Author Topic: How much for major tree trimming?  (Read 3256 times)

Nerdly

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How much for major tree trimming?
« on: June 19, 2014, 08:39:04 PM »
Hi All, I hope this is the right place to ask this since it relates to real estate. I am thinking of putting an offer in on a house, but there is some seriously overdue tree trimming required.

There are two large trees with trunks roughly 20 feet away from the house, 50 feet tall, and have large branches over the roof (several large log sized branches hang over the roof. They hang over almost half of the width of the house. The leaves are essentially touching the roof and the large log sized branches that will need to be cut and pulled away from the house. They will need to rope off most of the trimming in order to not damage the roof.

Other notes: The backyard is only accessible through the house or a side fence, no trucks would be able to fit back there due to fences and the distance between houses. They will need to climb both trees.

Any ballpark estimates? I want to use this as support to reduce the price of the house... I know it's hard without a visual, but a friend that saw the situation said ~$1,500 to $2,500... This is a fairly large range with a house of ~$100K. To get it done right with a licensed professional, I have seen estimates up to $3,000+.

Has anyone had a similar situation? I used to landscape including helping with trimming trees (the grunt moving the trimmings, not a climber), and I would say this would be a 5-8 job due to all the roping.

123flip

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Re: How much for major tree trimming?
« Reply #1 on: June 21, 2014, 03:42:50 PM »
Any ballpark estimates? I want to use this as support to reduce the price of the house... I know it's hard without a visual, but a friend that saw the situation said ~$1,500 to $2,500... This is a fairly large range with a house of ~$100K. To get it done right with a licensed professional, I have seen estimates up to $3,000+.

You don't say what area you're in (probably the biggest factor in my answer), but in general, I think the $1500-2500 is spot on...

galaxie

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Re: How much for major tree trimming?
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2014, 03:49:29 PM »
I just had a single large (>3 story) tree seriously trimmed for $675, but they were able to get some equipment near it.  If your job takes more effort, it will probably cost more per tree than that.

Frankies Girl

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Re: How much for major tree trimming?
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2014, 03:58:06 PM »
I had a 60+ ft tree completely taken out for $500 including stump grinding and there were two climber/ropers involved, and I think they charged me about $250 to "raise the canopy" type of branch thinning on another larger tree. This was a licensed/bonded company, but I live in a large city with lots of competition, and I got a bit of a discount since several of my neighbors ended up hiring them as well since I recommended them.

It really depends on the area I think. It wouldn't hurt to call a few places and get some ballpark estimates on the phone.

jmoney

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Re: How much for major tree trimming?
« Reply #4 on: June 30, 2014, 10:14:51 PM »
Your insurance company may complain if limbs over 2" are over the roof. Just had mine threaten to pull insurance after they just issued it. I just bought the property and it was well overgrown as yours sounds like it was. Single trees can be as much as 1500 - 2500+ where I live.

I had five trees to cut down and hired hourly workers at $15 and $8 per hour to cut down the trees. A pole chainsaw and a regular chainsaw were the main tools. We finished in a day with the cutting and it took another day to haul it off. It ran about $500 including truck rental, labor and lunch for all.

I only did this myself because I have cut down many trees before and the trees could be felled without much risk to the house or garage. There is a time to call in the pros but even though these were 50' trees only a few branches were over the house and I could fell them away safely. Lumberjacks die all the time so there was some risk there but we were careful and used a rope to fell the trees.

If you can find an hourly contractor you can save a lot of money on a job like this. Just make sure there is low risk of the tree damaging something and they or you have the appropriate insurance.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!