DEFINITELY RECOMMEND. ON-TIME. EFFICIENT. My husband and I purchased our first home together in an older neighborhood. We discovered that there were lots of deferred maintenance as we went about our renovation. The chimney and roof needed to be repaired.
To protect our new roof, new chimney, and to keep the branches away from our second story dormer, we needed to trim back the oak. Because it's a large mature oak tree, we wanted to be extra careful about trimming too much. A coworker of mine suggested that we find a reputable Certified Arborist to do the job as there would be some landscape maintenance crews that might trim off more than they should.
John arrived right on time to take a look at our tree and give us an estimate. We actually ran 5 minutes late but he was there outside his truck already looking at our tree. We pointed out the areas we were concerned with. As we were walking around the front yard, he started identifying the trees with their botanical names. We have a second oak tree in our backyard and he quickly identified it as a different type of oak. He even advised on what to do with our landscaping to make sure the roots got enough air and water.
You can tell John is very knowledgeable and enjoys his job. McMartin Tree Experts stood out in that they were the only ones who sent an actual certified arborist to the site to price out the job. We felt comfortable that a professional was the one who was making the assessment on where to cut and we felt were getting an accurate quote. That said, the final price was a little higher than the original quote given at the site but that was communicated about an hour after we all left. We didn't mind the adjustment as we already liked John and were already leaning towards him. I did end up asking for a quote from one company that did not have a certified arborist on staff and that company ended up charging around the same price.
John was patient and answered all of our questions and more. When should we trim the tree, how much can we trim off, availability, how to keep the tree healthy, etc. We wanted a minimal approach to trimming so we were already in alignment with John.
We originally were going to have John start in about a month but due to a last minute change in schedule, we suddenly opened up. Fortunately, John was able to accommodate and squeezed us in two days later. Again, on time ready to go. His crew worked on our tree for about 2.5 hours and boom DONE. They were so quick. John was on-site the entire time, supervising and directing the crew to ensure trimming didn't get out of hand. They even cut up one of our branches to use as firewood for our new chimney.
Previously, our house was too shaded and looked a little gloomy. But after they were done, there was more light getting through and brightening up our house.
Super pleased with McMartin Tree Experts. Would use again when it's time to trim again. read more