Five Steps You Take Before Hiring A Landscaping Company

Getting some landscape work done at your home or business? Think you have found a good company that is trustworthy and able to do the work? Wait one minute! Make it a point to make sure you have gone through these five steps before you sign any agreement.

Get Some Examples of Their Work

Before hiring any local landscaper ask them about their previous jobs. They should have some pictures to show you. Take note of their style, preferred theme and set-up. Do you find their work attractive? Does it fit you? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you want to make sure your landscaping contractor "sees" the same end results as you do.

Get Detailed Quotes

Do not get any verbal quotes. Every estimate should be in writing with a break-down of what they will do and how much each item (labor and materials) is costing you.

You want know exactly how much you are spending and an estimated time frame of how long it will take to finish each part of the job. You might not have access to various parts of your home for an extended period of time and you want to be able to plan accordingly.

References

Make sure you get any potential landscaper to supply you with three references. Okay, in reality rarely anyone ever calls references. Even when you supply them for a potential employer they never call. But, at least you know that a company is confident enough in their past work to supply you with them. Shady landscaping companies that have upset former customers will be hesitant to do that.

Make Sure Your Visions Are In Line With Each Other

It is a wise idea to show the landscaper what you want via actual pictures. You can cut pictures out of magazines or get photos online. Show them to the contractor or person doing the estimate. Explain that this is what you want and would like the end result to be as close to it as possible.

Make sure that the company you want to hire will be able to do what you need done. Have them reassure you that they can. The last thing you want is to spend a couple thousand dollars building your dream front or backyard and be disappointed with the end result.

Payment Terms

Do not pay them all the money in the beginning. It is fine to give them a down payment of 30% of the total amount but paying them more than that before they have started working is foolish.

Agree to pay them in stages. There might be three or four stages depending on the scope of the work. As they complete a phase of the job you write them a check. When everything is completed, and you are completely satisfied with the work, you write them the final check and shake hands.

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