Landscape crew, insured or bonded?

[89th]

Our property has a ton of brick pavers… they need a bit of a refreshing, some locking sand, sealant, etc. No major moves other some leveling in a few sunken spots.

Anyway… A local guy reached out with a reasonable quote. I asked if he’s insured, but haven’t heard back. How important is them being insured or bonded for this type of job?

[89th]

And before Jolly yells at me, two years ago I re-leveled a ton of it myself. And that has held up. But the locking sand job is very tedious and I’m fine hiring out for that work.

[Horace]

God made poor people so that rich people would have something to throw money at, to do things rich people don't want to do. There's no shame in it.

[Friday]

For the big jobs and anything related to the roof, we made sure the guy was licensed. For the medium and little jobs, we didn't care. Ask your neighbors for referrals.

[blondie]

If he’s not answering the question, maybe he doesn’t have a business license to begin with. No license is a no go for me.

[Renauda]

Don’t know how works in the US but here I wouldn’t engage any contractors to work on any job on my property unless they pay into Workman’s Compensation Insurance. If they don’t and are injured while doing the work on my property they could sue me. No thanks it’s not worth the risk. I am not that wealthy that I can afford the luxury of hiring the cheapest.

[George K]

@Renauda said in Landscape crew, insured or bonded?:

I am not that wealthy that I can afford the luxury of hiring the cheapest.

LOL.

So well put.

[89th]

@Friday said in Landscape crew, insured or bonded?:

For the big jobs and anything related to the roof, we made sure the guy was licensed. For the medium and little jobs, we didn't care. Ask your neighbors for referrals.

Thanks! Since we bought the home a few years ago we've had various small contracting jobs (plumbing, windows, etc) and I sometimes ask about insurance but never needed proof.

BTW they replied they are insured and have an LLC. Anyway... appreciate the quick feedback.

[89th]

An update. The crew turned out to be a recent high school grad who is starting a landscaping business. I'm not his first client, but I can tell he's still learning the process. Overall him and his guys worked hard on the job (re-jointing about a million brick pavers in the front yard and back), which was nice. I had to give him a few pointers on how to level the pavers and they applied the sealant too early which caused some issues, but overall it's better than what it was.

Lesson learned on my part, though. Rookie mistake. They almost finished the job but needed to come back to finish a few spots in the backyard and seal, but I paid them the full balance after the first day. I'm sure they will be back (probably even today) but lesson learned never to pay the full amount until the job is 100% done as there is the random risk they just flee the job unfinished.