Tree removal--many large, dead trees. Horrified at cost and need advice

[Harriet Vane]

Many thanks to those who offered sympathy or practical suggestions for the unexpected tree removal issues we are facing.

[Laura Corin]

A tree surgeon should be able to give an assessment of what needs to come down urgently - get a few estimates.

 

We have dead trees that we are just allowing to fall naturally.  They aren't big, however, and aren't near the house or road.

 

How desperately does the seller need to sell?

 

L

[Harriet Vane]

.

[Melissa in Australia]

I think it depends on the species. I know my neighbour has an absolutely  massive tree that is dead on his property, it has been dead for at least 20 years and is a habitat for many nesting birds  because of its hollowing limbs.

[Onceuponatime]

Just a thought: If any are hardwoods, you could advertise them on craig's list as free for "cut your own" firewood. In this area people have no problem getting rid of recently dead trees that way. Firewood is a commodity.

[nevergiveup]

Just a thought: If any are hardwoods, you could advertise them on craig's list as free for "cut your own" firewood. In this area people have no problem getting rid of recently dead trees that way. Firewood is a commodity.

If they are hardwoods, a logging company might pay you for them.

 

Be careful about offering them for free unless you check liability.

[Tess in the Burbs]

I would ask seller for half the cost. Maintaining trees is 'maintenence' and worth if asking for repair before purchase.

 

We had trees removed at one home many years ago. The neighbor had a business and needed to train sone guys. It wasn't much work AND I got training rates....it was over $300!!! So if this is a big job ask if they have guys needing training and you can get a cheaper cost.

[Cammie]

I don't know where you are located but if you are in the CT, NY, MA area I may be able to help.  My brother is a licensed arborist and I know he doesn't charge excessively!  PM me if you are in that area and I give you his contact info.

[Harriet Vane]

I don't know where you are located but if you are in the CT, NY, MA area I may be able to help.  My brother is a licensed arborist and I know he doesn't charge excessively!  PM me if you are in that area and I give you his contact info.

 

Nowhere near. Thanks anyway.

[Jann in TX]

We had a microburst centered around our house last year-- think big BOOM during the night worse than any near lightning strike!  We lost several 100-150 yr old oak trees :sad: .  Other trees were damaged and the drought finished them off within months.

 

After a few estimates we ended up paying about $1000 (at least we had some good piles of fire wood!).  We ended up hiring the workers for an additional day to do some preventive trimming and some light clearing.  It was hard to fork over that much money--but in the end our property looks better and our house is much safer (from storms).

[Alice]

We've had to get a bunch of trees down over the past couple of years. Definitely shop around companies, we found a huge difference in pricing and the cheaper company actually did a better job. For one, at the recommendation of our brother-in-law,a  birder, we left the trunk for woodpeckers. That one was cheaper since they didn't have to take it all down. The branches and higher part are the bigger job though so it was still costly. We were able to negotiate a bulk-rate with one company the first time, since they were coming and bringing all their equipment they were willing to charge less to do several trees at once than they would have to do one at at time. 

 

 

[QueenCat]

If you do not take down the trees, and they land on the house, your insurance company might not pay for repairs if they can prove that you knew that the trees were dead, and you chose not to remove them.

[JennyD]

We had the trees in the yard inspected before buying our current house and most definitely renegotiated the contract after discovering that some of them were dead and in danger of falling on the house.   I don't remember the exact timing, although I think we were quite a bit earlier in the process than you are.  It was/is a house in a very desirable location and at a very good price, though, so there had been two other bids initially -- all made the first day the house was on the market -- and the seller would have had zero trouble finding another buyer.  Nevertheless, we just treated it the same way as we would have discovering a big, expensive problem with the house itself.  We got an estimate and then our realtor negotiated a reduction in the cost of the house.

 

Have you spoken to your realtor?  If you are nervous that the sellers may back out, you might want to ask your real estate agent whether the rules about disclosing problems that turn up in inspections to any future buyers apply as well to problems with trees on the property.  If the sellers are going to have to disclose to any future buyers anyway, then it does them no good to back out of the contract with you.  

[QueenCat]

I would think that since you have already come to terms with the sellers on the other expenses, it'd be difficult to negotiate this. I would think this would be a relatively low expense. Probably under $2000.

[rjand6more]

I am guessing that if closing is scheduled for 2 weeks away, you may have passed the "inspection" time anyway.  Contract has been signed that you accept the terms and the condition. Unless you are unable to get financing(probably the only last contingency), you may be stuck.  Taking down big trees near structures can be expensive.  We paid 1500 for 2 trees 8 years ago.  Could someone you know just top them out for now so it would clear structures if it falls?  We did that and saved to have them removed.

