- Arborist
- I was please with Eddie LeBlanc.
- we've had excellent service from Ted Harbourt at Marathon Tree Service.
- George Bofinger (George Bofinger's Tree Service 273-6168) remove several trees and ground their stumps for us this winter. We were very pleased with the service. George was pleasant, prompt, efficient, and careful.
- Ed Arinder with Arinder's Tree Service (272-3150) has been maintaining and fertilizing our live oaks and magnolias for over 30 years. I highly recommend his services.
- We used Mr. D's Tree and Stump Removal (292-6756) earlier this year to remove a hackberry tree that had grown into the utility lines. He did a good job, showed up when he said he would, and didn't overcharge us.
- I have also had wonderful service from Ted Harbourt.
He is the best according to the
LSU AgCenter Site.
There is a lot of useful information about hiring an arborist.
Marathon Tree Service, Inc.
Ted Harbourt - Arborist
7826 O'Neal Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70817
753-5911
tedharbourt@cox.net
- Contractor
- I have had repairs done by the following two men in the past. The first is George Webb. He is the owner of Webb Construction. Quality work, very affordable, highly skilled and professional. His number is 677-8992. Another man who I have hired is Cleve Chandler. He charges a reasonable amount, does quality work and also is extremely professional. His number is 925-8639. Both of these men come highly recommended.
- Foundation
- We had good luck w/ Louis Gremillion. Louis's company is Foundation Specialists, 336-0088.
- Louis Gremillion did my foundations, too, and I just loved him. He does great work and was entertaining without trying to be.
- Plumber
- We've had a few good experiences with Scott Procell, plumber. 229-1281.
- I use a guy named Carl from Ronnie Marino Plumbing, 275-5890. Extremely
reliable and a very good plumber.
- Surveyer
- I was very happy with the surveyor I used. He returned my phone calls quickly and came within a few days of me calling him. He works in the Garden District a lot.
Phil Thomas, Professional Land Surveyor
7826 Menlo Drive.
769-2804 or: 938-2282
- Termaites
- We have had the Sentricon traps for a few years and it seems to work very well,
we have a contract with the Bug Man. The
LSU Ag Center has a good website for info on termites. (March 2007)
- We inherited a termite contract from the Bug Man when we bought our house, and initially, we were fine with them. But last year I had trouble getting them to actually come out and perform the treatments (especially troubling since it was after I complained about some suspicious bugs their rep identified as some type of harmless fly-- a flurry fly?). Our contract since expired and when I spoke with the rep about renewing, I mentioned the problems with service. She said Katrina had forced them to fall behind, but that there shouldn't be any more problems. I scheduled the service to renew the contract and lo and behold, I never heard from them and haven't received a follow-up call.
At this point, I'm planning on finding a new company though I'm a little suspicous of the Bugman's response: do they know something they're not telling me? Maybe my experience is an isolated case, but you might want to hear back from others about their experiences with the Bugman before hiring them. (March 2007)
- We pay the yearly fee of around $270 (probably based on square
footage but I'm not sure) to have a Terminix contract. We inherited
the contract from the previous owner of the house. Terminix inspects
yearly (crawls under our pier and beam house looking for tunnels)
but that doesn't always catch everything...things can happen in-
between inspections. Recently, we found subterranean termite
activity in our bathroom wall (thankfully caught it very very
early). We called in a report on Sunday, and the very next day
Terminix came out and treated the area with a chemical called
Termidor, which is supposed to be pretty powerful stuff and should
end our problem.
I'm impressed with the two Terminix guys that work this area; Scotty
and James. They are both very competant and nice to deal with and
skinny enough to get through our tiny openings and under our house!
They said that they have seen a LOT of termite activity recently,
including having several calls in and around the Garden District
neighborhood.
One thing we learned from the Terminix guys; they can only treat the
area with chemicals if they find and SEE live termite activity.
Thankfully when my husband pulled back the paint at the spot where
we suspected activity, he saw a couple of the critters scurrying
around, and he was able to capture them alive in a jar. We were able
to show them to the Terminix guy STILL ALIVE...which proved to them
that we had "active" termites. Do that if you can; it will make your
life much simpler. Apparently they can only treat the area if they
can find LIVE termites due to recent EPA regulations.
Another thing we learned is that termites love to use the outside of
plumbing pipes as a conduit to get up a wall in your house. So most
termite activity happens in and around bathrooms. For us, we noticed
a little piece of sheetwall had bumped up on the wall above the
toilet; when we pulled it back it was obvious we had a problem.
I'll just say this; I was very glad we had a Terminix contract
already in place when we had a termite problem. They won't always
be able to prevent you from getting termites, but they will
eradicate the termites very quickly, before any structural or
serious damage happens. And this time all we lost was a little
sheetrock; we can sand, prime, and paint the area easily. But if
something bad had happened, Terminix would have paid for the repair.
By the way, we have lived in this house for nearly 13 years now, and
this is the FIRST AND ONLY time we have EVER found active termites
here. Perhaps they are particularly rampant this year. Keep your
eyes open! (March 2007)
- We found out the hard way about termites (we had to rebuild the entire north and east side of our sun room) and now use Dugas Pest Control who uses the Centricon (in ground) system. We pay $90/quarter for inspection and any treatment necessary. I think Terminix sounds like a better deal because Dugas doesn't pay for any damage. (March 2007)
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