Showerthought: I finally get why my old boss in Seattle made us do a full site walk before even looking at a tree.

Had a big removal quote yesterday, a silver maple leaning over a garage. The homeowner kept pointing at the tree, talking about the branches. But I walked the whole yard first (like my boss drilled into me, you know, the whole 'look at everything' thing). Found a buried gas line marker no one mentioned, and the main sewer cleanout was right in the drop zone. If I'd just looked up at the tree, I would have missed it all. That ten minute walk saved a huge headache. How do you guys structure your initial site checks? Do you have a mental checklist you run through?

2 comments

2 Comments

jason52414d ago

Honestly that whole walk around thing seems like overkill a lot of the time. Clients hire you to look at a tree, so just look at the tree. You can spot most problems from the base if you know what you're doing. All that extra poking around just eats into the quote time and makes you look indecisive. Buried lines should be marked by the homeowner anyway, that's on them. If something gets hit, it's usually not the cutter's fault if they weren't told. Speed matters in this business, and a ten minute walk on every single job adds up to a lot of lost money over a year.

taylor.paige14d ago

Tell you what, speed almost cost me a big one last year. Rushed a quote on a big maple, didn't walk the back side. Came to do the job and found a whole kids' play set hidden in the brush right in the drop zone. That ten minute walk would have saved me a whole lot of re-planning on the spot. Now I do the awkward shuffle around every property, even when the client is watching from the window. Makes me look a bit paranoid, but it beats wrecking their swing set.