In the words of Cher… “If I could tuuuuuuuuurn back tiiiiiiiime. If I could fiiiiiiiiiind a waaaaaaaay. I’d plant this pretty oak tree not on top of the house.”
No doubt it started out a lot smaller, but it grew, and with it grew the danger of it messing with our house. So when the home inspector crawled out from having assessed the roots and their proximity to the foundation, we were sad (but not surprised) to hear him say “this tree has got to go.”
Even if we could somehow do a root-growth-suppression-rain-dance to get them to avoid the house’s foundation, we couldn’t deny that about 50% of the tree’s canopy was precariously suspended right over our house. So even if just one branch came down in a storm, it would most likely damage our new roof.
And it would be a lot worse than that if the whole thing came down. We’ve seen some pretty bad storms over the last couple of years here…
We even saw a tree come down on the house right behind ours in Hurricane Irene back in 2011.
So once we knew we needed to remove the deck tree, we seized the opportunity to take a closer look at other trees on the property that we feared were dangerous/dying with the help of an arborist friend and some notes left by the inspector, which ended up identifying a few other troublesome trees, including three in the front and another one in the back near the deck. Those in particular were too close to the house (and too big) for comfort or had holes/rot in the base or were partially hollow (YIKES!) which meant they could come crashing down a lot more easily than healthy, solid trees could.
We had actually used this crew way back in 2007 at our first house, where we had a crazy giant split tree that was dead in the middle. They’re called Shady Tree Service, and William is the head dude. He’s a really nice guy and I feel like we’ve watched each other grow up or something. He wasn’t married back then, and now he’s married with two kids. Of course John and I have since tied and knot and had Clara (and Burger) so it was fun to catch up with him.
It’s a pretty hardcore job if you ask me. Dude, there’s a man up there – even higher than the house. You know, just swinging a chainsaw around.
Here’s William in the bucket, taming the lower portion of the deck tree. There’s actually a whole lot of math going on in tree work (angles, momentum, trajectory, etc) – you know, just to make sure nothing swings INTO YOUR HOUSE, so it’s pretty amazing to watch.
This was the view out of the guest room window. No zoom here, this is just how close the tree was (and how careful William had to be).
It was also crazy to see how hollow some of the trees were. This picture doesn’t do this any justice (one Clara and approximately four Burgers could have fit into the hole).
Here’s an “after” of the back, now that those two trees are gone. Still leafy, but less tree-on-house action.
And here’s a front view when we bought the house…
… and the front view now that those three are gone. It’s a more dramatic difference than I think we were expecting (we were so hoping we could keep at least one of them) but we’re glad they’re taken care of and we don’t have to stress every time we hear that a storm is coming. It has also let more light into the house, should help us grow more grass to fill in our patchy hair-plug-ish yard, and is going to help keep our new roof dryer (which lengthens its life) along with discouraging any more rot in our siding and trim (we already have some of that to deal with).
So a few thousand bucks later (ouch), those five trees are gone and we have some nice peace of mind. Tree removal costs definitely vary by the size of the tree, how hard it is to get to (will they need a crane, etc), and where you live. But a general range for getting a medium sized oak tree down that’s near a house in our area might be between $1K-$2K. If you add others, each additional tree tends to be a lot less since a lot of the cost is just getting the crew and machinery out to your house. So you could get a $1K quote for one tree, but negotiate a $3K total to get five of them taken care of (especially if a few of them are smaller/easier to wrangle).
Oh and I have a few tree negotiating tips:
- get a bunch of estimates if you don’t already have a favorite tree guy (we didn’t get others this time because William’s the best and every friend we recommend him to confirms that his prices are always better than the rest)
- make sure they’re licensed and insured (seriously, I wouldn’t mess around with this because it’s such a dangerous job)
- if you’ve used the company before, you can score a better price by reminding them you’re a repeat customer
- save competitor coupons (in our area some tree folks put out coupons and most of them will honor someone else’s to get the job themselves)
- in general whenever I negotiate (John hates that part, so it’s all me) I like to smile after they toss out an initial number and say “is that your best price?” (then I just shut my mouth and listen, which usually results in some amount of money off, free stump grinding, or some other perk)
As far as projects go, this might have been Clara’s favorite to watch. She loved gazing at the wood chipper, seeing the guys up in the trees, and standing on the stumps. This one’s the big deck tree, which she loved most of all. We thought about leaving some of the stump on the deck to create a table base, but the location would put the table a bit too close to the house for it to be functional.
So instead, we decided to “keep” the tree in the form of a few fun little stepping stones that I asked the guys to cut before hauling the rest off to be chipped/recycled as mulch.
