£18O, What A Snip.

[Cormac135]

So i was getting a home delivery from Asda/Walmart the other morning and once he was out of the way i noticed another young man standing there, seems he'd been doing the garden down the road and noticed my front hedge was overgrown,(it's about 15 ft tall now) and would i like him to cut it back for me, well of course i would and i did have a little spare cash at the time, now i usually pay £30 for the usual trim and tidy up so i was expecting this to be probably double that, no such luck, £180 was what the chap was after, i got his card off him and told him i'd give him a call, needless to say i'm not going to, cut to three days later and the local newsletter has reports of dodgy workmen in the area, he may have been part of that group, who knows, so anyway the point of the thread is to ask how much would you pay to have a hedge trimmed or indeed for the gardeners how much would you have the bare faced cheek to ask for ?

And have you ever been conned by door knockers offering services ?

 

[Rickrock]

That is over $240. No, I wouldn't pay that either. We haven't paid for yard work. We do it ourselves, so far. We are thinking about having some trees trimmed or removed, but that is entirely different.

 

[Cormac135]

That is over $240. No, I wouldn't pay that either. We haven't paid for yard work. We do it ourselves, so far. We are thinking about having some trees trimmed or removed, but that is entirely different.

Indeed, it's an affluent area and they all think they can ask for the moon.

 

[Kahaih]

There's not enough information in your tale of woes.

Or clarity. You said 'about 15 ft tall now'. I don't understand. 15 ft tall before or after the cut. Did the work require the use of ladders?

Are you taking about a couple of shrubs, or a hedgerow? If a hedgerow, how long?

Did he take away the cuttings? How many bushels, and to where? Would he have to pay a dumping/tipping fee?

Much to be considered.


Anyway, always negotiate the price before you commit. Especially these days when so many people are desperate for cash- trying to make up for lockdown losses.

 

[unloadonme]

If I had a hedge which needed cutting, I'd normally deal with it myself. If for any reason I had to employ someone to do it, I wouldn't expect to pay more than £15 per hour. I would not, however, use anyone who knocked unannounced at my door offering to do work. That would be asking for trouble.

 

[Vannie]

I always trim my own bush.

 

[rareboy]

We just paid $2000 to have the chimney repaired....even though I knew it was an absurd price, we literally couldn't find anyone else to do it before the winter.

It was probably a $500 to $600 piece of work at best.

But a couple of years ago, we had a crew roll in to paint our barn roof for $500 cash and they did a smashing job.

 

[Latimer]

I've never been to Edinburgh but I haven't imagined it common for houses there to have front hedges that are kept high enough to obscure the house. Do you live in an suburb of the city developed in the mid-19th c or later?

 

[peeonme]

If it's a maintenance trim it's much less expensive than a "fix the mess" trim. Many people let things overgrow and it takes more time to bring them back to the normal look. Hedges should get trimmed about every 4-6 weeks. For a trim job the price would be based upon linear feet. I charge about $60. per hour for such jobs, if it's a 3 hour job due to over growth it's gonna run $180.

 

[Araucaria]

I used to have a lot of fly-by-night types hassling me when I had half my backyard overgrown by mostly Brazilian pepper trees (Schinus terebinthifolius), but also several carrotwood trees (Cupaniopsis anacardioides), and a least one Ficus microcarpa tree, among others-- all invasive exotics in Florida (I've included the Latin names for Kulindahr and anyone else who might be interested in knowing the precise species involved). No one had ever planted these, they just grew up when the backyard was neglected over 20 years, first, when my father was in decline from Parkinson's, and my mother had nothing done about the overgrowth after he died. So I got that mess when I inherited the house.

But all that overgrowth sure attracted the would-be workers. I couldn't get over the arrogance of some of those guys, they seemed to forget that I was the one to decide what, if any, work I wanted done. They'd point to anything in my yard, like my Sabal palmetto, and say "You've got to get rid of that!" No, I don't "got" to do nothing. I rather like it. "That Schefflera's got termites!" No, it doesn't.

The way I figure it, if they are legit, I should be able to ask, are you licensed, are you bonded, are you insured? Because if they're not, and I'm sure none of those guys were, they could say they'll do a job for $50, and then sever an arm or fall off a ladder and break their back. Next thing I know, they'd be in court suing me, and I'd be out not only for their medical expenses, but I'd also have to pay their salary for the rest of their lives.

I finally hired a legit contractor to get rid of all those trees and crap, on the recommendation of a neighbor. It wasn't cheap, he charged me $3000, but that jungle was growing faster than I could cut it back, so I was glad to get rid of it all. And coincidentally or not, I don't seem to see those fly-by-night types bugging me for work anymore.

 

[sixthson]

I thought this was another circumcision thread.