Meet ZenStone Innovations, Edmonton Landscaping and Hardscaping Experts
Hey guys, I’m here with Tyler from ZenStone Innovations, a landscaping company in Edmonton, Alberta. And today we’re going to be talking about how they got started in landscaping, the different iterations of the company, and what they’re focused on now, and the people that they’ve been able to help.
So, number one, let’s get started. How did you and your wife start this business?
We started in 2018. We just kept noticing that everywhere you went, there were stuff falling apart and people were always complaining that they’d spend so much money on their patios and it would never be right and we would just take on little jobs to fix it and make it right like it was our own house and here we are couple years later doing it for a living.
How ZenStone Innovations Got Started
So, did you do this before?
I started in 2014. It was a summer job. I needed to pay the bills and my first house I walked into was a $4 point something million dollar house and we put granite on a fire pit. Wow. Amazing.
Tell me what that experience was like.
It was weird, man. Poor kid and walking into this big mansion having to go through security checks to get in and signing forms and my boss is like, “Oh, no, just sign it. It just says you can’t talk about the person.” Later to find out that it was just their weekend home and I want a $4 million weekend home.
Right. Who wouldn’t, right? That’s amazing.
Yeah. I just started as a little job and there we go.
And grew from there. Okay. So, you’ve been in business for a number of years now. And are you specifically anchored to Edmonton? What are the different neighborhoods you do work in?
Typically, we do Edmonton, Sherwood Park, Spruce Grove, St. Albert. We’ve done a couple jobs that are all over the province, a little bit farther away area. Just logistically those are a little bit harder. Anywhere for the right job.
Landscaping and Outdoor Projects in Edmonton
All right. Now, specifically, cuz landscaping is a pretty broad term that people use for a lot of different things. What are some of the specific things that you guys specialize in at ZenStone Innovations?
Patios, retaining walls, drainage systems, pools, anything that’s not maintenance. People hear landscaping and they think of weed whackers and lawnmowers, and that’s just maintenance. Everything outside start to finish, decks, pergolas, bocce ball courts, sports courts, all sorts of unique stuff that if you can think of it, we do it outside.
Okay. So, all of the outdoor stuff. So, grading, do you go do grading and stuff like that as well? So you have some machinery obviously.
Yes.
So you got skid steers, excavators, all of those things. And what about your expertise? Do you have other guys working with you who help you with these things?
We do have some friendly competitions doing this kind of stuff.
I like to be in the machine though. I just it’s kind of where the passion came from. Little kids seeing Tonka toys and now I get to play around people’s houses and not break stuff.
That’s perfect. So, let’s talk about some of the jobs that you guys got going on now. So, where are you working right now in Edmonton?
Right now, we are in Windermere doing a pretty good project. There’s a 80ft retaining wall going in. We’re moving the driveway over 15 ft. It’s just a whole whole system is over 1,000 ft of paving stone in the backyard, gardens, trees, massive water feature. That’s it’s a pretty sweet one. Lots of lighting, too, at night time just so that way they can sit out there at night time and enjoy their space.
Designing a Backyard Project Around the Customer
That sounds like an amazing project. Now, let’s get into the specifics of it. How did they find you? And then what was that design process like going through it with the customer?
So, we actually did a job right beside them. They had signed up with somebody else and that other landscape company just kept pushing them off. So he walked over one day and he said, “Hey, do you have availability?” I said, “Yeah, we’ll try to fit you in.”
So we started working together on it last year and then through the process this winter. Took a while to make that design and get everything right. Yeah, just meetings back and forth trying to figure out what they wanted, not what I wanted. It’s their home. They got to love it.
And after that, we just signed up and got to it.
And away you go. Now, I do have this question about landscape because I have an electrical background and I work with a lot of different trades, but I never really specifically work with landscaping companies. What is the process like for development permits or building permits, locates, that kind of stuff? What do you guys have to go through?
It depends on what we’re doing. New builds, usually there’s a lot more to it cuz you have to make sure that the builder passes the rough grade or if I come in and do the rough grade and then you got to pass the final grade, that’s another certificate on its own.
Just depending on everything depends on the amount of certificates, the kind of house, whether it’s an infill or just a regular lot renovation.
Then you have the locates you got to call obviously have that done before cuz they only bury TELUS lines one inch in the ground. So those get hit quite often, but yeah, it’s there’s not too much to go through unless you’re building a brand new deck, then you need a deck permit and the pergola permit. If you’re installing a pool, you need permits for that.
So it really just depends on what you’re doing. Simple, easy job. Sometimes you don’t need any permits. You just need your locates done. And other jobs, you got to spend 80 hours finding permits and talking to the city and doing all that kind of stuff.
Permits, Drainage, and Bringing a Client’s Vision to Life
There’s a new system that we’re working on right now. It’s called the L system. It’s a drainage system in Edmonton.
Okay.
Basically, it helps reduce the storm water that goes into the road for the storm water drain systems. They are ridiculous. You have to dig a massive hole and keep all the water on the property. The house that we’re doing it on is 3 and 1/2 ft higher than the road. It’s a unique system and you need whole bunch of permits and inspections and all that stuff to get that done. So, it’s a process.
That sounds like quite the process, especially if that you’re three and a half feet higher than the road. You got to dig down deeper than that in order to have the drainage go to the right spot.
Yeah.
So that means you have to have a little bit of expertise, knowledge, and equipment to do that.
Yeah.
One final question. Okay. What makes it so satisfying when you’re working with a client and what are some of the best things or best feelings that you have when you’ve either been working on a project or completed a project?
That’s a good question. My favorite part of the job is actually bringing a client’s vision to life. So, it’s not necessarily finishing the job and walking away from the people. It’s building that lifelong connection where you get a call from them and you answer the phone and you know that they’re not complaining. They’re just, “Hey, come look at this. Can I have more work done? Can I have more stuff? My friend wants you to come do this.”
It’s about the connection realistically. We try to not make work work. We make it fun for everybody. It’s landscaping. It shouldn’t be stressful. Yeah.
So, it’s Yeah, it’s cool when you look at the design and then the finished project and you can overlap them, but it’s even cooler knowing that somebody loves it and they’re happy.
That’s great.
Yeah. So, we’ll stop there. Thank you so much for sharing this information with us today. And if you guys are looking for an amazing landscaping company, not a lawn maintenance company, but a landscaping company in the Edmonton area, look no further than ZenStone Innovations Landscaping in Edmonton, Alberta. Thanks so much for watching and we’ll see you on the next.