If you own a house or property, you know all about the landscaping struggles that come with home ownership. It isn’t hard to spot landscaping services in any major city, but finding reliable ones is another question all together.
Here are 6 things you will want to know when it comes to hiring a professional landscaping service in your area.
1. Check the BBB Rating of the Landscaping Service
The Better Business Bureau provides tons of useful information that you can use to check the status and reliability of a company. Look to see if the landscaping company you are looking at is in good standing, that their licenses are up to date, and that they have little to no complaints listed.
2. Quality (Experience) over Quantity (Price)
We all like to save a dollar from time to time. But is saving that dollar worth it if the service you receive is subpar? Like almost everything in life, you get what you pay for. The barrier to entry for starting a landscaping service is low, so we always recommend that you seek out a company that has a solid reputation for providing excellent service.
When a landscaping company cuts corners, you can guarantee that you will have to go back and fix that work, costing you a lot more in the process.
3. Let Your Landscaper Handle the Permit Process
It doesn’t matter where you live in the United States, if you want to make major changes to your property or a structure, you’ll need a permit.
Experienced landscaping companies understand the permit process and are more than capable of helping you apply for the right permits. In some cases, you will have to pay for the permit up front, or the company you hire may include it as an item on your bill when they invoice you.
Always be wary of a company that tries to skip getting permits. Not having the proper permits for a job can lead to hefty fines that you don’t want to be responsible for paying.
4. Beware of Large Deposits
Deposits are a normal part of any service business, but massive deposits are not. If a landscaper asks you for a large deposit upfront, be wary of them. This is often a major red flag as these types of landscapers will usually take your money and run.
This isn’t to say that every company that requires large deposits is a scam, but if the company is unproven and doesn’t have any legitimate reviews, you have the right to be concerned.
5. Ask About Their Warranty
Even the best landscaping companies have to redo work sometimes. It’s a fact of life. Whether the workmanship was bad, or the materials themselves were defective, always ask your landscaping service about the warranty they provide.
As a general rule of thumb, a high quality company will stand by their work and offer a warranty for it, while lower quality ones will offer no compensation should things go wrong.
6. Sign a Contract
This is one of the most important things you can do. A contract is legally binding and will outline exactly what the landscaping company is supposed to do.
In cases where things go wrong, where the company is negligent, or tries to cheat you out of work you paid for, you can sue them for damages using the terms laid out in the contract. Sometimes contracts may seem formal, but they are designed to protect both you and the company, so use them!
Questions? Ask Harmony Tree Services
Hiring the right landscaper isn’t easy. Harmony Tree Services has been offering dedicated landscaping services to clients in and around Allentown for many years.
Don’t hesitate to give us a call if you have a question about landscaping. We are more than happy to help.
