Yesterday I met with a new contractor, Mr. Ronnie Rathel. From about the moment I laid eyes on him I knew he was "The One." When I arrived at my property he was out of his truck in the pasture looking over the land. As soon as a handshake was accomplished he made a wise crack about my cactus plantation and asked me how the cactus market was doing. I knew then that I liked him!
Ronnie was recommended to me by the NRCS agent. He's late fifties, medium height/build, salt and pepper messy hair, dusty boots, dirty jeans, half way tucked in shirt with a bag of chewing tobacco in the top pocket. His truck on the other hand was a thing of beauty. It's a lovely charcoal gray late model Frontier with nary a spec of dust to be seen. This thing was cleaner than my house. You could eat off the dashboard! His equipment must be pristine and well maintained if the truck is any indicator of his care. Ronnie on the other hand could use some polishing but I like him fine just as he is.
We strolled around the pond chit chatting and discussing the pond, the "Love Shack" and the obvious recreational use of 'herbaceous plant materials' (his words not mine) that must have taken place upon the property prior to our ownership. We shared several good laughs and he proved to have a wicked dry sense of humor. After our stroll we sat down and discussed what exactly I wanted for the pond and how we could accomplish that together. After hearing me out completely he scratched his head, took in a chaw of tobacco and began to tell me how and what he thought he could do to achieve what I wanted.
First off, he would breach the dam at the lowest level and drain the water back to just below the channel. Once that was accomplished, he would let the pond dry out for a few weeks or more depending upon the weather and then begin to excavate the area opposite the dam to a level of 6-8 feet. He would lessen the slope using materials from the pond and give me a nice maintainable bank. Once the pond level was dropped, he would try to identify and fix any obvious leaks in the dam from the front side if possible(no promises).
His time line for the excavation is approximately 2 weeks. His total estimate was $7K. His hourly machine rate is $90.
As we were leaving he got out of his truck, waited for me to pass, and locked the gate behind us. None of the other contractors had done this. They just drove off leaving me with a face full of dust. I don't demand or expect special treatment just because I am a woman and found his actions to be a wonderful complement. Chivalry is not dead!
Needless to say I hired him. Not because of his sense of humor or his gentlemanly behavior, not because of price, but because he was the only one out of four contractors that came up with a common sense approach, listened to me and seemed genuinely concerned with the outcome. The other contractors all wanted to dig the pond out with the water in it, thus requiring multiple machines and a huge price tag. (It sounded to me like they wanted to serve milkshakes in a sieve.) Their recommendations seemed like overkill and more difficult than the actual job required.
Does this sound like a logical approach to you pond gurus out there?
