First Certified Arbor Care
About
First Certified Arbor Care is the only ISA Certified Arborist® business located in the San Bernardino area. We do what is scientifically proven to be the best, most appropriate treatment for your trees. Owner, Paul E. Chaney, has been a California licensed contractor and ISA certified since 1988. He is an Ornamental Horticulture graduate of California Polytechnic University, Pomona (1977).
We follow the ANSI A300 industry standards and best management practices.
Highlights
No reviews (yet)
Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
The ISA Certified Arborist®, Paul Chaney, makes an appointment for a no-cost proposal for treatment of the client's trees. At the appointment, Mr. Chaney will be able to give the customer a firm price for the recommended work. We then schedule the work for a mutually convenient time, and Mr. Chaney personally personally performs or directly supervises the work.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
Mr. Chaney has been an ISA Certified Arborist® since January, 1988. He also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Ornamental Horticulture from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (1977).
Do you have a standard pricing system for your services? If so, please share the details here.
We base most of our work on an hourly rate. Mr. Chaney's rate for arboricultural and landscape service work is $90. Skilled ground crew members' work is $50 per hour. Contracted labor through an agency is billed at their hourly rate, plus $20 per hour. Our rates for tree service work include the use our truck to travel up to 25 miles to the job site, all pruning tools, clean up tools and equipment, brush chipper, chain saws, climbing gear, and rigging equipment. Our Alpine Magnum stump and root cutter is $50 per half hour (minimum). Our 70' tracked aerial lift is $100 per hour, including transportation time (4 hour minimum).
My fee for consultation is $165 per hour. I have an initial consultation special for homeowners which is $85.
What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a pro in your area of expertise?
Most tree "service" businesses do not perform industry-standard work, but actually cause severe damage to their customers' trees. The visual appearance of damaged trees is so common that the general public believes that they want and need damaging, harmful treatments done to their trees. Do not rely on referral websites to tell you who is a "pro." Almost all referral websites accept tree businesses that do not have any professional credentials. State licensing is NOT a professional credential in California. The ONLY credentials that indicate a committment to industry science-based standards and professional ethics are those issued by the International Society of Arboculture (ISA). Credential holders can be verified at treesaregood.com. Even among credential holders, ask to see examples of their work, and understand how they implemented the ANSI A300 standards. Do not rely on customer reviews. Many customers are completely happy with having their trees damaged, mutilated, and made to be unsafe, and will give 5 star reviews for it.
What questions should customers think through before talking to pros about their needs?
Make sure you want what is best for your trees. What is best for the tree is usually what is best for the tree owner. Be advised that most tree service operators do not even understand the basic anatomy and physiology of trees. An initial consult with me will teach you enough, in about an hour, so that you will know more about your trees than 90% of the tree "service" businesses out there. I don't mind losing a job to another ISA Certified Arborist®, but there is no pleasure in being compared with those who have little knowledge, and no ethics or morals.