Emergency Tree Service and Storm Damage Cleanup

The short version: Trees down or split in wind, snow or ice, leaning trunks and hanging limbs. Call and we will tell you how soon the crew can be there. The estimate is free and Ismael looks at it in person. Call or text (253) 590-8194.

What to do first

If a tree or limb is on a power line, or has pulled the service drop off your house, stay away from it and call the power company first: Tacoma Power, Puget Sound Energy or Lakeview Light and Power, depending on where you are. If the tree has opened the roof, get a tarp on it or call us and we will. Take photos for your insurance before anything is moved.

Then call or text (253) 590-8194. Tell us what came down, what it is resting on and your address. We will give you a straight answer on when the crew can be there.

How we handle a tree on a house

A tree resting on a roof is under tension. Cut it in the wrong place and the rest of it drops through the ceiling or springs back at the person holding the saw. So we do not just start cutting. A climber ties into the standing part of the tree or an anchor, the trunk is rigged so each section is held before it is cut, and the tree comes off the house in pieces, from the top down, with the weight controlled the whole time.

In December 2022 Linda Johnson called us about a large hemlock that a windstorm had dropped onto her roof. Ismael was there to look within half an hour, came back two days later with a crew of eight, had the tree off the roof in three hours and left, in her words, no trace of there ever being a tree. That is the job.

Free estimate: call or text (253) 590-8194

Winter storms in the South Sound

Every winter the same things happen around Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup and the Key Peninsula: a wet windstorm off the Sound pushes over firs standing in saturated ground, an ice storm or a wet snow loads up the maples and alders until limbs let go, and a cold snap splits trunks that were already cracked. Chunpeng Stankus had two dead trees over 100 feet tall crack and split in the cold; we took them down along with a big maple and left the yard clean.

After a big storm the whole county is calling at once. We take the dangerous ones first: trees on houses, trees blocking a driveway or a road, trunks that are still standing but split. A tree that is down in the back field and not hurting anything can wait a day or two, and we will say so honestly.

Hanging limbs and leaning trees

A limb that has broken but not fallen is a widowmaker, and it is more dangerous than the one already on the ground. Do not stand under it to get a better look. A tree that has started to lean after a storm, with the root plate lifting on one side, can go over in the next gust. Both are same day calls for us. The limb gets roped and lowered; the leaning tree gets taken down in sections before it chooses its own moment.

After the storm: what you get

The tree off the structure and cut up, the brush chipped, the logs stacked or hauled, the debris raked and the area cleared so a roofer or a fence contractor can get to work. We can leave the stump for later if money is tight after a storm and come back to grind it when you are ready. If your insurer needs an invoice that describes the work, say so and we will write it that way.