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This first question is for those of you who rent out whole spaces with a front and backyard, and are offsite.
Do you use a lawn service, a friend/neighbor, or drive there yourself and mow the lawn. And if so what is your agreement with them? Do they show up whenever it fits their schedule? - of course a lawn service will have many other yards to mow when the weather is dry.
Do you tell the mowers not to come between such and such hours in case guests want to sleep in?
Do you tell guests anything at all?
This question is for anyone:
As a guest renting a whole home with front and backyard, what are your expectations of being given notice of when mowing can/will take place? For example - the day you check in, itās raining and has been raining for a few days. You will be staying the next 4 days, and grass looks like it needs to be cut. But obviously has to wait till itās dry. Do you expect the lawn to be mowed only when your family is out for the day - and host should check your schedule? Or is a couple of hours notice by text sufficient for you? Or you could care less and expect someone might show up anytime to mow?
I think it would vary from person to person. People vary greatly in their reaction to noise. I also donāt have a very clear memory of how much noise a lawn mower makes - itās been a while since Iāve heard one.
In general, I think itās better to bring up noise related issues as soon as possible. At check in would be reasonable. If you donāt check the guests in in person, then you could send them a message or call them when they get there.
If someone asked me about moving when I was renting, the first question I would has is how long it would take. If it took a while Iād prefer not to be there. And any time is definitely not Ok - I might be sleeping. Bottom line, optimally Iād coordinate with your guestās schedules. If thatās not possible (e.g. if the mowers are doing it according to their own schedule), Iād explain to the guests why you are doing it at the time youāre doing it.
We have a huge property with an apartment above the garage. We mow when itās needed, usually in the late afternoon. Itās no noisier when weāre mowing than when the neighbors mow theirs, and Iāve had no comments or concerns with about 4 different bookings that weāve mowed while theyāre here. Weāre always weeding, mowing, trimming but leave the truly noisy stuff (like chainsaws) for when we know theyāre out or between bookings.
As a guest I would not be bothered by the noise of a lawn mower, itās part of the expected maintenance. Hotels/resorts mow their lawn and they always have guests.
Yes, and thatās a good point. We stayed at a 4 star resort in Mexico last summer and they were always working on maintenance: painting, re-thatching roofs, etc. They canāt shut the whole place down to maintain, why should we?
I mow the lawn when there are guests.
I start somewhere between 9 and 10. Some of the neighbours start at 08:00, and I cannot do anything about it.
But we live in a small village and I have some large meadows only 25 meters form my property.
Sometimes during the summer, the farmers start to mow them at 07:00, let the grass dry all day, and then collect it at the beginning of the evening.
Itās al part of the āexperienceā.
Important is if the mower service comes close to the house and can look inside.
Most guest do not have trouble with the noise, but they do not like it if their privacy gets invaded.
I would just inform them that that the mower service could turn up when the weather is good.
When you check in to the Sheraton, do they tell you, āyard maintenance will happen at 10am. Is that all right?ā
Heck no!!!
I think we are all getting so coddling of these guestsā¦ Know what I mean? Even me. In summer we have to weedwhack our jungle twice a week but yet I always do it when the guests arenāt there or rush to do it before they arriveā¦ So silly!!!
Think of the possible review. ānice stay, but the host mowed the lawn at 10am and woke us up!ā
I live in suburbia and at least one of my neighbors has their lawn mowed each day. Our crew comesā¦ Wed, when they feel like it. Thurs sometimes. Not at all some weeks. Early in the morning, late in the afternoonā¦ whenever. I cannot imagine getting them to come at a fixed time, and Iāve asked for Wed repeatedly (trash comes Thurs morning, otherwise we have to haul the grass bag into the garage all weekend and it stinks).
They do come right up to the windows because there is grass under the windows. Sometimes I have to run off and put on proper clothes, since I work at home and am rarely fully dressed. So far none of our guests have been annoyed by it since they are upstairs. Even the day sleeper nurse wasnāt bothered.
But maybe someone not used to a yard crew would be unhappy if they were on vacation and the guys came at 8 am. I tune it out because itās a background sound in my neighborhood. Sirens, honking cars and people talking loudly in the street are rare occurrences here and so that would get my full attention, whereas someone from a big city might tune all that out.
