For homeowners, lawn care is essentially the house’s version of getting a haircut and a good outfit. It’s the first thing people see, whether they’re passing by or stopping in for a visit. Along with exterior paint and hardscaping, lawn care is one of the most important factors in determining your home’s curb appeal. Sometimes it’s difficult to find the right contractors to help you with the job, however, as you don’t know if you’re going to find someone who will overcharge you for a good service, underdeliver for a lower price, or simply not show up at all.
Nevertheless, there are legitimately good contractors out there who have the skills you desire, charge a reasonable rate, and always show up on time. You can’t always tell which kind of contractor a person will be when you first get their information or even when you first meet them. Fortunately, there are a few ways to avoid the worst experiences in your search to find a reputable lawn care provider.
Soliciting References
When it comes to contract work, the most effective way to screen candidates in your search is to get direct references. These can come from friends and family or even the workplace. You can get good rates from trustworthy contractors if you speak to your office’s facilities manager and ask them to refer you to the contractors your company uses for lawn care services. Another approach is to contact contractors in related fields. For example, if you already have a reliable handyman, they may know some people who are trustworthy landscapers.
Another form of reference is the online review. These reviews must always come with a grain of salt, as competitors can leave negative reviews about a good contractor. Similarly, if someone had unreasonable expectations and the contractor declined the job, then that person may take to the review section and blast the contractor without regard to the quality of work that they do. Carefully inspect the style of reviews that the contractor has received. Are there many details in the positive reviews, while the negative ones are vague and unclear? You may want to ignore the negative words there. If the detail is in the negative and the positive reviews are more generic, that may be a contractor to avoid.
Making Bold Moves
Another way you can find a lawn care service contractor to take care of your lawn is by directly going up to one of the contractors while they’re on a job at a business or governmental facility. You could approach them and ask if they take on residential clients. While many contractors just work larger jobs, you may chance upon someone who knows how to do a good job and will take care of your needs at a reasonable rate. Alternatively, the individual contractor you speak to may do the work in a freelance capacity on the side.
Since you’ve seen the results of their labor, you can approach the conversation with much more confidence. Indeed, you don’t know the price that they might charge, but many of these contractors can prove to be very reasonable, as they have already secured the regular job for the office or governmental building. You can’t always find the best contractors using this method, but you may be able to drum up a reference from one of those contractors, even if they don’t do residential work.
Using Online Resources
Finally, you could consider looking for a lawn care provider online. While there are still a few holdouts who don’t have much of an online presence, many of the best lawn care service providers will have a place on the internet. One of the easiest places to look is on an aggregator website such as Angie’s List or Yelp. These sites allow users to provide feedback for businesses, both in terms of stars and specific comments. While both do allow companies to promote themselves and pay for better ranking on searches, the customer reviews ensure that you’ll always hear a fair assessment of whether or not the business does the job as promised.
Your lawn is one of the most important parts of your home, so it’s essential to take care of it. Whether you’re planning on selling your home, getting ready for the holidays, or just want to have the nicest-looking home on the block, you can’t neglect your lawn care. The best-maintained lawns need attention from a specialist, so use these tips to find reputable lawn care services around your neighborhood.
By Christopher Gallagher
Christopher is a homeowner in Pennsylvania who has worked with contractors for many needs, including lawn care. He has solicited these services using the same methodology listed in this article to find a reliable service provider.