 

Buying a house can be so stressful!!  Relax and just let the estimate come and make a decision then.

[ktgrok]

Can you rent equipment to do this yourself? I know my husband is talking about renting a "cherry picker" type thing and taking down some trees himself, but he's very handy that way. Engineer raised by a handyman. 

[OneStepAtATime]

I agree with calling the realtor.  You can at least TRY to get the home owner to cover part of the expense.  And definitely get more than one estimate.  Get an arborist to determine if any can be just trimmed down a bit or if they have to be completely removed.  

[Rachel]

I would call an arborist for an estimate. My guess is that it would be cheaper to take them all down at once, but maybe you could get by with just removing one or two for now. At least you would get some peace about the stability of the trees.

[zoobie]

It varies widely by location. Also dependent on the size of the trees, how the trees can be felled, and whether the wood is useful. Many tree places here have associated firewood businesses. Get several estimates and beware any that are much lower. Get proof of insurance and make sure it's valid before they start work.

[EKS]

It is more expensive for them to cut a tree down from the top than to just fell it with one cut.  So any trees that are close to other structures or other things that you absolutely don't want being hit when they come down will need to come down from the top.  Part of what costs so much with tree removal is the clean up.  So after they cut the tree down, then next thing they do will be to remove the limbs and then they cut the trunk into logs.  Then they clear all that out, and at least around here, hauling away truck loads of waste is very expensive.  The last part of tree removal is stump removal.  They can either rip the stumps out of the ground with something like a backhoe or they can use a stump grinder.  Both things cost a lot.  This is why lots of people choose to just leave stumps in the ground.

 

So, if it's not against any sort of regulations in your area, the cheapest thing would be to just have them take the trees down and leave them for you to clean up yourself.

[LinRTX]

We took 4 trees down the day before Easter (or my husband did). A fifth had fallen the week before that just missed the house. Two of these were 25 foot trees. I don't know what your property is like. We live on a little over 3 acres but all these were close to the house. With the use of ropes, planned cuts with a chain saw, and a pickup, he was able to bring them all down himself. I was just there to help him eye where they were falling.

 

Linda

[PeterPan]

HV, I wrote you privately.  :)

 

Hey, that sorta rhymes!  :)

[sparrow]

It is more expensive for them to cut a tree down from the top than to just fell it with one cut.  So any trees that are close to other structures or other things that you absolutely don't want being hit when they come down will need to come down from the top.  Part of what costs so much with tree removal is the clean up.  So after they cut the tree down, then next thing they do will be to remove the limbs and then they cut the trunk into logs.  Then they clear all that out, and at least around here, hauling away truck loads of waste is very expensive.  The last part of tree removal is stump removal.  They can either rip the stumps out of the ground with something like a backhoe or they can use a stump grinder.  Both things cost a lot.  This is why lots of people choose to just leave stumps in the ground.

 

So, if it's not against any sort of regulations in your area, the cheapest thing would be to just have them take the trees down and leave them for you to clean up yourself.

 

We are *still* cleaning up trees that were dropped last summer (the harsh winter impeded our ability to as much as we hoped), but yes, the least expensive option is to have the trees dropped and do the cutting and splitting yourself.

[Just Another Jen]

We took 4 trees down the day before Easter (or my husband did). A fifth had fallen the week before that just missed the house. Two of these were 25 foot trees. I don't know what your property is like. We live on a little over 3 acres but all these were close to the house. With the use of ropes, planned cuts with a chain saw, and a pickup, he was able to bring them all down himself. I was just there to help him eye where they were falling.

 

Linda

 

 

My husband and older boys have done this as well. Its not that hard. Plus we sold the wood afterwards.

[Harriet Vane]

Ok, I'm trying to figure out a way to say this gently...  are you sure you can afford this house????  If you are hyperventilating and having to choose between a fireplace repair or the trees, then your budget is too tight.  You should continue to save money and get more of a cushion.  I promise you that every house costs more than you think it will.  There are expenses you don't think about.  If you are at the edge of what you can comfortably afford, then I say don't buy the house.  You should probably have a cushion of a couple of hundred dollars a month for extra repairs and household things each month. 

 

Tree removal may be thousands of dollars. Who wouldn't hyperventilate about a surprise repair of thousands of dollars?

