How the fuck can getting a tree removed cost this much?
 

So far two tree services have showed up.

First one was very professional and I got a good feel for him but $6,500 does seem like a lot or at least until the second one came out.

Second one wanted $9,500. He had lots of gold teeth and drove a junker. He did call me from his cell phone after I said no and was willing to knock some off of his price.

Tomorrow I'm being woken up by a father and son team who were refereed to me by the guy that takes care of my yard. They will be here by 8:30 am. I hope they don't mind a sleepy home owner with bed hair.

My insurance is suppose to take of this expense but of course first I have to lay out the money and I have no idea when or what percent of this will be paid back to me.

I am really missing my satellite dish, basic cable just doesn't cut it, so I will be very happy once it has a clear view of the southern sky again.

Those sound like Hugo & Andrew prices. A real tree trimming company might charge a premium cause it's on the house, but that's ri-dic-uluos. I know the real companies have got their hands full right now, but did you try any Dade companies, like One, Two, Tree?

Did you get your kitchen and bath straightened out yet. I know a great cabinet company that does the whole thing at a decent price up in Hialeah (I know, stop laughing).

'luck

OMFG! Cleo, my brother-in-law runs a tree lopping biz, and I love Chain saws :D

We could fly over from AU and do it for you at that price!

DD

It's actually two trees now as the ficus has now pushed over the olive tree since I took these pics.
www.cleoslinks.com/crap/fallen-tree/

I'm still looking at my options for kitchen and baths. Home Depot will install these cabinets with granite counter tops for 10K. I'm thinking this is the way to go.

I have decided that I don't want to hire a GC and just have them do the work. I'm actually a licensed state A/C contractor and grew up in the building trade.

I think the do a lot of the grunt work myself and hire people skilled for each thing needed is the way I'm going.

Tree be gone first.

Next new roof.

Next the master bedroom so that I have my space back. The shower pan has been leaking so I'm going to have that replaced, fix the drywall that got wet and tile everything.

Then I'll gut the kitchen, have the door moved that goes to my garage and knock out the walls that I'm removing. I'll do the gutting which should save a few bucks. Get the Home Depot's pro measuring person in and order the cabinets. Then get the plumber and electricians in to ruff in everything.

Also I have another bath that needs a new shower pan so I'll have this done at the same time.

I'm also going to put in new toilets and sinks in all 3 bathrooms but that I can do as I've done it before.

Then have the rest of the house tiled and get some new furniture. I gave Luna my bedroom furniture and will probably give her a bunch more of my stuff as I've been wanting to remodel for sometime.

Damn! That is Nutty!

Sorry I don't have a chainsaw Cleo, I'd do it for much less.

Removing a tree leaning against a house like that is more difficult than just cutting it up with a chainsaw.

Looks like a good sized tree with a decent tonnage of branches hanging directly over the house.

You can't just notch the base and drop it away from the house, I doubt even a larger sized backhoe could haul that weight up and over to fall in a safe direction.

So it will have to be cut up into smaller pieces, with ropes and a small bucket crane to keep the lopped branches from falling and piercing the roof. Eventually the overhanging weight will be low enough to allow the main truck to be lifted away from the house and dropped to the side.

Yeah it is bring in a bucket and a Bob Cat job.

Here are two more shoots from on my roof. It is really hard to shoot as once I'm on my roof I'm under the tree having to craw through branches.
www.cleoslinks.com/crap/tree/

It went completely through my flat roof in a few places and now that the drywall in my bedroom's ceiling has fallen do to water I can see the limbs of the tree inside of my bedroom where they went through the plywood.

I'm not sure how bad the barrel tile roof is damaged that is one the rest of my house. I did have water come in my living room's ceiling but not a lot, just enough to mess up the popcorn on the ceiling. I've been wanted to replace it with
Clay S Tile anyway so I'm going to get a price on redoing the whole roof. I know my insurance will be paying some of this but at this time I have no idea how much I'm getting.

