Many apartment complexes and commercial buildings have extensive concrete areas, and it can sometimes be difficult to keep track of potential slip hazards. Additionally, some pathways, stairs and driveways may get less sun through the cooler months which can make them prone to the build up of mildew.

Common Ground Property Services are an extra pair of eyes at our clients’ properties. We let our clients know about slip hazards before someone gets hurt, and have the equipment and experience to remove them quickly.

To request a quote or get advice on removing slip hazards at your property Contact Us today.

Today was our first visit to a large complex of 40 town houses at Everton Park with extensive lawn areas.

We had great weather all day, and were able to address many of the areas of the gardens that had been previously neglected.

For example;

1)  All pathways and roads now have dead straight edges.

2)  Palm fronds and other large deadfall that had been piling up has been removed.

3)  Shrubs have been trimmed away from pathways.

4)  Weeds have been sprayed.

Surprisingly, we learned that some contractors actually declined to quote on the complex because it is so large and has a lot of sloping lawns. Luckily we like a challenge at Common Ground Property Services, and we jumped at the chance to tender for the gardening and lawn care work at this property!

Common Ground Property Services can assist with all areas of common area cleaning and gardening for body corporate and commercial clients (large or small). Please Contact Us today to discuss your property’s requirements.

Two apartment complexes, in Auchenflower and Newstead, have just signed common area cleaning and gardening agreements with Common Ground Property Services.

Both apartment buildings are premium properties built within the last seven years, and given their locations the majority of the tenants are  professional people working in the CBD. With this in mind, the body corporate committees were looking for a professional contractor that could  offer quality services at reasonable rates, while also being able to provide them with timely reporting on any maintenance issues. In both cases, Common Ground Property Services was advised that its proposal stood out from the other quotes which were obtained in terms of professionalism and pricing.

 Please Contact Us today to discuss your common area cleaning and gardening needs.

At Common Ground Property Services we go the extra mile to keep on top of garden maintenance for our body corporate and commercial clients, because we know how quickly things can get out of hand in Brisbane’s sub-topical climate!

Take for example a small apartment complex in Toowong, at which Common Ground took over the ongoing garden maintenance work last week. The gardens are not large, but were very badly neglected after the previous contractor failed to keep up with a programme of regular maintenance. Our staff have now started the job of getting the property’s gardens back up to scratch for the body corporate committee, and removed an amazing 254kg of weeds and weedy shrubs from the small garden beds at the rear  and side of the property. Unbelievably we will need to return next week to tackle the remaining garden beds, which are approximately the same size as those already cleared.

When we first saw these garden beds at Toowong in such bad disrepair it was hard to know where to start! Should we remove the weedy shrubs first, take the vines off the clotheslines and fences, or start by slashing the waist high weedy undergrowth? In the end we started with the weedy shrubs, and the improvement after a day of clearing was dramatic. Tenants stopped us to thank us for the work we were doing, and a body corporate committee member emailed to tell us how great things were starting to look. This positive feedback will spur us on to complete the clean-up, and memories of how the gardens looked when we first arrived will serve as motivation not to let things get out of control again.

 If you feel your body corporate or commercial property’s lawns and gardens could benefit from improved attention, please contact us anytime to arrange a site inspection.

A large local business with depots in Deagon and Clontarf has just contracted Common Ground Property Services to look after their yard maintenance. As of today, Common Ground will be maintaining the lawns, gardens, hardstand areas and controlling weeds at the company’s two commercial properties.

The company’s facilities manager found our quote to be clear and sensibly priced, and approved it almost immediately. She then requested that we start our scheduled service programme as soon as possible.

Common Ground Property Services understand the appearance of external areas is extremely important to any commercial property, and we are a safe bet for all your garden maintenance needs. Your management team can leave the scheduled servicing of your lawns and gardens to our experienced and friendly staff, knowing that the work will always be completed safely and on schedule. Our gardening work will also always be completed as quoted, and any variations or additional work that may be required will always be subject to the written approval of a separate quote.

Please contact us today to discuss your gardening and common area cleaning needs. Common Ground Property Services can assist with commercial, body corporate and domestic work.

Common Ground Property Services was recently selected as the cleaning and gardening contractor for two body corporate clients in Taringa and St Lucia. Both body corporate committees had had bad experiences with their previous contractors, and were looking for a reliable company that was capable of bringing their properties back up to scratch quickly.

The St Lucia body corporate was also in need of a contractor that was able to help its committee develop a vision of how their complex’s gardens could be rejuvenated with fresh plantings, while the Taringa complex needed a contractor that could keep one step ahead of its resident scrub turkey.

