A tree came down in a storm, or one is leaning too close to the house. We take it out, clear the mess and grind the stump flat.
Some trees have to come out. A fir that has lost its top, a cedar with a split in the trunk, a maple leaning over a bedroom, or a whole row of alder that came down across a driveway in a December storm. Removal is the last option, not the first, but when a tree is a hazard there is no point pretending otherwise.
Taking a big tree down safely beside a house is skilled work. The crew climbs it and takes it down in sections, rigging each piece and lowering it under control rather than dropping it. On an open lot with room to fall, it is far quicker and cheaper to fell the whole tree in one piece. An arborist decides which of those it is, not the customer and not the price.
Storm work gets answered first. When a windstorm comes through the Coast, the calls we take that day are trees on roofs, trees across driveways and trees hung up in other trees. Those go to the front of the list.
In a storm, tell us if anything is on a building, on a vehicle or across a road, because that changes where you sit in the queue.
We look at the lean, the trunk, the root plate, what is underneath it and what we have room to drop. Then we decide whether it gets felled or taken down in sections.
The price includes the removal, the cleanup and the haul away. Stump grinding is priced separately, because not everybody wants it.
Wood is bucked and removed or left as firewood if you want it, brush is chipped, and the ground is raked. If you asked for grinding, the stump goes below grade and the chips are removed or levelled off.
Removal price comes down to one thing above all others, which is how much room the tree has. A tree in an open field is straightforward. The same tree between a house and a power line is a rigging job, and it needs a bigger crew, more equipment and a longer day.
Access matters almost as much. A tree we can park a chipper beside costs far less than one at the bottom of a steep back garden, where every piece has to be carried up by hand. That is a common situation on the lots above Gibsons harbour.
Stump grinding is priced by the diameter of the stump at ground level and by whether the machine can reach it. Several stumps on one visit costs much less per stump than one on its own, so it is worth doing them together. We price everything in writing before starting, and there is no charge to come and look.
Every community on the Sunshine Coast has its own ground, its own weather and its own trees. Here is how this work usually looks in the three places we are called out to most.
Gibsons removals are almost always tight. Houses are close together, lots are steep, and there are power lines through the older streets, so most trees here come down in sections rather than in one piece. Access is the constant problem. On the slopes above the harbour we are often carrying wood uphill to the truck, and we price that in honestly rather than discovering it on the day.
Roberts Creek has the biggest trees in our service area and the most storm damage, because the second growth stands there are tall, dense and exposed to southeasters. Most Roberts Creek calls are hazard trees rather than trees anybody wanted gone, and a lot of them come in the week after a big blow. Space is usually not the problem here, so more of these are straight fells.
Sechelt removals are more often about making room than about hazard. Trees come out for a build, for a driveway, for a septic field or because a fast growing cedar hedge planted twenty years ago has become a row of forty foot trees. Stump grinding is a bigger part of the Sechelt work than elsewhere, because people are usually putting something back where the tree was.
We also remove trees and grind stumps in Langdale, Wilson Creek, Davis Bay, Halfmoon Bay, Secret Cove, Madeira Park, Garden Bay, Pender Harbour and Egmont.
Sometimes. Gibsons, Sechelt and the regional district each have their own rules, and there are extra protections near creeks, on steep slopes and in some development areas. We check what applies to your address before any work is booked, and we will tell you if a permit is needed.
Storm calls are answered first. Call us and tell us exactly what the tree is resting on. If anything is on a building or blocking a driveway you go to the front of the queue.
No, grinding is priced separately, because plenty of people are happy to leave a stump in a back corner. If you want it gone we quote it at the same visit so there is no second call out.
Below grade, far enough that you can put soil and turf over it or plant into the area. If you are building or paving over the spot, tell us and we grind deeper.
It leaves with us unless you want it. If you burn wood we can buck it to length and stack it for you at no extra cost, which suits a lot of Roberts Creek and Pender Harbour properties.
Most people start with one job. Once we are on the property, it is usually easier to have one crew handle the rest of it too.
Tell us what you need done. We will come out, take a look at it and give you a price in writing. There is no charge for that.
