My husband and I are finally going to take care of our yeard this year and want to hire a professional to do it right. We moved here from Spokane last November and don't know anyone to speak of and found out about this blog from a neighbor.
Any help is appreciated.
jwws
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Are you looking for a landscape architect/ designer, a design/build contractor or someone to do yard maintenance/clean-up?
Irukandji
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If you can give a little more info about your project, we can point you in the right direction.
Laura Laplante lauralaplante.com She is an experienced landscape designer, gardener extrodinaire! I love the garden she designed and we implemented together. I loved working with her she made even the hardest days(moving rocks for the wall and laying flagstone) so much fun. Please go to her website and view some of her gardens. She's local long-time West Seattle...let's keep it local....
Thank you and sorry for not replying sooner. We talked to some nice people at home depot that told us about a gentleman in Burien and we contacted him today for an estimate.
jwws
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Francis57,
Make sure the person Home Depot recommended is licensed, insured and bonded - you can check this out with WA State L&I. Have had personal knowledge of Home Depot using subcontractors who are not licensed, insured or bonded, so buyer beware!
I would be cautious about Home Depot recommendations. Their stance is very pro-chemical, pro-lawn, pro ball & box shaped shrubs. Please consider an eco-friendly, NW style, water-wise garden. If you could be a little more specific about what you're looking for, there are lots of folks on this blog who could help.
Laura L. is very knowledgeable about plantings, what works in our climate. Once you give her your requirements she can easily design exactly what you are looking for in terms of native plantings and how much time money and energy you want to put into your garden.
Whatever happened to the good old days? We had our estimate this morning and it was over $5000 to build a small retaining wall, spread about 30 square feet of play chips, and to plant some rodendrons. Guess we'll try to do this ourselves!
hi,
ya know.....i have to say that thee whole "licensed, bonded, insured" thing is kind of a "loaded" terminology. i've been a self-employed landscaper for 20 years. i am licensed, but never have been or will be bonded or insured.
i am a small 1-3 person operation & never bite off more than i can chew---granted, that's not to say some folks do! my clients are some of the best people in the world & i wouldn't have gotten them if i was all of thee above! i got them all through "word of mouth".
sure, if you have a large job that requires construction that there's the possibility of people getting hurt----get someone licensed & bonded. but, if your just revamping your garden (which is what most people do) get some smaller local gardener. i'm sure they would appreciate the work as will you in the long run! i know plenty of good gardeners in west seattle that have some years of experience under their belts.
and the other, most important thing----get 3 estimates!!! most folks give them for free and if they don't, you DON"T want them! i have a middle eastern rockery fella i have worked with for about 10 years now. he's on the east side, but works everywhere. i guarantee he will outbid your previous estimate. granted, he's not as meticulous as some, but i definitely think you get your money's worth. check with some local gardeners & if they can't beat that price, get someone like this fella then get the gardeners to do the "plant" stuff!
good luck!
jwws
Member Profile
Krizten,
According to L&I you are a specialty contractor (landscaper) and are required to hold a $6000 bond and insurance. What does following the rules and being a licensed, bonded and insured contractor have to do with the ability/inability to get work through word of mouth or do a good job? It's the uninsured contractors that I'd be wary of regardless of the job.
So if I hire an unbonded/uninsured landscaper and they slice their thumb off accidentally while trimming my trees and shrubs am I liable to pay thru my homeowners insurance?
well then, i guess you should be wary of me and over 60% of the landscapers out there then....... i'm not trying to debate you. i just know because i have been in this field for 20 years (literally). the licensed & bonded contractors are generally the larger companies that do more "construction" type services or have much larger accounts than us smaller gardeners. that's all.
jwws
Member Profile
Krizten,
We're a small general contractor and have been in business since 1990, our accounts are not large (nor are our bank accounts - especially in this economy) but we still play by the rules and are licensed, bonded and insured. If we hire any subs who are not licensed, bonded or insured then we become liable and can be fined if anything goes wrong or someone reports the sub, so yes I guess we would be wary of you!
Yikes, I'm sorry for opening this can of worms (doesn't seem like it's too difficult to do here!). Please forget I said anything. I don't want anyone to get in trouble for me asking a simple question or providing a simple reply.
A couple of comments here.
Thank you JWWS! You are right on. I'm an industry professional and we play by the rules too.
To Krizten, I am concerned by your admissions that you are operating illegally. When we receive information that leads us to believe a landscaper is operating illegally it is passed on to licensing authorities for further investigation.
To francis57, Don't apologize. Home owners need to know who they are dealing with and how to protect themselves.
This is an important discussion and should not be taken lightly.
jwws
Member Profile
Diana,
Thank you! Too often it is the people who don't operate legally or who do not have the experience to take on a project that give all contractors in general a bad name. Your website is lovely!
nuni
Member Profile
This could be a good Discovery channel reality show. Landscape Wars!
Yikes! Someone is defending illegal practices? How arrogant!
That's not funny.
I didn't mean you Francis. You seem like you're trying to do the right thing.
MargL - Yes. I do believe that is the case. In the case of an injury, it would fall on your homeowner's insurance if the people who are working on your property are not carrying their own insurance.
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