Those might look like you could lift them up and place them in that clean little line, but they each weighed a ton and could only be moved with the tractor that the guys had for hauling stuff, so it was fun to watch them shove them all into place with heavy machinery.
And how about this for an epilogue? Remember when John mentioned that we have some deer friends at the new house? Well, apparently they like us, because they love to sneak up on us. Take this shot for example. I was taking after photos of the trees gone and John saw this one hanging out right behind me. I didn’t even notice.
And then I did, and I took this picture. Sherry Petersik, wildlife photographer.
Then Burger barked and off it ran. So evidently we live in Fairy Tale Forest. Thank goodness we still have a bunch of leafy trees around to maintain the title…
Anyone else getting trees limbed up, trimmed, or removed? Couldn’t you watch a 24/7 show of people doing it? If HGTV’s wondering what programming to add, I’d totally watch an hour of guys taking giant trees down. Their lever-systems and crazy swinging contraptions are no joke.
msumissa says
I about had a heart attack at the price of your tree removal. We had 3 large oaks, 5 stumps ground and he trimmed up the dead branches above our playscape for under $500.00 (at our cottage in the thumb of MI) I thought it was going to be double and had to ask him if he was sure he counted 3 trees. We gave him a 20% tip because I know that where our house lives it would have been at least what you paid or more. Wow, what a difference the area makes! As a way LEFT field, just wanted to say back in January I saw the Below the Boat contest, didn’t get in the contest but used the coupon to score my DH a great picture of Lake Huron in MI, and it has the town where our cottage is burned in too. He LOVED his birthday present and everyone who comes to our cottage just loves it! Thanks for highlighting them!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw that’s so sweet! I’m so glad!
xo
s
Susan says
We had a tree fall on our house three weeks ago. We got lucky and it only did enough damage for insurance to pay for a new shingle roof and new gutters. Wee! But I had $2000 out of pocket before that for the tree removal.
What you say about asking for extras is true. We got two stumps removed for ‘free’ as well as a full trimming of another huge tree for only $450…super cheap by any standard for Chicago prices.
BornInaZoo (Bonnie K.) says
When I moved into my house (rented it for 5 years & now have owned it for 8), it had 3 HUMONGOUS trees in the front & 1 more in the back. One tree in the front & the one in the back were elms. They had constant die-off while I was renting … but was lucky enough to have friends and family that are fantastic with power saws & would take care of the dead branches. Just after I bought the house, the city went through and cut down all of the elms that were on the streets. Dutch Elm Disease. I showed them the one in my back yard. It was so diseased that I thought a good kick would take it out that 150+ year old tree… and all of my alley neighbor’s garages. The city took it down for free since they were in the area and I mentioned it to them and it was leaning over the alley & that’s city property.
It was amazing to watch the guys hired to remove those trees. The city ground the stump below ground in the front yard. And … since they were in the areas … I only had to pay $100 to have the backyard stump ground.
YoungHouseLove says
So lucky!
xo
s
Melanie says
Such a pity the three in the front had to go down! They looked SO good out the front :( Ah well, safe now :)
Sarah says
I totally used your “Is that your best price?” line this weekend! I was nervous but it still worked! I got 15% off my new vacuum!!! Thanks Sherry!
YoungHouseLove says
Woot! I’m giddy for you.
xo
s
Cassie Dearborn says
When you say you bat you smile and ask for a better deal, I’m reminded of this 30 rock episode. You’d have to watch the whole thing to fully understand if you haven’t seen it…
http://youtu.be/wB5tntQRaVs
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, love that episode! Miss that show so much!
xo
s
Judy Welles says
Two years ago we bought a house with a lovely willow tree that shaded much of the back yard. Then we learned that it was diseased and would eventually have to come down, so we decided to remove it before we did any other landscaping. Being newly retired, we luxuriated in the opportunity to spend the WHOLE DAY sitting on the garage step and watching the guys take down that tree. It was fascinating! We learned that they lubricate their chainsaws with corn oil, because about 40% of the oil used on a chain saw ends up sprayed all over the saw operator. Much better for their health (and for the environment) than using a petroleum product.
YoungHouseLove says
SO fascinating! I could totally watch all day too!
xo
s
Marie says
You are so lucky with the price you received! Tree removal is much more expensive in our area of Michigan. We paid $4550 to have an oak tree removed that looked to be just a little larger than yours. As much as I hated spending the money, our pool gets way more sun and I don’t worry every time we have a thunderstorm.
Kirsten says
This was so fun to read since my husband is in the midst of helping my dad take down a HUGE maple in my parents yard. It was struck by lightning last week! I think both guys are pumped for heavy machinery and chainsaws.
