on and on, but suffice to say that from end to end (about 8 weeks worth of work, and with no unreasonable delays) Josh and Ian were a joy to work with. We've all heard about or had awful experiences with contractors — Headwaters gave us the exact opposite experience. Not only did the work exceed expectations, but Josh and Ian are remarkable people in their own right and worth getting to know.

We highly and unequivocally recommend Headwaters.

Enjoy.....

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I must recommend Josh and Ian Kemp. They are true artists of the environment. They took our back yard jungle and made an elegant stone patio, paths through the brambles, a green watering system, and lovely plants. Most importantly I have never had a better experience with a contractor in terms of pleasant to have around, hardworking, honest, intelligent, value for cost, and especially sense of beauty. I really cannot imagine a better outcome and experience.

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My husband and I highly recommend Josh and Ian Kemp of Headwaters. They installed a deck with amazing built-in benches and flagstone pathways. We could not be happier with the result and they were a true pleasure to work with — very fair on pricing, very timely, honest and extremely personable.

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I HIGHLY recommend Josh Kemp and Headwaters Hardscape. They did our front yard, fence, back deck, and stone patio. Josh is an excellent carpenter and landscaper — he does it all!  Very professional, reliable, and reasonably priced. He is very creative with a lot of good ideas. We couldn’t have been happier.

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