WA_Homeowner
ArboristSite Lurker
Great board you have here; I've learned a lot in a couple of days of lurking!
We have a major tree problem in our backyard. After a big limb punched through our roof last week in a light rain, we called an arborist/service company to see what needed to be done before winter, and this was his assessment:
- There's a ~50' Big Leaf Maple that needs to be removed because it's rotted and all of the weight is on one side. These aren't the best pics, but should give you a rough idea:
No, the camera is not tilted:
The light spot in the middle is actually a huge hole in the bark:
- The maple has many limbs intertwined with a cedar that's also bad. All of the interwined limbs will have to be removed to make the maple safe enough to get through our storms.
- There are three other tall cedars that are dead or dying. Apparently, this is evident from the bare branches and massive amount of woodpecker activity. They'll need to be removed eventually, but aren't a threat of coming down in the next 5-10 years.
-He can take the branches off of the weighted sides of the maple and cedar now to make them safe, but then wait until next spring or summer to remove the trees. The reason for waiting to remove them completely is financial - he'd charge us $1750 to make them safe, then another $1750 to remove the trees (it's a difficult area to work in -they'll have to take down a couple of small fences and access the trees through our neighbor's backyard).
I'm getting other opinions and bids, but I wondered what your opinions were on this situation and what we should be looking for in a professional. From what I can tell, at least $1 million in insurance is good/necessary since two houses could be damaged, and of course we want someone who specializes in trees and has a lot of experience.
Also, if anyone knows of a good pro/company in the Seattle area, I'd greatly appreciate recommendations since I can't find reviews for anyone who services Southeast King County.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give us!
We have a major tree problem in our backyard. After a big limb punched through our roof last week in a light rain, we called an arborist/service company to see what needed to be done before winter, and this was his assessment:
- There's a ~50' Big Leaf Maple that needs to be removed because it's rotted and all of the weight is on one side. These aren't the best pics, but should give you a rough idea:
No, the camera is not tilted:
The light spot in the middle is actually a huge hole in the bark:
- The maple has many limbs intertwined with a cedar that's also bad. All of the interwined limbs will have to be removed to make the maple safe enough to get through our storms.
- There are three other tall cedars that are dead or dying. Apparently, this is evident from the bare branches and massive amount of woodpecker activity. They'll need to be removed eventually, but aren't a threat of coming down in the next 5-10 years.
-He can take the branches off of the weighted sides of the maple and cedar now to make them safe, but then wait until next spring or summer to remove the trees. The reason for waiting to remove them completely is financial - he'd charge us $1750 to make them safe, then another $1750 to remove the trees (it's a difficult area to work in -they'll have to take down a couple of small fences and access the trees through our neighbor's backyard).
I'm getting other opinions and bids, but I wondered what your opinions were on this situation and what we should be looking for in a professional. From what I can tell, at least $1 million in insurance is good/necessary since two houses could be damaged, and of course we want someone who specializes in trees and has a lot of experience.
Also, if anyone knows of a good pro/company in the Seattle area, I'd greatly appreciate recommendations since I can't find reviews for anyone who services Southeast King County.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give us!