I love the front of the house now without the trees, by the way.
Abby @ Just a Girl and Her Blog says
I can see why Clara loved it! My two little boys would be all over something like this! I love that you kept pieces and used them as stepping stones–such a fun touch! I’m really enjoying following the progress on your new place. Keep up the good work, guys!
~Abby =)
Alisha says
We bought our first house 7/31/12 and within a few days I was getting quotes on tree removal. Unfortunately/fortunately (?) none of the trees were on our property, but we still footed the bill for the removal. Our neighbors had a large oak that hung over our roof and since they weren’t willing to do anything, we paid 1K to get the limbs over our roof cut off. The tree people said it would easily cost 3-4K to get the whole thing removed, which is what they recommended, be we certainly weren’t paying for that!
Just like you, we got 4 quotes and went with the people that had the best reviews on Angie’s List, had insurance, a coupon AND gave us a fair price. :) Thankfully my handy Dad has been able to trim the smaller Norwegian Maples that hang over our back fence. Total cost: I buy him lunch. Yay for handy Dads!
YoungHouseLove says
Handy dads are the best!
xo,
s
Ginny @ Goofy Monkeys says
Does your town have any laws about replacing trees that are removed?? I’ve heard of that in some areas.
YoungHouseLove says
Ours doesn’t but we definitely have plans to bring in smaller evergreens in the back for more winter privacy.
xo,
s
tara says
Yes! Our house was actually built around a massive oak tree we had to cut down 6 months after we moved in. Oooh, that was not a cost we anticipated. I miss it, but now I don’t live in fear that it will topple our house and a slew of overhead power lines. :)
Natalie says
Not sure about in the USA but in Australia we have to plant big trees 1.5 times the height of the tree away from the house. This means we need to move our beloved pencil pines before we start our reno. :( I love my pines.
YoungHouseLove says
Never heard that rule. So interesting!
xo
s
Maureen says
Sherry, I know you are a Jersey girl, but now I have to wonder where you lived in Jersey since you mentioned Fairy Tale Forest. Did you live near Fairy Tale Forest in Oak Ridge? Love seeing the progress on the new house!
YoungHouseLove says
I’ve heard of it but never been! I’m from Parsippany (Par Hills baby!)
xo
s
kb says
I’ve been wondering what you guys were going to do with this tree. Why? Because I have a tree in the middle of my deck, as well. It doesn’t hang over our house quite as much, but in general worries me, drives me nuts, and prevents me from getting a much cooler patio set. I actually came home today to find that a branch spanning the size of our deck had fallen (which is random timing since we got whipped by storms in Minneapolis last weekend but things have been pretty calm since Sunday.)
In short: Now I want to cut my tree down, too!
Also … maybe I missed this somewhere, but what are you guys planning on doing with that part of the deck? Are you replacing it down the road? I imagine there is a hole or stump in the middle of things right now …
YoungHouseLove says
So crazy about that branch! As for our deck we plan to get matching boards and then seal/stain the whole thing to hopefully look as seamless as possible.
xo,
s
Felie Hempfling says
Aww I’m sure you guys were pretty sad to see the trees leave! But I’m sure you guys are sleeping much better knowing a branch won’t be falling on the new roof and through the home! We’ve got some pretty large trees to the side of our house that are great and help create privacy, we’re not sure who owns them since they fall right on the property line AND it just so happens that the house is up for sale.. here’s hoping we don’t have a tree battle if the new owners want to chop them down.
Kahlia says
So weird that we’ve just had a bunch of trees removed too – here in Adelaide, Australia. Six massive gum trees are now no more. Four of them had been hollowed out by termites (SCARY!)and no doubt would have eventually fallen on our house or our neighbours! We got a total of 5 quotes in the end, they ranged from $2K to $6K, but what really saved us cash was doing some hardcore research. We didn’t realise if we looked hard enough we’d find someone to cut down some trees for free in exchange for the wood, for either firewood or for milling. Financially it turned out to be a less painful process than we’d thought, but it is pretty disheartening to see huge trees be decapitated. Thankfully we still have two large healthy gums for our resident koala, Wally!
Lisa, London says
Sniff, I hate seeing tree’s cut down! Bit Dogmatix about it. Understand they had to go given there proximity to the house. Hope a few more maple’s are planted to replace them a bit further away.
Lisa, London (where sadly cutting down tree’s is an everyday event!)
