Saturday, March 6, 2021

Good Help Is Hard To Find

The saying good help is hard to find is an under statement.  We will be able to stay in our home for a long time if only we can find a dependable, tidy, and competent handyman (or a handy woman).  Our family would help out if we would ask, but we don't want to be constantly relying on them.  Certain home owning tasks are not as easy as they once were.  We have been looking for someone to clear our overgrown hill which goes from our deck to the water line.  This is my son in law and grandson trying to get through the overgrowth to get the canoe in the water. 

When trying to contact workers,  people don't call back or they don't show up.  Last August, I finally got someone to come out and give us an estimate.  He was very animated and convincing about his qualifications and neatness.  He failed to mention that he likes to give estimates but is full of excuses when he doesn't show up.  The estimate was written the end of August, and it was not very detailed.  Verbally he mentioned what it included.  This should have been a red flag, but he said he would come around October 1 so I overlooked it.  I waited until the middle of October to call.  He said he was busy.  He said it was windy.  He said taking a big tree down wasn't included in the bid etc. etc.  Two more months passed and he still hadn't shown up or contacted us.  Just before Christmas I called and told him to forget it.  I don't think he ever intended to do the job.  He was all talk.  I realized it was a hard job, but he should have just said no if he didn't want to do it.

Then around the beginning of January 2021 a flyer came in the mail advertising a local company which we had never heard of.  The card said they would do land clearing, brush removal and tree removal.  It was just what we needed.  I called them and they came and gave us an estimate.  No pressure, just an estimate which was much less than the first guy.  I called him back in a couple days and told him to put us on his schedule.  He said he could do it between the middle of February and beginning of March.  Lo and behold, he actually came.  He timed it when there wasn't too much snow left but before it thawed and got muddy.  This young man worked really hard all by himself.  My daughter teased me and asked what I consider a young man.  She was right.  Even 50 years old would be a young person, but this kid was 20 something.  He worked for 4 hours straight without taking a rest break.

It is hard to see how overgrown this area is, and it doesn't look as bad in the winter with all the leaves and grasses dead.  Looking out the window, it was very hard to see the water.

 As he cut and trimmed, he piled the brush on edge of the ice.  

He asked if we minded if he burned the brush.  It would save a lot of hauling and burning couldn't be done any other time of year.  

When all the brush and small trees were cut, he cut down a very tall oak tree.  It fell right between a couple other trees we wanted to save.  It's amazing how they can direct how trees fall by how they make the cuts.

When the tree was down, he cut it in sections.  He then brought his skid loader to haul the logs up the hill.  We are saving the logs to cut up for firewood.  


 
 
 
Now our work begins but if it takes all summer to cut up these logs it is fine.  There is also some burnable material left at the bottom of the hill that we might try to retrieve.  We have a pretty large supply of firewood already and with a little luck, we are finished burning for this winter.  It never hurts to plan ahead.

 Our view looks so different  The before and after view.

1 comment:

  1. I am so happy that you found this 'jewel' of a hard worker. You have a gorgeous view and I know you want to keep it that way. Do you have other work for him to do? Or maybe he has a friend that can work for you also. Exactly why Dave and I are now at Three Pillars. We couldn't find any reliable help. The clearing and upkeep in the woodland and bog area just got to be too much work for Dave and he didn't want it to get wild again. When we sold it was in beautiful condition, paths and view from the house were wonderful. I wonder what it will look like in a few years. So happy that you can stay in your home. Hugs, Lark

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