Kinnucan Tree Experts & Landscape Company

Do they have arborists? Yes. Does the pruning crew cleanup all the debris? No. I hired Kinnucan to perform three services: Organic Deep Root Feeding; Merit Basal Drench; and Dormant Pruning. The first two services: pretty good. The pruning? Not so much. And that's because the cleanup was...shoddy. I spent over an hour picking up branches and twigs from both my front yard and my neighbor's front yard. Then I looked at the backyard, roof of my garage and roof of my side shed: debris everywhere. And while they were still here, I looked out of my bedroom window and saw them using one of their metal pruning tools to scrape debris off the metal roof of my gazebo; metal on metal. So now I have a cleanup project that I thought would have been included in the price of the pruning. Guess not. Oh, and the arborist who originally came by for a consultation and who recommended the services, stopped by after I mentioned all of this to him. He didn't let me know he was stopping by; rather, he showed-up on my security cameras. Never said a word to me about anything. That's my experience with Kinnucan Tree Experts & Landscape Company.

unknown

cut more trees than supposed to because of poor communication from salesman to crew.
cut to grade was a generous 6" above grade.
Their trucks ran over neighbors parkway which I, as neighbor, will bear the cost of repair.

The 5 person crew seemed to want to complete the job quickly and leave.  Most of the time, 4 people assisted while one person did a task, like climb a tree or drive a grinder.
They did a a good careful job of cutting down the tree but a poor job of grinding the stump.  The estimator said that they would not be able to get the grinder very close to the deck, which we understood.  I asked the crew to place some plywood vertically to protect the side of the deck.  But, when the workers said that they were done, there was a huge section of remaining stump about 5 inches high.  I cajoled the workers into using a chain saw to cut a few inches off the top of the remaining stump but we've still got a hunk.  I left a message at their office asking for advice on whether to use a herbicide on the remaining stump but never received a return call so  I called the Botanic Garden hotline for advice.  We put some herbicide on the remaining stump, which hopefully will deteriorate the stump as well as kill the tree.  We spent a lot of money with Kinnucan for a job which we consider incomplete.  The estimator should have been clearer about just how close to our deck they were planning to grind and what options were available to us after they were done.

A large section of our oak tree fell over and landed on our neighbor's driveway.  I called Kinnucan and one other company for estimates to get the section removed and examine the rest of the tree.  The other company said they could remove the fallen section for $1300 and made a big deal about how they were bumping other clients for me and not charging me quite the emergency rate; they stated that they would come back later and price the rest of the tree.  Kinnucan quoted me $1375 for the entire tree (including the fallen section) and they came out two days later to do the work.  They ground out the stump completely and left the yard in very tidy condition.  The bill was for exactly $1375, with no surprise added costs.  I would use them again.

They do good work, but they are really bad at responding to phone calls or requests.  I have now called and left messages for my contact there 3 times in the past month and I have yet to hear back once.  And I am a pretty regular customer of theirs.   It is strange since I am trying to do business with them -- I just don't get it.  

I have used their services in the past, and they always do a superb job.

Last fall, we chose Kinnucan because our neighbor had had good experiences with them, and because their price was in the middle of the estimates we received.   This was the first time we removed a healthy tree but the cottonwood roots were beginning to encroach on our house.  Kinnucan did a good, careful job of cutting down the tree but did not do a thorough job of grinding the stump.  They left a pile of wood chips covering the remaining part of the cottonwood which was just below the surface.  The workers assured us that they had done the job properly.  When we tried to dig in the area this spring, we found what they had covered over.  We removed some roots but gave up when we reached the largest ones.  When we called to complain, they said they would come out in about 1 1/2 weeks to re-grind the area.  One and one half weeks came and went with no communication from Kinnucan, even when we left a message.  After 5 weeks, they sent a guy with a more powerful grinder who did a thorough job.  Now we can plant something in that location.

The workers who did the work were fine but the estimate for the work done was somewhat problematic. For example, the diameter of the 2 of 5 ash trees was off by 2 inches ( you pay by the inch). I would not have known that this was an issue but when I had a second estimate, I actually(happened to be hanging around) watched the second guy measure the trees. When Kinnucan was informed about the inaccurate measurements- they adjusted the bill but how many people actually check the DBH measurements. Although I did not notice it in the written estimate, Kinnucan failed to include some of the trees in the trimming estimate and failed to include 3 elms in our estimate for injections.  The next effect was a very good written estimate, especially when compared to the second estimate who actually got the the number of trees right.  When the technicans came by to do the work, I was surprised that they did  not have the full job to do.  We made adjustments on the spot and I paid for the complete job- which matches the estimate from the second company.  It seemed odd that they did not do a accurate estimate-for example the elms not include are inside our wooden fence but the estiamtor eventually stated that he thought these were not our elms. A bit surprizing to me.  Of course, it was my fault for not noticing that the estimate did not accurately match the discussed  work.  I talked to the office manager about this situation and I paid the bill