Seaweed & Raine says
I bet you are loving the light streaming into your home now – despite the fact that you have had to remove some beautiful trees. I’m glad Clara gets to play with some of the remnants though – it would make a cool obstacle course if you added more things to it with time! :)
Sheree
Amanda @ Serenity Now says
We’re in the same boat as you guys with the trees. Our house was built in 1977 and is in an older neighborhood, so we have an abundance of big, old trees. With every storm, we worry about a huge “3 in 1” maple falling on the house or wrecking what’s left of our shed. (It’s dropped enough huge limbs on it to ruin the roof). So, before we can get a new shed, we’re having some trees removed. We’re using a guy who’s done some great work in the neighborhood. I recommend making sure they include hauling off all the debris as part of the packaage. We paid close to $500 for a tree once and my husband had to haul all the leftover stuff to the dump in his truck.
Morris says
We just took down a ton of trees that were scary close to our house too. We took down 4 really big ones and a few smaller ones on the outside perimeter of our back yard. Living in New England I totally get the fear of limbs crashing on the house in a storm. But the huge roots were making it near impossible for any grass to grow. The whole procedure was quite an event. There were 2 really big ones in the back that the guys asked if once they removed enough from the top, if they could just let them fall naturally into the woods behind our house…. Now That was FUN to watch. Aside from being nervous that the tree would somehow fall the wrong way, I found myself totally wanting to yell out … “TIMBER!!!!” When they went down. Hee hee!!!
Korie says
Oops… Not sure why spellcheck changed my name to Morris!!! Lol!!! That is funny…
YoungHouseLove says
Ha! Oh autocorrect…
-John
Georgia says
So do you now have a hole in your deck?
We had a tree hanging (leaning) over our house when we moved in. Our initial quote was $300 for a local guy to bring it down (it wasn’t very big) ….3 tree companies and $3000 later it came down along with a bunch of other trees they had to remove to get to it. It does seem like a lot of money. But there are plenty of times we’ve had storms and I’ve said “if that tree was still there it would be in our house”.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, as for the deck hole, we’re going to share how we’ll patch that and hopefully stain/seal it so it’s all seamless!
xo
s
Morgan says
Ouch that was a pricy job! I had no idea it cost that much! Very thankful one of our best friends owns a tree cutting business. My fiance used to work for them in the summer on college breaks (back when it was our friend’s dad’s, and he wasn’t married and kid-less) and his shop is about 5 minutes from our house. He’ll come out on the weekends and let’s Tom help him (he loves to relive his climber days) and we just feed him and throw him some cash. Judging by how much it cost you all, and that we’re in a more expensive area, I’m guessing it’s saved us about $10,000-$15,000. So my tip, become best friends with a tree cutting business owner if you have a lot of tree removal to do. ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! Great tip!
xo
s
MrsB says
Had a 106′ pine with 12 degree list removed – not immediately after moving in in 2007. Alabama Power and two arborists said it was sound. It was a clear view from bathroom window – and I gauged its list by lining up with the mullions on window.
Well, the April 27, 2011 tornado came through – I live on a 900 ft. “mountain” and thought I was safe from winds – but nooooo….we got straight line winds from tornado sweeping northwest around Shades Mountain. The tree stood – but listed another degree or two. We were lucky, my street had damage on all homes but my neighbor’s and mine.
Thousands of dollars, and two companies that said they could not do it without lift truck, Mr. Davy Eady, Eady’s Tree Service, came and single handedly took that sucker down in 3 hours. Cell phone video and all. He uses it for advertising now.
The peace of mind knowing that hollow ( really!) killer tree will not injure my neighbors was worth the $$$$$.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s amazing! I bet watching it was awesome!
xo
s
Dawn says
There used to be a show on TV in the Tulsa, OK area about cutting down trees. It may still be on…I watched it a couple times and it was pretty funny!
http://nosakraw.com/contact.php
Dawn says
If you go to the HOME page of the above website and go to VIDEOS you can watch some of the shows!
YoungHouseLove says
Sweet!
xo
s
Joseph says
This post is perfect timing! We were just out on our porch looking at our trees blowing in that storm that blew through here last night. We have about 7 trees that we want to take down and others that probably need to be trimmed. We’ll have to look into Shady Tree Service. If we do we’ll let them know where we heard about them. Maybe they’ll start giving you some kick back. :)
Miyu says
Hi Sherry and John! Thanks for this post. I am going to be getting rid of a few trees next week, 2 of them being Dogwood trees (I’m from Georgia, and the dogwood is our state tree) which makes me really sad. The reason being that the trees are effecting my foundation not because the roots are physically interfering, but because we’ve had a few droughts and the trees/vegetation around the house has started sucking everything dry around the house and the foundation got too dry. Droughts come only occasionally where I live, so trees usually get adequate water, except last summer!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no, that’s so sad, but I’m glad it’ll keep your house safe!
xo
s
Ally says
Free Stump Grinding?!