I actually have Home Owners and Windstorm so I'm not even sure who is paying for what or how much I'm looking at getting. FEMA also has sent me their paperwork since I'm also entitled to disaster relief.

I was planing on remodeling, just doing it about a year earlier then I had planned.

Ya Really think so? Golly gee, looks like I’m out of a job.|chainsaw|

Its a shame you are where you are.

A neighbor had a very similar situation to you, they brought out a bucket truck and charged $650 to remove the tree and grind the stump.

They also charged me $650 to remove my orchid tree and grind the stump and $25 to trim a palm while they were there.

Yes, 4 days after Frances and in West Palm Beach -- I still have the stuff on the lawn since landscaping/refuse collection hasn't picked it up yet, but, I would suspect those prices are quite marked up.

This is the same tree that we were quoted $2200 and another neighbor was quoted 3 different prices between $2k and $8k to remove a pine tree from the roof -- due to some grass damage when our tree guy took it out, they got the pine tree removed for free.

I'd say keep calling -- while the guys are busy, there isn't much motivation to lower their prices.

Buy a chain saw and do it yourself, if you can stand on the roof, it would be easy, I had a big snow last year and had to remove 3 oaks in my back yard, one was against my back wall, I had a kid down the street tie a rope to the top of the tree and used a winch on a 4x4 truck to pull it away from the house and then made small cuts till it was completely away from the house then went to town, ended up cutting 3 cords of fire wood, love the smell of oak burning!!

Sounds like a great undertaking Vendzilla but I hardly think Cleo has the time to waste on such an endeavour.

by the sounds of it cleo, you really should shop around. And more importantly, read the fine print on your homeowners policy so you know what your getting into.

The last thing we need is you going ballistic |angry| on everything and everyone in your path - Hurricane Cleo, here she comes!



|buddy|

I'm astounded at those prices.

|banghead| |chainsaw|

It's sooo much fun though, it's like landscapeing "Tim Taylor Style"

As much fun as it would be to spend a few weeks on my roof with a chain saw I think I'll have to pass on do it yourself rooftop tree removal and let my insurance pay for it. I'm just a bit in shock what they charge for this.

I'm up early as estimate number three will be here at 8:30 am. I always get three estimates on major work. I was suppose to have a woman come by this morning as well but between the "Jesus Is The Way Maker" on her business card and her twice calling to tell me she can't make it do to car problems I suggested to her that instead she should go to church and pray.

Sounds terrible.. I'm in shock, greedy bastards!

Today's tree person took a look at it just now, said OMG do you want the whole tree off the roof, and then drove away to never be seen again I guess. LOL

Looks like I'm going with the 6,500 dollar redneck white dude. Actually he was the only one that drove a truck that was new, had all of his teeth, and had stationary with his business name on it.


It is going to be one of these days |potleaf|


|jester|

They are definitely ripping you off because of the business. It's called supply and demand. You could always go buy a chainsaw and try to do it yourself, especially if the tree is already down. You get a wide range of prices up here in Michigan as well. I had to have two 70' tree's cut down this year. Each one only cost me $500 to get taken down (of course I live in the country). Downstate near Detroit a friend of mine just paid $2300 to get the same size tree taken down. It's all in where you live, and since you guys got hit hard, these guys are looking for their golden parachute.

I gave the white dude in the expensive pickup truck the go ahead just now after he called me back. After talking to a few others his 6,500 dollar bid wasn't that bad. Insurance is suppose to pay for this anyway so I should get at least most of it back.

They will be here first thing Saturday morning and they said it will take two to three days to complete the work. In addition to removing the two trees that are on the west side of my hose I'm also having them remove the one in my front yard that lost most of its limbs and trimming the other very large ficus that is in my backyard that is also leaning a bit.

Been taking lots of pics for insurance. Here are some more from a few minutes ago. www.cleoslinks.com/crap/tree-detail/

Safari tree finally made it to my door today. This was the first tree company that I called and turns out is related to the cop who helped me out last month when I lost a tree branch.

They are only 5k to do all the work, will bring in a crane to lift out the trees, and will be here on Thursday.