We are looking forward to working hard to develop long term relationships with these two new clients, and know that they will enjoy seeing the positive changes that will take place around their properties.

When an owner of a unit in a community titles scheme lives off-site, it can be a challenge to try and keep tabs on contractors. Having said this, irrespective of whether owners live on-site or not they should be able to trust their contractors to complete cleaning & gardening tasks as quoted.

With this in mind, we asked body corporate committee member and absentee owner Sarah three short questions about her experience in dealing with Common Ground Property Services.

1. What problems were your body corporate committee facing in the lead up to appointing Common Ground Property Services?

“As an absentee owner and body corporate committee member of a unit in Auchenflower, I was finding it difficult to deal with contractors attending our property when I couldn’t be on-site to supervise them.  Over time, this resulted in a noticeable decline in the level of service received from our gardeners and cleaners, to the point where they had even stopped turning up, but still were charging us. 

All this changed when we switched to Common Ground Property Services – now I feel confident that our gardens and common areas are being cared for to a high standard.  When I do find the time to drive over and have a look I can see the difference – the gardens and lawns look great and the common areas are clean.”

2. What were the reasons behind your committee’s decision to contract Common Ground Property Services to look after the ongoing cleaning and gardening duties at your apartment complex?

“Common Ground Property Services stood out from the competition right from the quoting stage.  Garth was very thorough and took time to listen to what our needs were, offered ideas and solutions to the problems we were having with some areas of the property, and prepared a detailed and professional quote. 

Compared to the competition, who actually said they preferred me not to be there when they came to quote, it was obvious that Garth was someone I could trust to do a good job!  His interest in plants and landscaping only improves the versatility of Common Ground Property Services – as well as maintaining the property, Garth goes those extra steps to improve it, such as with his maintenance program to remove weeds from the lawn.”

3. What outcomes has your body corporate committee experienced since Common Ground Property Services commenced work at your apartment complex?

“We are more than happy with Common Ground Property Services, and I have since engaged Garth to also take care of another rental property that I own.Previously, I used to go around to the units from time to time to remove weeds and trim trees – even though we were paying someone else to do this!  Now I feel confident that Common Ground Property Services are taking care of everything.

Garth is proactive and a great communicator as well, which is perfect for busy owners who live off-site.”

Sarah, Body Corporate Committee Member

Auchenflower Apartment Complex

Common Ground Property Services have had a solid start to 2013, with three new customers signed up in early January.

On Tuesday we received confirmation that our quote for the ongoing cleaning of an office in Lutwyche had been successful, and then later in the week we were selected to take over the garden maintenance of a property in Bardon and the cleaning of an apartment complex in Hamilton.

Two of these three new clients came from referrals from our existing customers, which is a very satisfying way to gain new business.

Common Ground Property Services is very fortunate to be able to deliver a lot of jobs which provide us and our clients with very ‘high visual reward’ (HVR). Examples of HVR jobs are things such as house washing, pressure cleaning of concrete, or making over a badly neglected garden, where the client sees a dramatic change in the appearance of their property at the end of the project. HVR jobs always finish with you standing back at the end of the day and admiring your work, proud at what has been achieved. So is it possible for ‘low visual reward’ (LVR) work to be as satisfying as HVR work?

Although LVR work does not transform a property as dramatically as a HVR job can, it can be just as rewarding. When I take over the cleaning and gardening for a new body corporate client, it generally takes a few visits to get the property up to the Common Ground Property Services standard. This means a lot of elbow grease and in most cases a lot of HVR during the initial stages of the contract. However, once the property is up to standard the benefits of LVR work start to kick in.

LVR comes from keeping the small things under control, and can be something as simple as vacuuming residents’ door mats, removing a graffiti tag, or reattaching a loose fence paling. Our body corporate clients appreciate the small things we do, and although they may not always notice every little detail of Common Ground’s work, they know their complex is in good hands and in turn residents come to take more care when using their common areas.

However, the most powerful thing about LVR is how much energy it can give you. When a complex looks great at the end of each Common Ground visit, it gives me the energy to work harder and harder to keep improving the appearance of the property. So while HVR work is generally very physically demanding, LVR work can actually be energy giving (and far more sustainable in the long term).

So in a nutshell, there is definitely a real ‘wow factor’ to HVR work, but for me it is LVR work and the satisfaction of improving the quality of service week in week out that energizes me and keeps me passionate about what I do.