I thought a $500 tree service was a rip-off until my neighbor's oak fell

My big oak in the backyard had a dead limb, and I almost skipped the inspection to save cash. After the storm last month, my neighbor's similar tree came down and caused over ten grand in damage to their fence and shed. How do you decide when a tree needs to come down versus just a trim?

2 comments

2 Comments

keithb513d ago

Tell you what, I was in the exact same boat last spring. Had a maple with some sketchy looking branches hanging over my deck. I almost just trimmed it myself to save money. Then a huge storm rolled through and a branch from a tree just like mine smashed my other neighbor's grill to pieces. I called an arborist the next day. He pointed out a crack in the trunk I never even saw. For me, if more than a third of the tree looks dead or damaged, or if it's leaning badly over something important, it's time to talk removal. A good trim can fix a lot, but sometimes the whole thing is just a waiting game.

skyler_smith23d ago

Man, that story hits home. My old place had this oak that was dropping limbs like crazy after every rain. Got a guy out to look at it and he found hollow spots all through the trunk you could stick your hand in. Cost a bit to take it down, but way less than a new roof would have. Sometimes you just gotta trust the pros to see what we miss.