2.  How to use our plans.

 
A plan from PPM has so many uses throughout the life of your home… we’ll TRY to cover them all!

PLAN YOUR PROJECTS – Ever tried planning a home improvement project completely in your head?  It’s not easy – especially if you need to show someone else!  Now imagine sitting down at your dining room table with a pencil and a complete plan of your property.  Much easier!

HIRE A PROFESSIONAL – If you intend to hire an architect or designer, your PPM plan can be sent out to get competitive bids on your project.  Your plan can then be sent to them immediately, enabling both of you to get the project started quickly.  Your architect or designer will always need the plan to get started – so you won’t have to pay them to create it!

DO IT YOURSELF – If you are the professional (or you’re very brave) and you want to tackle the project yourself, a plan from PPM is invaluable.  You can use it to plan, design, stake out construction, calculate slopes and square footage, and more!  No more embarrassing stories about accidentally buying enough grass to supply a football field!

SATISFY THE “AUTHORITIES” – Does your community have a demanding HOA?  Does your City Planning Department need to know what you are doing?  These entities will want to see professional plans – and you might not even be able to start your project without them.

Remember, you can use your plan from PPM over and over!  We will never delete it and changes can be made easily at any time.

Contact us today to learn more about using our plans.

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3.  To Hire or Not to Hire

 
Now that you know you want to make some improvements to your property, you need to make a critical decision – what kind of professional help should you hire?  Are there parts of it that you want to do yourself? 

You have all kinds of options when it comes to landscaping, and each person can decide for themselves what factors are important to them.  We will briefly lay out the options below with a description of each for your edification.

DESIGN PHASE

• Landscape Architect – Licensed professional certified in design, planning and management, as well as expertise in horticulture and technical fields such as grading, drainage and irrigation.
   
• Landscape Designer – Design, planning and plant expertise.  Typically not licensed to design specs for retaining walls, pools and other technical items.
   
• Landscape Contractor – Most landscape contractors also offer to design your projects.  Quality and expertise varies.
   
• Do-It-Yourself – No explanation needed – You can take all the credit or all the blame!
  

• Landscape Contractor (General) – Licensed construction professional that will manage your entire project from start to finish. 
   
• Landscape Contractor (Subs) – You can choose a different person (or company) for each phase (irrigation, hardscape, planting, etc.).  Will save money but require management.
   
• Do-It-Yourself – Be prepared to live at Home Depot for awhile.

OUR OPINION – Again, you need to consider your own factors, but remember that quality construction will pay for itself in the long run.  The old axiom “You Get What You Pay For” couldn’t be more appropriate when it comes to landscape construction.  Make EXTRA sure you check referrals (everyone has a bad contractor story) and agree on the entire design BEFORE HAND.  It’s also a good idea to verify worker’s comp and general liability insurance.

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4.  How does our service work?

   
A relationship with PPM starts like any other relationship – with introductions.  Here’s a quick step-by-step of how our process usually works.

• INTRODUCTION – A phone call or an email to PPM lets us know that you’re interested in our services.
   
• ESTIMATE – After learning the scope of the project, PPM will provide you with an estimate for our services within 24 hours.
   
• SCHEDULING – If you approve our estimate, we’ll schedule our visit to your property in about 3-6 days.  PPM makes every effort possible to make our visit convenient for you – as long as we won’t run into any locked gates or vicious dogs in your yard, you don’t need to be at the property while we’re measuring! 
   
• CAD DRAFTING – After measuring your property, PPM will create your plan in AutoCAD. 
   
• OUTPUT – The finished product can be provided to you in a number of forms:

CAD file 
We can provide you or your architect with a DWG or DXF file (these files can ONLY be opened with a compatible CAD program – no other program will recognize it).

Plot
We will send you a printed plan of your project, typically done at 8th scale (1”= 8’) as a 24” x 36” print.

PDF file
With a PDF, you can view the plan on your computer, or you can easily forward the file to a local printer where they can make it as big or as small as you need.