They do a lot of work in my neighborhood so I'm pretty comfortable hiring them.

I removed all the carpet and stuff in the bedroom today and dropped a mirrored closet door on my foot so now I have a 2" gash in the top of it, OUCH!

I have client/friends who own a lot of property and are always getting work done. They are two gay guys with great taste and are good at finding inexpensive contractors so I got phone numbers of everyone that they use. Tile guy will be here by the end of the week and an electrician too.

Roofers will be here tomorrow to give me an estimate. I always get at least three but these guys did my neighbor's house and did great work so I'll probably go with them. I am going to do the whole roof since my house needs it. I know I'm looking at about 25k for the whole roof and not sure how much I'll get from the insurance since the tree only damage part of it.

Looks like cleanup will be done within a few weeks and I can get to the fun part of designing my new living space. :)

Just let us know when the "Look at my New House" party is!|thumb

You could put a sky light where the hole is so you can lay in bed and look at the stars...or watch the seagulls taking a dump. :D

House party… great I can have everyone over to destroy it. :D

At least with no more fucking white carpet I don't have to freak out every time someone has dirt on their shoes. I'm doing tile in every room. Every time that I go looking at flooring they talk me into only doing tile in a few places but not this time. I can just bring in the garden hose and wash down the whole house then. LOL

I'm thinking that I'm looking at about four months maybe five to get everything completely done.

Maybe a few of my closer web friend over for a party would be nice. |potleaf|

There's only one good way to say it:
That's a big fucking tree!
I wish I had that tree. My neighbors all feel tormented by the big retarded looking 100 yr old pine I have in my back yard, which I refuse to cut down. I can't imagine the fear they'd have if I had that beauty of yours planted out back.

At least your DirecTv dish is safe and sound.

Yeah the dish is fine but it don't work with a fucken tree in its way.

The neighbor on the side of the house where the tree fell also hates my trees. In fact if it wasn't for the fact the he cut all the limbs off of it on his side the tree probably wouldn't have fallen over. He was at my front door before the storm had even finished bitching that its roots had messed up his sprinklers. He is a real asshole and the house is only a vacation home so lucky for me it is unoccupied most of the year.

For some reason I told the woman who owns the house across the street that I sell porn for a living. I have no idea why I told her and right after I told her thought why the fuck did I just tell her this. I haven't seen her since so I'm not sure if she is freaked out or not about it.

When/if we ever build here I know for sure it will be 100% tile floors, maybe a wood floor, but no carpets. That way I don’t really care when I find surprise kitty fur balls weeks later behind furniture.|barf|

Here’s hoping I am a “close web friend” in 5 months!
|rasta|

You and Kat are always welcome at my house. :)

I have a lot of friends that put down wood floors and now they are all ripping them up and putting down tile. Wood is even worse then carpet when it gets wet.

I was thinking wood since i just saw a story in regards to new floors that can be put in/taken out in sections.

I think Lowe’s has them exclusively, not sure. But if I remember right they also have it in carpets.

Got a bad spot or whatever you just take out a 3' section and not the entire carpet/floor.

I didn't pay too much attention to it, but from I did see was a great idea.

I want tile, she wants carpets so who knows.

I like carpet too. What I really hate is always having to clean carpet with one of those home steam clean carpet machines. In fact I'll have one used one real cheap for sale in a few months.

Also I've always paid someone to come in and clean my house every few weeks. I've found that they are always really skilled at using a mop, much better then I am at it. Once you get something more complicated like a vacuum their skill level goes down a notch with the home owner having to change its bags and remove objects from it that shouldn't be there, like lamp cords, pens, change, etc. Forget having them use anything like a home steam clean vacuum machine. The girl that has been doing my house for years wont even use a fancy mop. She likes a broom with old rags wrapped around it. It does do a great job.