 

**Edited post**

[ElizabethB]

Some species bloom late...we had one house we lived in that we were sure a few trees were dead, but it was a slightly different species of the same type of tree that bloomed a few months later than the others. It looked exactly them same as the others to me and I have a biology degree!

 

We have also had a few expensive tree removals.

 

:grouphug:

[sparrow]

I also want to point out that while my husband is fairly adept with a chainsaw, he didn't feel comfortable dropping trees that were so close to our house. Our tree cutter said that dead trees are particularly dangerous because they are often cracked inside, where you can't see, so sometimes you just don't know which way they'll fall, despite precise cuts. On our largest ones, where there were visible external cracks, they brought in a cherry picker and cut it in chunks from the top. 

 

We had to take down 6 ash trees in our front yard due to emerald ash borers :( .  They were big, heavy trees.

 

 

[MomtoCandJ]

We are looking into this as well, we have at least 4 oak trees that are dead but they hung over our house, really close to the house or near power lines. There are some live trees we want removed as well for our future home building project. We are hoping that it would be cheaper if they have a bunch to cut, we will clear the debris and my inlaws would use most as firewood.

[Carol in Cal.]

What does your contract and the local law say?  In our state, once the contingencies are lifted, the buyer has an obligation to purchase.  Of course, you can always ask for consideration, but the seller does not have to even answer.  OTOH, we are also a disclosure state, and dead trees on the property near the house might be considered a material disclosure issue--I am not certain, but I would think so. 

 

Regarding letting the sale fall through, spring through early summer is the prime time to have houses on the market here.  If a sale fell through in that period out here, the seller would be more likely to just let it go and return the listing to the market than, say, a week before Christmas, because they would be more likely to get another buy this time of the year. 

 

I think that you could ask the seller for a credit for the tree removal, and see what they do.  You don't have to pull out the big threats just yet.  You need an estimate to give them, though, and I would get right on that if I were you.

[marbel]

I don't have any advice for you, as I know tree removal costs vary so widely based on location, difficulty, etc.  We have been "lucky" in that all the fallen trees in our yard have come down naturally and the only wire they ever took out was the landline which my husband was able to deal with.  We have overhead power lines here so that complicates things.

 

So I'm just offering empathy and :grouphug:  and hope that it all works out well for you. 

[Laurie4b]

I would not take them down yourselves if they are large trees. An engineer in this area, DIYing a large tree removal, was killed. He had the tree roped and everything, but it fell in the wrong direction. (on him).  In addition to personal injury, large trees that could come down on the house if they fell the wrong way would mean even more $$.

 

The good news is that in addition to firewood, many species of trees are able to be sold for their wood for building, furniture, etc. I have been very surprised at the prices. I think I saw cedar about 6 ft tall and about a foot wide for over $100. Woods that are used in cabinetry and furniture go for quite nice prices.

 

As someone suggested, just getting the trees felled will take care of the danger. Once they are on the ground, it's much safer to DIY.

[Sara R]

How long have the trees been dead? Did the seller know about it and fail to disclose? If so you may have some recourse.

[Slartibartfast]

What sort of trees are they?

 

 

[Artichoke]

Echoing others that this is not a do it yourself job. Dh will often take down smaller trees and those not near the house, but our homeowner's insurance will not cover if he damages the house doing this. If you do end up getting estimates, ask for proof of liability insurance and worker's comp when they do the estimate. When we had two huge trees taken down, one of the companies who claimed to have insurance and gave us an estimate much lower than the others kept "forgetting" to send over the insurance info and promised to bring it to the job when they started. Um, no way -- not falling for that one. We gladly paid the higher estimate of the insured company.

[momto10blessings]

Get several estimates. Prices vary. My mom had an estimate to remove a tiny tree for $800. My husband did it in 5 minutes. It was shorter than the house!!!

[Guest]

We had 3 large cedars (living) near our house that had to come down.  I got one bid for cut-down and removal, and it was $5000.  

I got ANOTHER bid and it was really GREAT:  $1000, and they worked with gleaners who came and got the trees, chopped them up, carted them off and sold them for firewood.  They said it was going to be about half their winter income.  

 

Win Win Win, three ways. 

 

Maybe there is someone like this in your area.  

 

[hellen]

Some species bloom late...we had one house we lived in that we were sure a few trees were dead, but it was a slightly different species of the same type of tree that bloomed a few months later than the others. It looked exactly them same as the others to me and I have a biology degree!

 

We have also had a few expensive tree removals.

 

:grouphug:

We had a tree like this once. I called it the ugly tree. It leafed out weeks after every other tree.

