STRATA LANDSCAPING IN MAPLE RIDGE, BC

Strata Landscaping in Maple Ridge, BC

Grounds maintained for strata complexes across Maple Ridge, from Haney and the older blocks along Dewdney Trunk Road out to Albion, Yennadon and Silver Valley. Your grounds contract is not really a purchase. It is a line in a budget that gets approved once a year.

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A written quote before we start

A Grounds Contract Is a Line in Next Year's Budget

Most landscaping quotes are written as though somebody is buying a service. A strata does not buy grounds maintenance that way. The owners approve a budget, the grounds sit inside it as a figure, and that figure is what the contractor has to work within for the year.

Almost everything awkward about hiring grounds maintenance for a strata follows from that one fact, and it is worth saying out loud because hardly any quote mentions it.

The number is settled before the meeting

The proposed budget goes out with the notice of the annual general meeting, not at it. By the time owners are in the room the grounds figure is already printed. A quote that lands after that is a quote for the year after.

So the walk happens earlier than feels necessary

We would rather look at your property a couple of months before your notice pack goes out than three weeks after it. That is the difference between a considered figure and a placeholder somebody has to defend in front of the owners.

Anything outside the line needs its own decision

Work that was not in the budget is not simply a phone call to us. There are limits on what can be spent outside an approved budget, and past a point it goes back to the owners. So we price it as its own quote and say so.

None of this is advice about your bylaws or your obligations, which are not ours to interpret. It is just the calendar we work to, because it is the calendar you are already working to.

When to Ask Us for a Number

Two or three months ahead of your notice pack is the useful window
Bring last year's figure and whoever actually walks the property
We put the maintenance cycle in writing, with what is in it and what is not
If the notice has already gone out, we can answer questions on a figure but not change it
Part way through the year is a normal place to start, not a wasted call

Councils usually come to us at the wrong time, and it is nobody’s fault. The grounds are the thing people notice in spring and the budget is the thing people think about in autumn, and those are rarely the same conversation.

Plenty of councils reach us part way through the year, when last year’s figure is clearly not covering the work being asked for. That is a good place to begin rather than a late one: it means next year’s number is built on what the property actually needs, and there is time to walk it properly before anything has to be printed.

If you are collecting three quotes, ask all three for the same scope. Figures built on different assumptions are not comparable, and a council comparing them is being asked to guess.

What That Line Actually Buys

Mowing, edging and trimming on an agreed cycle
Beds weeded and held to the line they were planted to
Shrubs and hedges cut to the height already established
Leaf and debris clearing from paths and entrances
Anything we notice put in writing, not left for you to find
The same crew wherever the schedule allows it

What sits outside it. Anything structural or newly installed is its own quote and its own decision, because it is capital work rather than maintenance and it usually needs a figure in front of the owners. That covers new planting schemes, drainage work, anything built, and irrigation beyond keeping an existing system running.

We will tell you which trade does a thing and whether it sits inside your contract before anybody starts. That is the answer a council actually needs when it is trying to work out which pot the money comes from.

Weed killer is not used at all. Tree work above what a platform safely reaches goes to an arborist, and ornamental pruning of specimen trees is tree pruning.

Strata Grounds Across Maple Ridge

Complexes around Haney and Hammond, the walk up buildings either side of Dewdney Trunk Road, the townhouse rows through Albion and Yennadon, and the newer developments up in Silver Valley. Maple Ridge sites tend to be bigger than the ones closer in, which matters mostly because it changes the figure, not the work.

Whichever end of the city you are at, the budget calendar is the same one, and so is the answer about what is in the cycle and what is quoted separately.

Other strata work is on the Langley, Surrey, Delta, White Rock and Aldergrove pages, and our areas served page covers the whole service area.

Maple Ridge Strata Questions

When do you need to hear from us to make next year's budget?

Two or three months before the notice goes out is comfortable. The proposed budget is sent to owners along with the meeting notice, so by the time anybody is reading it the grounds figure is already set, and anything later becomes next year’s number instead.

We have already sent the notice. Is it too late?

Too late to change the figure in it, yes. Not too late to talk: we can answer questions about what a number covers, and we can walk the property now so that next year’s figure is built on something real rather than on last year’s plus a bit.

Our budget is tighter than the work the property needs. What then?

We tell you which parts of the cycle we would drop first and what the property looks like in a year if you do. A quote that quietly thins the visits to hit a number is the version councils regret, because nobody wrote down what was given up.

How do we know whether something is inside the figure?

We tell you before anyone starts. Maintenance is the agreed cycle. Anything structural or newly installed gets priced on its own and decided on its own, because it is capital work and the owners normally want to see a number first.

Can you deal with our property manager instead of the council?

Yes, and most councils prefer it. Nominate whoever you want us to take direction from and we will work to that, and copy the council on anything that changes a cost.

We are getting three quotes. What do you need from us?

A walk round with someone who knows the property, and whatever record you have of the current cycle. Quotes built on different scope are not comparable, and we would rather you could compare them properly than win one on a misunderstanding.

What if something needs doing and it was not in the budget?

Tell us and we will say whether it waits, whether it is inside the contract already, or whether it needs its own price. There are limits on spending outside an approved budget, so we would rather put a figure in front of you than add one to an invoice.

Do you cover all of Maple Ridge?

Yes, from Hammond and Haney out to Albion, Yennadon, Silver Valley and the more rural end past Whonnock. Larger sites further out change the figure rather than the schedule.

Do you build retaining walls or install irrigation systems?

That is a separate quote and a separate decision rather than a yes or a no. Tell us what you are considering and we will say what it involves, which trade does it, and whether it sits inside your maintenance contract, which it usually does not.

Can you tell us what our bylaws or the rules require?

No. What your bylaws say and what the legislation requires are not ours to interpret, and a landscaper guessing at either is worth nothing to you. Your property manager or your strata lawyer answers that. We can tell you what the grounds need and what it costs.

The One Review That Mentions Strata Work

We have reviews from residential customers as well. This is the only one that names strata or commercial property, so it is the only one worth putting in front of a council.

“I highly recommend this company to manage any commercial property you have, or if you manage a strata property!”

Daniel Stead, June 29, 2023

Related Services and Areas

Ask Us for a Number Before Your Budget Closes

Bring whoever knows the property and last year’s figure if you have it. We will walk it, say what we would change and what we would leave alone, and put a number on the maintenance cycle in writing. You can also contact us first.