So I'm getting flooring that my cleaning girl, friends, hurricanes, overflowing sinks and toilets can't ruin.

when we put our pool in i paid like 1800.00 to cut and remove around 30 trees

they left the stumps and the big digging machine they brought in to dig the pool just knocked them over

since there is a road behind my property two of the bigger trees were in the power lines so they used a cherry picker
(bucket truck to those of you south of the carolinas )

I dont see why you should have to pay more then like 600.00

I hate carpet too, after the first of the year, after the Vegas show, I'm going to put in wood floor thru out the house, right now, I've been textureing the ceiling, had that cottage cheese stuff, I hate that!

Tommy - thats a good price - about the same here - normally to remove a tree thats not leaning on a house runs about 150 for a good size oak tree and another 50 to grind the stump - Id say that people in Fla are getting ripped if they are paying that much to get a tree removed - Id definitely check with the insurance before paying that kind of money to make sure they are going to pay those prices. Of course, normally the insurance co.'s up here will get their buddies to do the work, and work it out between themselves. I'd sure hate to have had to pay that kind of money when we put in our pool - a good size bucket truck and a front end loader and dozer can do wonders to lots of trees in a short period of time :)

Cleo, make sure you have all of these people's info, as it really does sound like the type of price gouging that your government has been warning about. Extra because they are busy and in demand is okay, but more than doubling the price is a bit insane.

Your insurance company might take after them later.

As for tile, I highly recommend it. My house is mostly wood, which is good because water isn't an issue here like it is there. But my front entrance way, kitchen, and fire place surround is all in slate, it looks nice and lasts forever.

In your place, tile will be a blessing. Get some nice area rugs for parts you want to make softer, and other than that, you are good to go. As a bonus, you will find the floors a little cooler, and as a result, your house will feel cooler all the time.

Alex

My wife, who is a home owners insurance adjuster for a large national insurance company, looked at all of the pics and said that 6,500+ would not be considered unreasonable for removing that tree. Being that it is resting on the house and the fact that there are access issues, she said one should expect the costs to be much more than removing a standing tree or one that fell safely in a yard. Most home owners policies don't have a set limit on tree removal in those situations, but there is usually a $500 limit on trunk grinding and/or removal.

Hmmm… I thought I posted this already. I wonder if I forgot to hit submit or if it is in some other thread? Maybe someone asked me about being declined and I talked about my house.

Anyway, They will be here tomorrow morning to start removing the tree. They said it will take two to three days to complete.

I also bought a whole new roof. Not sure how much the insurance is willing to pay since it was only part of the roof that was destroyed but roofs kind of need to be replaced as a whole when this much damage is done to them or you end up with leaks in a few years. This is pretty much the look and tile that I'm doing it in. www.ustile.com/cltext.html The big problem is it will be about three weeks before they can get started.

I also picked out my new flooring. I'm doing my whole house but can't start on anything until my roof is fixed.
The Tile
www.cleoslinks.com/crap/tile.jpg
www.cleoslinks.com/crap/tile-detail.jpg

good for you

They are here removing it now.

This is what a 5K tree be gone looks like.
www.cleoslinks.com/crap/tree-remove/

Tomorrow they are coming back to grind the stumps and to remove another tree and trim some others back.

The electric company had to come out and kill my power for awhile. They also had to remove some branches the electric lines.

Seems that removing one tree makes all the other trees move. I really do live in a jungle.

I am going to miss all the shade that I had from that tree. I always had trouble keeping my bedroom cool before it grew so big.

That's definitely a hell of a tree. They used an even bigger crane than I expected - makes sense tho, ultimately cheaper that way.

Bye bye tree.

Not sure what a crane that size costs but it can't be cheap to hire.

The crane was at my house at 8:30 am but Safari tree didn't show up until 10 am. The crane left at 3:30 pm.

So far they had to make 3 trips to the dump.

On a side note I went over to home depot and bought a 5 gallon bucket of roof cement, roofing nails, and a few boards bigger then the holes and sealed up the holes in the roof. I'm sure it will still leak somewhat but it shouldn't pour in like it has been. They are coming 30th to on the re-roof my whole house.

you always get to have so much fun!

|waves|