[BlsdMama]

Ok, I'm trying to figure out a way to say this gently...  are you sure you can afford this house????  If you are hyperventilating and having to choose between a fireplace repair or the trees, then your budget is too tight.  You should continue to save money and get more of a cushion.  I promise you that every house costs more than you think it will.  There are expenses you don't think about.  If you are at the edge of what you can comfortably afford, then I say don't buy the house.  You should probably have a cushion of a couple of hundred dollars a month for extra repairs and household things each month. 

 

Oh my goodness THIS.    And I don't know that I'd be comfortable with a cushion of just a couple hundred dollars a month for repairs. 

 

(BTW, if you're in Iowa and they're hardwoods, my brother and husband can probably remove them just for the wood.  The brother is incredibly good at dropping trees exactly where they need to be.)

 

ETA: Didn't see your last post.  I responded with vehemence simply because we closed on our house two weeks ago.  We have a monthly cushion for repairs but we're afraid we were just surprised with a serious undisclosed well problem that may require a new casing or well.  :(  It's surprising how much everything adds up.  We've been getting ready for Ana's grad. party and unpacking (STILL UNPACKING)  and DH decided to replace that incredibly rust stained toilets.... And found mold and a leak and had to replace the sub-floor of the master bath.  All of this in two weeks.  Sigh.  Surprises with new home ownership are a long shot from fun.

[-M-]

With some recent experience in this area (tree removal), I just want to urge you to collect several estimates, discard the lowest, and collect certificates of insurance. (Ensure that the certificates come directly from the provider, NOT from the front office of the contractor.)

 

As for prices, we were quoted from $600, $800, and $1,200, which included cutting an old maple, stump grinding, and removing all debris.

 

RE stump removal... If the service offers to do so you will know you are dealing with a good firm when they mention calling the utilities locator prior to the date of removal.

 

Tree removal is a very dangerous profession. Speak with your own insurance provider about increasing your liability limits to cover accidents involving contractors.

 

Good luck!

[-M-]

Tree removal may be thousands of dollars. Who wouldn't hyperventilate about a surprise repair of thousands of dollars?

 

We will have a monthly cushion. This house will be quite a bit cheaper than our current rental. We know all about having a cushion for repairs and maintenance, because we lived for fourteen years in a 100+yo fixer-upper. We spent many thousands of dollars on that house. Rehab and repair was a way of life for us.

 

We had carefully counted the cost of the repairs and negotiated with the seller. We thought we had all our expenses accounted for. A surprise of eight dead trees with the costs of removing them is a significant addition to the start-up costs so yes, that was an unpleasant thing to discover and we are hyperventilating.

*gingerly*

 

You write, "We thought we had all our expenses accounted for."

 

While I would not have posted the message that precipitated your reply, I would humbly posit the following: Unless one is a member of the glittering rich, one will never, ever have all of the expenses accounted for. If it's not the tree, it's the carpenter ants. If it's not the ants, it's the plumbing. When it's not the plumbing, it's the shower tile that looked so good, which is actually leaking, leaking, leaking into the basement. If it's not the tile, it's the heater, which the homeowner says was installed just a couple of years ago and the inspector says looks good, which, in fact, fails mid-winter. If it's not the heater, it's the a/c coil. If not the coil, then the driveway resurfacing. If not the resurfacing, then the gutter or roof repair.

 

And so on.

 

And on.

 

And on.

 

In other words, a monthly cushion may not be enough, and a substantial emergency fund is the only way to face the neverending task of maintaining and repairing a home sans hyperventilation. (While I cannot speak for any other poster, I will say that I intend no patronizing tone, nor any sort of special knowledge -- only some measure of experience in this area.)

[Shellydon]

*gingerly*

 

You write, "We thought we had all our expenses accounted for."

 

While I would not have posted the message that precipitated your reply, I would humbly posit the following: Unless one is a member of the glittering rich, one will never, ever have all of the expenses accounted for. If it's not the tree, it's the carpenter ants. If it's not the ants, it's the plumbing. When it's not the plumbing, it's the shower tile that looked so good, which is actually leaking, leaking, leaking into the basement. If it's not the tile, it's the heater, which the homeowner says was installed just a couple of years ago and the inspector says looks good, which, in fact, fails mid-winter. If it's not the heater, it's the a/c coil. If not the coil, then the driveway resurfacing. If not the resurfacing, then the gutter or roof repair.

 

And so on.

 

And on.

 

And on.