That’s my band’s name.
JK … but maybe someday.
YoungHouseLove says
Best name ever! Only surpassed by Kitty Litter Headband. Just thought of that one this morning…
xo
s
Heather says
Just catching up while we take a road trip break! You all know this is right up my alley. I hope they didn’t chip these all up! They look like good firewood, and maybe some saw logs. I like that you kept some cookies though. Also, I thought you’d get a kick out of the fact my husband still teases me when I say “arborist”. To me it’s pronounced “ah-ba-rist”. I don’t have much of an accent, but that one word I can’t kick it haha.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, ah-ba-rist! As for the big logs, they didn’t chip those and took them off in their trucks, so I hope they’re living on as firewood or even some cool oak furniture or something!
xo
s
mp says
LOVE this. Sebastian Junger wrote a great essay on his time as a tree trimmer in Fire.
Corinne says
Ouch…I feel your pain…we just had seven trees cut down about 3 weeks ago…quite a pain in the wallet. We were however very pleased as the trees were unsafe and some were rotting. We have lived in this house for 14 years and have been very lucky. Your point about bargaining for a better price is correct…the original two trees for $700 turned into five for $100 more and then two more on the day of removal another $100 and these were large “fall on the house” trees. The company we used had just cut down several others in the neighborhood so he really gave us a deal noting the potential for business just on our court alone we are pretty tree-rich depending on which side of the chain saw you are on…..we didn’t need a crane, just brave tree cutters wielding chain saws through the skies and dangling like Spiderman the movie. We still have many trees on the property and felt snug and safe with other trees considered healthy and safe. One week later the perfect tulip poplar gracing the edge of our woods decided the storm (derecho-like) was just too much…three huge limbs snapped and flew down on our sweet Amish built shed. In the 27 years we have been homeowners, this is the first time we have made a claim…
Penny Smith says
I SO get rotting or hallow trees… but they really did add to the look and classic beauty. How old the tree is and how old the house it… oh that had to be a tough call! I have a TON of trees at our new/old house… it is so hard to part with a one of them. I actually paid for the diseased pines (can’t remember the variety) that just lose foliage from the bottom up from the issue they have, for a few more years. Same pines that my fathers house had… I am delaying the inevitable. But it really eventually is esthetic when they should come down.
Sorry you had to make this choice for foundation/safety reasons. Any plans to replace (the front ones) them with fast growing solid beauties (further out from the house)?
YoungHouseLove says
We’d love to bring some more of those in closer to the street when we make planting beds up there down the line :)
xo
s
Jaime says
I wish I could share my hook up for tree cutting with you! My friends own their own company and cut down a massive pine tree that was right next to our house for $200. A neighbor approached them while they were working and asked if they could cut down her maple tree, and they took it down for $50. The only downside of the day was getting scolded by another neighbor for cutting down our “big, beautiful pine tree” even though we explained to her that it was rotting and had lost a ton of limbs during the winter. You win some, you lose some, I guess! I love the way your house looks more open and welcoming without those three trees in the front. I looks great!
YoungHouseLove says
Woah, that’s awesome!
xo
s
Lauryn says
Im not sure how close you guys are to William, but you might consider telling him to empty his company voicemail box. We have called twice about getting a tree removed and both times his mailbox is full. :-/ pretty poor business practice.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, hope he gets to that soon! He does a lot of work for companies as well as for individuals, and with all of this rain I’m sure he has a TON of downed trees that he’s taking care of. If we chat with him we’ll be sure to mention it though (otherwise I’m not sure leaving a message would help since it’s full, haha).
xo
s
Sara says
Hey Guys! I’m a huge fan and you two are truly an inspiration for DIY’ers. Quick question and I’m not sure if you even have the answer since it looks like they were there when moved in but wondering what type of little shrubs you have lined up in front of your current house? We’re looking to tear out what we have and get something friendlier (not sure if that makes sense) and smaller to clean up the front of our home. I’m looking forward to spring even though we have multiple feet of snow hanging on here in Michigan :)Thanks guys
YoungHouseLove says
They’re called boxwoods! We love them since the deer don’t eat them and they stay green year round!
xo
s
Sharon says
We had 5 trees removed from our back yard a couple of years ago and it was so fascinating to watch. My husband, our toddler and I all were looking out the windows in awe. (I was definitely taking pictures and feeling like such a dork for doing so). My husband and I were surprised at how quickly they were done. And, I took some pictures to share with people on my blog. We were a little disconcerted that not all of the guys were wearing protective gear, but as far as I know, they all made it through the morning with no injuries.