How Important Is The End Clean-up After Any Residential Work ?

[ROLLACOSTA]

i'm currently teaching a new groundie the rope's he seems to grasp most thing's i throw at him all except the final clear up ,so im asking you guy's just how important do you consider this aspect of the work,I consider the clean up as a vital part of the job,but when I mean clean-up i realy mean a proper clean-up ! do you guy's prehaps think after a large TD or trim i might be making too much of a deal regarding raking ,sweeping and blowing

 

[treebusta]

If you were the customer what would you expect. Thats all you need to say on the subject. The only thing that should look different to when you turned up is the trees. Sometimes I think we go away from a site leaving it looking cleaner than when we arrived.

 

[underwor]

Most of our customers have no idea if you did the trimming right, but they do know if you cleaned up the mess. This is what they base their referrals on when speaking to others.

 

[Koa Man]

Good clean up maybe even more important than good tree work in the eyes of most homeowners. Many don't have a clue has to where a proper cut should be made or whether or not gaffing a tree is OK. I have a lot of repeat customers who come out after I am done, give a brief look at the trees, then look around the lawn real good and say, "good job, good job."

 

[dayman]

One way that I've made it clear to new workers is to compare their paycheck to a complete job. The client has hired us to do a particular job and leave their property in an agreed upon state. If we don't do a complete job or damage something they expect a discount or compensation.

When an employee is contracted to do work for the company they expect to get paid for the whole pay period. If the employer doesn't pay on payday or shorts the paycheck it's no different than not doing a complete job for the clients. Many employees don't know a good job from bad but everyone knows when payday is and how much should be in the envelope. Take that same thought process and apply it to the jobs we do.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

I new i was rite all along the clean-up is vital to a good job, and vital for your good reputation, i have been around other firms who's idea of cleaning up is to blow as much cr*p down the road away from the house they were working as possible.. ...i might be a small outfit like some of you guy's but my standards are very high and i intend it to stay that way,maybe that is why i have stayed a small 2-4 man band for so long

i think my new groundie just think's i'm a moaning old git ,so i think the best thing to do is to print this thread off and show him that i'm not the only tree business with very high standards

 

[chicken89]

tell the rookie this- "if he is paying someone to repair his car, is he expecting someone to fix it and clean up their mess, or leave grease hand prints on the seats?" this is the same for customers, we fix their trees, but do we leave our remains for them to clean up?!

 

[JonnyHart]

Nobody will call you back for work later if you leave a big mess for them to cleanup. Bottom line. I learned to enjoy raking.

 

[Koa Man]

What I would like to know is why everyone I know, myself included, flosses and brushes their teeth real good before going to the dentist, even for teeth cleaning? You don't rake up the yard before the gardener comes or wash your car before the detailer comes do you?

 

[rb_in_va]

What I would like to know is why everyone I know, myself included, flosses and brushes their teeth real good before going to the dentist, even for teeth cleaning?

That's true, and they always know if you haven't been doing it regularly. Floss-picks work really well though.

 

[treeseer]

do we leave our remains for them to clean up?!

Yes we do if we're not paid to clean it. Some customers say just put it on the ground. Other clients have a tight budget and an able body; I offer a no-rake discount. Works for both of us; gets them involved, gets me off to more pleasurable activity sooner.

When paid to clean up, I agree, leave it better than you found it. My sophomore son had an assignment to guess at the meaning of life; that was my answer, prime the pump so others can drink, or at least don't poison the well. That also fits with Maya Angelou's definition of an adult--someone who takes responsibility for their environment.

Not a common philosophy, especially in our current political atmosphere, but a good one.

(also fits with James Dean's philosophy: Live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse . But I digress.)

 

[MasterBlaster]

Leave it better looking than when you arrived.

Period.

 

[alanarbor]

For the most part, clients don't know good tree work from bad. What they do know is how their property looks after you leave.

 

[treeseer]

For the most part, clients don't know good tree work from bad. .

Sounds like a missed educational opprtunity. The more they know, the more they value trees, the more they value and will pay for better tree care.

 

[alanarbor]

Sounds like a missed educational opprtunity. The more they know, the more they value trees, the more they value and will pay for better tree care.

True enough, but if you educate the client, that is a value added service. You could expand their knowledge of trees 1000%, but if you leave the property looking lousy, you probably won't be back. The clean up is a sacrament.

 

[begleytree]

I'm with everyone else. Most homeowners spend 2 minutes looking at the tree, and 10 looking at your cleanup.
-Ralph

 

[Big A]

Monday and Tuesday this week I've been working on a newly developed site. As usual sign cones out first. Then out with all the kit, put tarp down for the tools to lay on and filling up saws etc. Do 20% crown reduction 15% crown thin and raise canopy to 3metres. Removed fence panels where necessary to make life easier. Chip up and thoroughly clean and tidy up. Wash down newly painted walls where odd dragged twig marks occurred, (narrow passage). Client hardly noticed the trees BUT did notice how particular we had been with the whole process. She then proceeded to show me the mess the builders had left things in. She had a series of photos of hand prints on new paint work, footprints on new laminate flooring, etc etc. This is why WE do the job 100% right each and every time, because you never know!

 

[NickfromWI]

If home owners knew what's what, they'd NOT have us do the perfect clean up. I'd like to think that our time is more expensive than the guy who mows the lawn.

In my dream world, we'd show up, cut things, pick up the logs and big sticks, and leave behind anything that the mower can chew up. Why waste our time and your money?

Unfortunately, as has been covered here in the past, the homeowner sees us as equals to the person that mows or rakes the lawn, so we DO have to make it very clean or we will lose a lot of bidness.

love
nick

 

[Stumped_4_Life]

When i Grind stumps Iv never been asked to fill a hole in with dirt and re-seed it They tell me they are going to do that there selfs Nor have i been asked to Haul Chips away Crazy Huh? LOL.

 

[tnttreeman]

I can't tell you how many jobs I've gotten after the neighbors see how good our cleanup is. We ALWAYS leave the jobsite cleaner than we found it(unless we are just putting a tree on the ground and the homeowner is doing the cleanup), both on removals and trimming. I've been on jobs after another tree company has been there and I can't believe how some guys leave the yards. Most times you are hard pressed to find more than the minutest amount of saw dust when we are done.