While my husband was on his annual bike excursion in the US, I took care of a niggling issue in our back yard.
We had a brush pile, that was more like a fallen tree pile. that had steadily grown until it was as tall as me. We have a large yard and the pile didn’t take up a lot of room in the far corner but I was pretty sure it had become a home for a family of critters. We occasionally discussed hauling it away to the recycling depot but it just never became priority, as any home owner knows, although Derek had recently gotten his chainsaw repaired so I know it was on his mind. But it was a BIG job and he is in the midst of building a garage, which is much more important.
While Derek was on his trip I decided to take care of it. I searched “junk” in our city and found a bunch of businesses including University Junk Removal. Having hired College Pro Painters a few times over the years with terrific results, I thought perhaps this company was a similar venture. Turns out I was right.
One guy showed up at the appointed time and immediately decided I had grossly underestimated the size of the job. (I sure had!) Two days later, two guys came back and removed a section of fence so they could access the pile. It was the hottest day of that week, 35 degrees with the humidity by 10 am and they worked for four hours straight with me bringing them water and silently hoping they wouldn’t quit! The job was a tedious and tough. Branches were intertwined and if I hadn’t gone out early that morning and removed the tangle of vines that had grown all over the pile, it would have taken them even longer to reach the pieces I would have been unable to carry on my own. Four hours and four trips to the depot later, the pile was down to a manageable mogul of pine needles, dirt and twigs. I’ve already spent a few hours out there and it’s going to take several more to eradicate what’s left. Something had been living in that pile. A neighbour told me that he and his son would watch something waddle out from under the brush. A skunk? A gopher? He didn’t know. I told him, ‘This will not build up like that again, I promise you!” and he responded, ‘Well, we actually enjoyed watching the wildlife.” Sorry buddy. You’ll have to look elsewhere for your animal entertainment. May I suggest a petting zoo?
The Junk guys were professional, efficient and reasonably priced. They’ll take everything to the recycling depots and dispose of it properly. The company was based on the College Pro Painters model and the founders hope to franchise it. I’d recommend them in a heartbeat. www.universityjunkremoval.com