Landscape Management, April 2017

I n 2008 the economic downturn left many landscape business owners wondering if they would survive As businesses and homeowners cut back on expenses landscaping services often got the axe Many companies were looking for ways to diversify Around this time J Barker Landscaping Co in Bedford Ohio found itself in a holding pattern on an urban garden project with the city of Cleveland It couldnt be completed until a home was demolished The companys forte high end residential design build work had slowed down along with the economy and J Barkers management felt stuck While the company waited for the demolition firm to tear down the house the idea to do it themselves was born After renting an excavator and successfully completing the job the group decided to enter the demolition business officially After demolishing its first home it wasnt long before the city in the midst of a foreclosure crisis came forward with more jobs says Brandon Barker commercial operations manager for the company It was obvious there was a market for this line of work In fact at that time the city of Cleveland had 14000 vacant homes that had to be torn down Getting the demolition division up and running as The Barker Group took about a 50000 investment Though the company already had a large semi flatbed trailer and truck it had to buy an excavator a semitractor and some larger tandem axle dump trucks It also had to register as a demolition contractor with the city and it became a contractor for the Cuyahoga Land Bank a nonprofit entity dedicated to eliminating vacant blighted properties in the county where Cleveland is located Barker says demolition has been a perfect fit with the companys existing landscaping work In fact jobs often seamlessly transition from demolition into landscaping now that they do both After a property is torn down and proper grading is done the next step is seeding so the landscaping work begins Getting into the demolition business has been a fairly smooth transition but Barker says a learning curve exists when using a larger machine Luckily the companys existing operators picked up the role and it didnt need to hire anyone As for manpower most jobs involve an excavator operator and two dump truck drivers who drive back and forth from the landfill each day dropping off construction debris and bringing back dirt to fill in the hole Dumping fees and time spent dumping are costs associated with demolition work Barker says We already had commercial drivers licenses within our company which was helpful since the larger trucks do require that Barker says You cant succeed in this line of work unless you have an experienced operator running your machines Today the company has done several hundred demolitions The investment in the equipment has been beneficial not only for the demolition work but also because a lot of it can be used for landscaping Barker says getting into demolition has been a great fit for the company but the risky work is not something to just jump into I do think that landscaping and demolition go well together but thats not to say that just anyone should jump into this role Barker says Taking down homes especially when theyre close together is risky work The last thing you want is a home youre demolishing to fall on a home that youre not Payton is a freelance writer from Philadelphia business insider Photo J Barker LandscaPing co Demolition jobs often transition into landscape work One landscape company found new work amid the foreclosure crisis By CASEy PAyTON BUSINESS BREAKDOWN company J Barker Landscaping Co Headquarters Bedford Ohio clients 60 percent residential 40 percent commercial services 50 percent design build 27 percent maintenance 15 percent snow removal 8 percent demolition Best tip Be prepared to invest at the onset to make this kind of work successful The equipment is not cheap but its necessary Biggest cHallenge When youre first starting out knowing how to estimate and create a competitive bid is difficult without experience Diversifying with demo work ApriL 2017 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET 59 CASE STudy Add ON Biz