Storm Damage Tree Removal in Greensboro, NC

The first ten minutes matter more than the phone call

A tree has come down on your house, your car, or across the only way out. Before you call anybody about removing it, there are a few things worth doing in order.

Get everyone out from under it and stay out. A tree that has already fallen is still holding load, and so is everything it landed on. Roof structure that took the hit can let go later.

Call 911 if anyone is hurt, if you smell gas, or if there are wires down or sparking. That is a fire department call, not a tree company call, and it comes first.

If any part of the tree is touching a power line, call the utility and keep well back. Do not assume a line is dead because your power is out. Lines can re-energize without warning.

Photograph everything before anything moves. Wide shots and close shots, the tree, the damage, and the room underneath if you can get to it safely. Once the crew starts cutting, the scene is gone, and those photos are the only record of what it looked like.

Then call your insurance carrier, and call us. Those two can happen in either order, and on a bad night plenty of people call us first so the tree is on the schedule while they are still on hold.

On insurance, we will tell you what we know and not a word more. Whether a particular tree, a particular bit of damage, or the removal itself is covered is between you and your carrier, and it turns on your policy rather than on anything a tree company can tell you. What we can do is give you an itemized invoice and the photos we took on site, which is what adjusters usually ask for. The ISA's storm-damage guide and the NC Forest Service both cover the general ground.

What we do

What a storm call actually looks like.

Storm work goes to the front of the schedule, ahead of routine jobs that were booked first. That is the deal, and it is why routine work sometimes slips a day after a bad night across the Triad.

Storm-broken tree driven through a wooden fence and into the side of an outbuilding — This one came through the fence and into the shed wall. The cut section is on the grass.

Trees hung up in other trees

Of everything a storm leaves behind, this is the one that hurts people. A tree that has come part of the way down and is leaning into another tree is holding an enormous amount of stored energy in a position it was never built for.

It can release on its own, in a direction nobody predicts, hours or days later. Every year somebody is killed trying to free one with a chainsaw and a truck.

Keep people, cars, and pets out from under it and from anywhere it could swing, and call. Getting these down safely is rigging work, and it is exactly what the bucket truck, the crane, and the winch are for.

Large uprooted root plate lifted out of the ground with fresh soil, the tree lying beside it — The root plate comes up as a slab, and it wants to fall back in.

Uprooted, and the root plate is still moving

When a whole tree tips over in saturated ground, the root plate lifts a slab of earth with it. That slab is heavy, it is unstable, and it will drop back into the hole when the weight of the trunk comes off it.

Which means the order of cuts matters. Cut the trunk in the wrong place first and the root plate slams back down, taking whatever is near it with it.

It also means the hole is a hazard on its own. Fence it off or keep everyone away from it until the crew gets there, especially in the dark.

Large tree uprooted in a back yard and lying across a wooden privacy fence

Whose tree, whose fence, whose problem

The question everybody asks after a storm is who pays when a tree crosses a property line, and the honest answer is that it depends on things we cannot see from your driveway.

As a general rule across most of the country, damage is handled by the insurer of the property the tree landed on, not the property it grew on. Fault only tends to enter the picture where a tree was already dead or obviously hazardous and the owner had been told about it.

None of that is legal advice, and we are not qualified to give any. Your carrier and, if it gets difficult, an attorney are the people to ask.

What we can do is get the tree off, document what we found, and give you an invoice you can hand to an adjuster. We do not bill insurers directly and we do not negotiate claims.

What gets cleaned up

The same as any other job. Wood out on the grapple truck, brush through the chipper, driveway blown off, and the grass raked. After a storm that usually means clearing debris that was never ours to start with, and that is fine.

If the tree took a fence with it, we cut and clear it. We do not rebuild fences, roofs, or sheds. That is a contractor's job, and having the tree gone is what lets them start.

Pricing

What actually changes the price.

Storm work is priced on site like everything else, and no reputable company can quote a tree on a house sight unseen.

01

What it is resting on

A tree lying in the open yard is a straightforward job. The same tree across a roof, a fence, or a car has to be taken off in pieces, in an order that does not make the damage worse.

02

Whether it is still under load

Hung-up trees, bent-over saplings, and uprooted plates are all storing energy. Releasing that safely takes rigging and time.

03

Access, again

Storms do not care whether the truck can get to the back yard. Sometimes the answer is a crane in the street, and that is a different day's work.

Beware the truck that shows up uninvited after a storm. Bad weather brings out crews who follow the damage, knock on doors, ask for cash up front, and are three counties away by the time anything goes wrong. Ask anybody who knocks for proof of insurance before they touch a saw. Ours goes out with the estimate without being asked.

Where we work

Greensboro is home, and the yard is at 4262 Pleasant Garden Rd. The crews cover the wider Triad: High Point, Winston-Salem, Jamestown, Kernersville, Summerfield, Oak Ridge, Pleasant Garden, Archdale, Thomasville, Gibsonville, Whitsett, Browns Summit, Colfax, Stokesdale, McLeansville, Randleman, and Julian.

Storm calls are taken seven days a week. If a tree is on your house or across your driveway right now, call (336) 908-7990 rather than waiting on a callback.

Common questions

Storm damage questions we get every week.

A tree just fell on my house. What do I do first?

Get everyone out from under it. Call 911 if anyone is hurt, you smell gas, or there are wires down. If any part of the tree is touching a power line, call the utility and stay well back. Photograph everything before anything moves, then call your insurance carrier and call us on (336) 908-7990.

Should I call the fire department if a tree falls on my house?

Yes, if anyone is injured or trapped, if you smell gas, or if power lines are involved or sparking. They handle the immediate danger. Once the scene is safe, getting the tree off is the tree company's job.

Will insurance pay for storm damage tree removal?

That is between you and your carrier and it turns on your policy, so we will not guess at it. What we can give you is an itemized invoice and the photos from site, which is generally what an adjuster asks for. We do not bill insurers directly.

My neighbor's tree fell on my property. Who is responsible?

As a general rule damage is handled by the insurer of the property the tree landed on, rather than the one it grew on, with fault usually only entering the picture if the tree was already dead or clearly hazardous and the owner knew. That is not legal advice. Ask your carrier.

What counts as an emergency versus a normal job?

A tree on a house or a car, a tree blocking the only way in or out, a tree hung up in another tree, and anything on or near a power line. Those move to the front. A tree that came down in an empty part of the yard is usually safe to schedule normally, and it will cost you less to treat it that way.

There is a tree leaning into another tree. Can I pull it down myself?

Please do not. A hung-up tree is holding a large amount of stored energy in a position it was never built for, and it can release in a direction nobody predicts. People are killed doing this every year. Keep everyone clear and call.

Do you work at night or on weekends?

Storm calls are taken seven days a week. What actually happens after dark depends on whether the work can be done safely with lights, and often the right answer is to make the area safe and start at first light.

Do you fix the fence or the roof afterwards?

No. We cut and clear the tree, including a fence it took down with it, and haul the debris away. Rebuilding is a contractor's job, and getting the tree off is what lets them get started.

Also on this site

The rest of what we do.

Crane and bucket truck set up in a yard to take down a tall pine in sections

Tree Removal

Large and hazardous trees taken down in sections before they become a storm call.

Trimming & Limbing

Deadwood out and canopies thinned so the wind has somewhere to go.

Hauling & Chipping

Wood out on the grapple truck and brush through the chipper, including somebody else's mess.

Storm damage and emergency tree removal, seven days a week