David, the client knew who we were because of the fact that he owns a hardware store and many of his clients are ours, but he had never called us for a consultation, unfortunately. We have a good reputation in the area. I have shopped there many times, and we already knew each other in that regard. In fact, my cousin worked there for years in their interior design/wallpaper department. You make the assumption that homeowners understand trees because they care about them, but the fact is, they probably had little or no idea that codominant stems are a structural issue, so they never called anyone about it.
I think they liked me because I was honest with them. Their tree could have been preserved if they had called earlier, and I told them that. Coffeetree wood is prized for it's color and grain, and I helped them repurpose it. Maybe the other people they called made me look good, I don't know. I do know that they were impressed with the process, it was efficient and clean.
Everyone can speculate about possible preservation of the tree, but it was not a viable option. I lean hard towards preservation as a business model. I don't remove healthy trees without weighing all the options, or without attempting to educate the client about the value of trees. I will walk away from tree removal that devalues a client's property. Ask anyone that knows me. I have managed to build a successful business without compromising on this matter. Some might find this hard to believe, I find it hard to believe that it's not more common.
I don't see you as trying to tear me down at all, you're asking rational questions.
...And the album is 'Reign in Blood,' the song is 'Raining Blood,' just for your edification.
-Tom
Edit - Really sorry to hear about MattyD and the chickens, that sucks. Keep us posted.
