Water Feature Maintenance

By Bill Soeder, partner, Bill Soeder Landscaping, Westlake, Ohio, offers water feature maintenance services and recommends other contractors do the same, namely because of the things you can learn. “With service, you’re learning something new every time you find a problem,” he says. For instance, he had trouble with chipmunks getting in and nibbling on the liners in a couple of ponds, which left little pinholes in the liner. Now he puts wire mesh around the edges of the streambeds to keep the chipmunks out.

Greg Wittstock,  president, PondSweep Mfg., Yorkville, Ill., says pond maintenance is a big business for him and his top installers. “Not only because of the maintenance itself,” he says, “but also the upsells from maintaining it.” A maintenance call is a great opportunity to recommend an upgrade, and he gives a commission on any upgrades his service people sell. “The nice thing about maintenance is not only does it pay for itself from the actual man-hour standpoint,” he says, “but it also pays for itself through the customer relationships we develop and future sales that come from keeping the lines of communication open with the customer.”