The Urban Lumberjack

(This is an update of a review I gave over the phone - which frankly I used the coupon to trim my neighbor's trees which are at the back of my property. He was very patient in coordinating the actual date, since my neighbors needed to be involved. I ended up wanting more work done than the coupon covered, but it was very reasonable. He is very knowledgeable and was able to explain to my neighbors the issues with their trees. I would use him again in the future.

Didn't charge me, but still gave me professional advice. And did not see a need for the service. He was very honest.

I purchased an Angie's List Big Deal special offer for this service. I called them and they called me back promptly. They set up the service and were done within a week so it was all quick and easy. This company explained everything they were doing and let me think about it; they were great.

He was very friendly, polite and apologetic. Unfortunately, my address was out of his service area.

This gentleman is a fountain of knowledge and excels at what he does. The ONLY reason work was not performed (as of yet) is because the trees that need to be eliminated are actually on my neighbors property and insurance is involved which means...delays, delays, delays. If anyone is in need of an Arborist report, you would be in excellent hands with the "Urban Lumberjack". His prices, as per the estimate provided, were also surprisingly reasonable. I would recommend him to anyone without hesitation.

Urban Lumberjack crew of four arrived on time (7am) with Steve Marshall. They got to work immediately and worked steadily throughout the day, with a short lunch break. Crew was responsive and professional, protecting existing plant beds. They cleaned up all the detritus of the work. Not cheap but this is dangerous work, not the kind the average do-it-yourselfer could accomplish. It should be noted that other tree service reps I interviewed did not know much about the trees; Steve Marshall knew latin names, characteristics, and growth rates.

Sorry to write a review a year later. So, the highlights are that he came out and did an excellent job trimming trees and telling me all about them. Easily an expert.

this guy knows his trees - a real pro - ultra accommodating

Steve showed up on time and looked at the large tree I was concerned about, which leaned toward the street. I was worried that it might cause some damage if a branch broke off during a wind storm. Steve told me the city should top and trim that tree, since they planted there, and they regularly trimmed the lower branches every year. Steve also looked at the other trees in my yard, but he said that all they needed was basic trimming, which could be done more cheaply by any local trimming crew. The price of the special deal I had signed up for with The Urban Lumberjack exceeded the basic trims I needed, so I cancelled the deal with Steve's approval. His honesty and advice in this scenario were impressive. He is a real arborist and he explained details about my trees that I had never heard before. I contacted the city and they topped the tree, even though they had previously told me that topping was my responsibility (and expense) when I contacted them a couple of years earlier. I would DEFINITELY call The Urban Lumberjack if I had a serious problem with any of my trees.

Steve's Crew did a great job. Steve came out and walked the property with me, while I pointed out every item I was thinking of trimimg. We made a list, he priced each one, with options of what to do in some cases. (trim it totally, trim it partially, or take it down.) Then I chose from the "menu", having prices right there so I could set my priorities....putting some things on hold til later. (I'm not rolling in dough) I liked Steve's views on trees and nature, and he was very specific on the correct way to trim a tree. He even came out before the date when the crew was next available to do my job, and trimmed one Eucalyptus by himself, because I was up against an insurance deadline to have it comply with distance from house and roof allowance. The crew was very neat and they got the job done. All cleaned up after, too. I had interviewed a few companies.....It was Steve's knowledge of trees that sold me on The Urban Lumberjack. He is a Certified Arborist. (His was not the lowest bid by the way.) Oh, I was also concerned about any bird or squirrel's nest that may have been up there, and they were sensitive to that and took care not to disturb any. Oh, just be aware that the dump fee can add up....Tree limbs are heavy. Mine was over 3 tons of fun to the dump. But at least I didn't have that intense wood chipper sound going on. All in all it was an excellent experience. And now my home looks much cleaner, neater, and there is far much less tree litter on the ground. And all is safe. The big winds come and I'm not woried.

Steve named and told us about every tree on the property and its appropreateness to the California enviornment. He loves trees and lectures about them like a professor. We met a few we hadn't heard of like the California She Oak which looks like a pine tree with needles, but has branches like a tree with leaves. We found 9 trees that were dead on the property 2 that we thought were dead but were alive and the rest were large beautiful living trees which needed a tiny bit of trimming. Steve gave us a fair bid to do all the work on the property. We have used The Urban Lumber Jack for many years and always have been satisfied with his price and work, so if escrow goes OK Steve will most certainly get more work from us.

Service was as expected based on agreement with provider.

The vendor did not perform the work and should have been more responsive to us once we booked the service. Instead we had to chase him to find out he didn't service our area of LA County

We ordered deal from him on Angies list. When he saw that the pruning of the tree would only cost half of what we purchased , he gave us a rain check to use the next time the tree needed pruning. That was very honest and decent from him.

He came out on time and was very nice. We talked and decided to not cut a specific tree down. The only reason I selected I wouldn't use them again is because they are located a little too far for me.

Steve from the Urban Lumberjack is fantastic. He is so friendly, knowledgeable, and patient. His work was exactly what he specified and he was punctual. A+

The work was done as bid. The trees look great. The area was left clean. The workers were careful to avoid damage to the existing plants.

Everything was great. Very informative and thorough. Our trees greatly benefitted from The Urban Lumberjack's expertise, and I'd definitely ask him to help us out again.

Purchased an Angie's List Big Deal for $199 with the intention of having my Italian cypress trees topped. Steve came out and explained that it would ruin the trees to top them but noted that they seemed to be suffering from a fungus. He recommended that I have the trees examined by a tree specialist and, if the specialist determined that the trees could not be saved, to call him out to have them removed. The trees did not require removal and Steve suggested that I request a refund for the Big Deal from Angie's List -- which I did. I appreciated Steve's professionalism and honesty and would call on him again in the future.

The company is flaky and is hard to get a hold off. He sometime doesn’t show up on time. He is also a little pricey. Bottom line he is very unreliable.

Great. Nothing to complain about.

Steve came out and took a look at the job. I had an Angie's Big Deal. He told me that what I was having done I could have anyone do at a much cheaper rate then his and didn't want to waste my money. He was very professional, up front and honest. We chose to not move forward with his services but I would definitely use him for a more complicated service requiring more sklill as opposed to just stripping a tree down to its base. Angie's List was willing to refund me the big deal based on that informaiton.

I ended up getting a refund for the Deal. My neighbor had a large tree that was hanging over our property and she was rather reluctant to have it trimmed. We had him come out and he gave a lot of good advice and he was very willing to do the job, but our neighbor ended up finding someone on her own to do the work.

I was very impress that he our right told me he could not do the work. I like the way he handed the situation.

They arrived on time, talked with me re what I wanted done, and began working immediately. They trimmed the trees without getting a lot of debris in the swimming pool, and trimmed the hedge without bothering the flowers and small shrubs that were in front of the hedges. They did everything I asked and completed the job quickly.