In our house info we say that we have weekly garden, rubbish, and hot tub service. That they will not interfere with the guests, and will be on the property for a max of 20-30 minutes. We also ask guests to kindly not bother them, as this will make THEIR experience not as nice, bc who would want to stay in a place with a dirty hot tub, overgrown bushes, and piles of rubbish
I deal with this on two properties. Each has a backyard which you can only access through the house in one case, and through the apartment in the other case. So I donāt have a third party do any of the yard work, only my husband and I do it. We have no choice but to sometimes schedule the yard work during a guests stay and I usually tell them that if they will allow us to enter, that weād like to take care of the yard on X date and that it will only be my husband and I that enter the apartment. If they say yes, great. If they say no (nobody has ever said no) then we wait until the changeover day. Itās a hassle but I donāt see much of a way around it for me in our situation.
As a guest, I wouldnāt want the lawn mowing to early, unless I have a heads-up. And, it depends on how long it will take. 30 minutes? Who cares. 45? Hmmmm I want my coffee in peace. 60? Iād like to know that in advance.
But I would understand, it needs to be done -
A headās up would be appreciated, if possible.
I once checked into a lodge in Shenandoah much needing that Shenandoah peace. They were leaf blowing. For hours - that was not appreciated. But as @konacoconutz said, they didnāt ask my permission!
Our ālandscaperā arrives at random times and usually early in the day. Unfortunately Iām not his employer, the HOA is. So I canāt ask him to come at a different time. (Heās very inexpensive so I guess he fits us in when heās in the neighbourhood).
No guests have ever complained about the noise - thank goodness.
And neighbouring properties have their yardwork people at various hours which I canāt control. But I think that guests appreciate that these jobs need doing and donāt object - it keeps the place nice for them, after all.
If we have work going on that I know about in advance (for example, recent pressure washing of all the paths) them I send a message via the platform telling the guests in advance. It seems that if they are warned, there isnāt a problem.
Our HOA allows any kind of noise to begin at 7am, including construction. Iām sure my neighbors woke up every day at 7am when they started working on my kitchen.
Iām in the process of digging up my grass. Going to put cotswold stone chippings down. Less maintenance. Plus my grass looks awful. It grows at different speeds and has different grass types and full of weeds. Lol
thanks for the feedback everyone! My partner always mentions potential yard work, etc. during the tour. He would never even dream of beginning before 10 a.m. and at least having me confirm guests are up and about. I always send a courtesy text because the property is private, and I donāt want them to think the owner is a ācreepā just showing up at random times.
For short stays (2-4 days) the goal is to try to get it done within the 5 hour turnover window. Of course the sun doesnāt always shine on turnover day, and it could be raining. And when guests book for an entire week, it a MUST to keep the lawn up anyway. Itās a long story that I wonāt get into all details - and my conclusion is these were just prickly guests. VRBO guests.
In the endā¦the lawn never got mowed during the 3 day stay! Their choice. Left the theater room projector running from the time they checked in to the time they left! - 64 hours. Left puddles on the wooden kitchen counter tops, and most likely added to the permanent marks on there. I have lemon oil on there nowā¦doubt it will come up. This is Gen X with three young children - they only confirmed for me yet again what I think of this group dynamic.
Then I receive a departing text thanking me, etc. but to let me know there were no sponges for the kitchen sink. Yes, there are no sponges because I only provide dish cloths, dish drying towels, paper towels, dishwasher detergent, and dish lotion soap, and every other kitchen basic. I really hope they donāt go visiting a rental where the norm is to provide you with a starter roll of toilet paper. Not one dish cloth was used to wipe up the counters or the puddles. Unreal. Why the hell do you have to have a sponge?? Go buy one if that is your preference! And, as a courtesy I have been emailing guests to let them know what is provided and if they prefer to use a sponge then they need to bring it, and laundry detergent if they want to wash their clothes before departure. Other than that I have everything else for them. I just happened not to mention the sponge, and only laundry detergent. I was in a hurry emailing her and she booked very last minute. But why couldnāt she stop at the grocery store 5 minutes down the road, if it was so important and then take any unused sponges back home in the car?
Bathroom floor (at least not the hardwood one) was all wet. Towels are soaked. I am noticing a pattern with this generation of soaking wet towels that I pull out of the hamper. What is going on? They all also use the beach towels. So why are the bath towels soaked?? Grrrrā¦
But my next set of guests is 2 couples so am looking foward to itā¦
Our listing is the garden apartment of our house and we state that the garden and pool are shared with us so there isnāt the same privacy question. The lawn is of drought-resistant grass which doesnāt need mowing so often, usually about every ten days. Weāre not early risers so it certainly wouldnāt get done before 10, and 2-4 pm is quiet time in Spain, so itās usually late morning or early evening.
We do try to do it usually between bookings, but more so that it will look nice for new guests than a worry that their sensitive ears might be disturbed by essential maintenance work!
Weāve actually had guests say to my husband that they like to see him mowing the lawn as it reminds them theyāre on holiday and donāt have to do it!