 

In other words, a monthly cushion may not be enough, and a substantial emergency fund is the only way to face the neverending task of maintaining and repairing a home. (While I cannot speak for any other poster, I will say that I intend no patronizing tone, nor any sort of special knowledge -- only some measure of experience in this area.)

 

 

Yes!  We have easy spent $65K in home repairs in the last 15 years.  And my DH can fix many things himself.  Sigh.

 

[-M-]

Yes! We have easy spent $65K in home repairs in the last 15 years. And my DH can fix many things himself. Sigh.

 

Mine might be able to, as might I, had we the time. Or talent. *wry grin* And then there is the matter of acquiring all of the appropriate tools. And, in our case, there is this, too: If my husband were to fall from a ladder or injure his back etc. during a repair, it would, of course, deeply worry me, but it would also adversely affect his work. Since he makes all of this [gestures widely] possible, that's really not an option.

[Harriet Vane]

.

[-M-]

Okay, I am a little perplexed by the posters who are taking me to task about being able to afford this.

 

And with all of the careful phrasing and ginger acknowledgments, it is absolutely beyond perplexing that mine is the post you quoted to describe taking you to task.

 

None of us is due the description of your financial experience offered here. It's none of our business. My post was meant simply to amplify a point another made and to, I had hoped, ameliorate the sting it clearly gave you.

 

Lesson learned: No religion, politics, finances. Ever.

[BlueTaelon]

I also want to point out that while my husband is fairly adept with a chainsaw, he didn't feel comfortable dropping trees that were so close to our house. Our tree cutter said that dead trees are particularly dangerous because they are often cracked inside, where you can't see, so sometimes you just don't know which way they'll fall, despite precise cuts. On our largest ones, where there were visible external cracks, they brought in a cherry picker and cut it in chunks from the top. 

 

We had to take down 6 ash trees in our front yard due to emerald ash borers :( .  They were big, heavy trees.

 

Yep, they took out 3, 100+ year old cottonwoods from our front yard at our old place and while the trees were still alive they were rotted out inside and the guy nearly fell at one point when he realized it was hollowed out inside. They had no idea of this when they started:

 

 

The whole thing was a disaster for the poor guy, he charged $2500 to take out the 3 trees and the job ended up costing him more then what he was paid although $1k of the job was his fault because they took out the house power line with the very last limb which really sucked because as you can see we had snow on the ground, temps were near zero and we lived in an uninsulated house with electric heat, it was after hours and a weekend or holiday to boot if I remember so he really got nailed from the electric guy on coming out at like 7pm.

 

Anyway, I agree with the other posters, you may want to back out if the seller doesn't. He should have known about and disclosed the dead trees up front. What else is he hiding? I really really really wanted a  house last year until I learned from the locals the problems with the house that was not disclosed by the seller so believe me I understand wanting it but some houses are not worth it.

[Harriet Vane]

And with all of the careful phrasing and ginger acknowledgments, it is absolutely beyond perplexing that mine is the post you quoted to describe taking you to task.

 

None of us is due the description of your financial experience offered here. It's none of our business. My post was meant simply to amplify a point another made and to, I had hoped, ameliorate the sting it clearly gave you.

 

Lesson learned: No religion, politics, finances. Ever.

 

Speaking gingerly here too, more in the nature of explaining my response to you . . .

 

I had already in this thread acknowledged that we have a monthly cushion built into our budget and that we have fourteen years experience rehabbing a fixer-upper. If you hadn't read my reply to that earlier post, then your post would make more sense. If you did, however, read my earlier replies, then I didn't understand why I was being told again to have a monthly budget and to expect repairs in a house, and additionally told to have an emergency fund for this.

 

My original post had been a plea for sympathy for a large, unexpected house project and a request for more information about tree removal. Many have offered that. I don't wish to discuss my finances here further, so I have taken down my posts with no ill will, just a desire to not discuss it further.

[Beth in OH]

I would not take them down yourselves if they are large trees. An engineer in this area, DIYing a large tree removal, was killed. He had the tree roped and everything, but it fell in the wrong direction. (on him).  In addition to personal injury, large trees that could come down on the house if they fell the wrong way would mean even more $$.

 

 

I agree completely.  We own farms, and it's not unusual for people to take down trees with a tractor or truck putting tension on the ropes to get them to fall correctly.  Nonetheless, I've attended funerals and been friends with more than one widow as a result off trees unexpectedly falling wrong.  It's a well known risk.  It's one of the reasons tree removal companies are so careful and expensive.