Setting a Unit on a Slope
Flat ground is scarce on the streets west of Roberts Road. Driveways pitch toward the street, backyards fall away toward the ravines, and a porta potty set on a grade will lean and eventually walk. Our driver carries leveling blocks and looks for the flattest 4-by-4 patch on the property, usually the garage apron or a paver patio. Where that is not possible, the unit gets shimmed level and chocked, and the door is oriented uphill so it does not swing shut on someone.
Homes on the flatter east side near 87th and 88th Avenue are easier, with driveways that hold a unit without any of that.
What Hickory Hills Residents and Businesses Rent
Most requests are residential: basement finishes, deck rebuilds, and second-story additions on the 1960s split-levels and ranches. One standard unit covers those. Along 95th Street, the auto shops, restaurants, and small commercial buildings take a unit during parking-lot and roof work. The park district's fields and the Kruger Park area book standard units and handwashing stations for tournaments, and the Hickory Hills Country Club and its neighbors book the luxury restroom trailer for outdoor receptions when the clubhouse is full. The Roberts Road commercial strip, with its restaurants and small plazas, takes a unit during parking-lot repaving each summer, set at the back of the lot on the flat pavement near the dumpsters.
Spring Mud and Fall Leaves
The ravines and preserve edges hold water into May, and clay soil on the slopes turns slick after any rain. Spring deliveries stay on pavement. Summer is the peak for both construction and backyard parties, and the humidity in the low spots calls for extra deodorizer on service day. Fall brings roofing crews before the freeze and deep leaf cover that hides uneven ground, so the driver probes the spot before setting a unit. Winter units get a tank additive and a wind check, since gusts come straight across the open preserve land.