"Licensed, bonded and insured...." not.

[George K]

When you hire a guy to take down a tree, make sure he's a pro.

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/botched-tree-removal-job-destroys-bellevue-home/2JUS7FCYWVFVZNXJC5V5UJM7YI/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

A tree removal job went terribly wrong in Bellevue on Monday, sending a 140-foot Douglas fir tree crashing down into a home in the Newport Hills neighborhood.

The neighbor who owned the tree told KIRO7 he was hoping to get the tree cut down for free in exchange for the wood.

It ended with his neighbor’s home getting destroyed.

Sarah Jacobsen said she and her husband both work from home, but she was running an errand when the incident happened Monday before lunchtime.

“The tree sliced through the whole house,” Jacobsen said. “It was just shocking.”

The tree smashed through the roof onto the furniture below in the living room. Jacobsen said that’s where she often works when she’s home, but it was her husband who heard the crash from another room.

[Klaus]

Who will have to pay for this?

[Klaus]

I recently hired a tree removal company after a storm had taken down a much smaller tree (maybe 30 or 40 ft) in a rental property of mine.

The tree had also fallen onto the neighbors house, but luckily didn't cause significant damage.

It was still a 1.5K€ job.

[George K]

@Klaus good question.

The contractor is probably not going to be able to pay restitution. He is not insured, from what I gather, so he has no resource.

The homeowner's insurance policy might cover it. However, insurance companies being what they are, I can see them denying the claim because the contractor was an idiot not licensed, etc.

[Klaus]

@George-K said in "Licensed, bonded and insured...." not.:

@Klaus good question.

The contractor is probably not going to be able to pay restitution. He is not insured, from what I gather, so he has no resource.

The homeowner's insurance policy might cover it. However, insurance companies being what they are, I can see them denying the claim because the contractor was an idiot not licensed, etc.

But would the contractor have to be liable with his private funds? E.g., if he'd own a car, would he have to sell it?

Presumably there wasn't even a written agreement between contractor and house owner, which means that probably the owner will have to pay for everything. I'd also guess that any insurance of the house owner will refuse to pay.

[George K]

@Klaus said in "Licensed, bonded and insured...." not.:

But would the contractor have to be liable with his private funds? E.g., if he'd own a car, would he have to sell it?

Take him to court. Good luck with that. It'll be YEARS before that's resolved.

Presumably there wasn't even a written agreement between contractor and house owner, which means that probably the owner will have to pay for everything. I'd also guess that any insurance of the house owner will refuse to pay.

Yup.

[George K]

At the bottom of the story:

Turning Leaf Tree Service said taking down the 140-foot tree should have been a five- or six-person job with a price of $3,000-$4,000.

About 2 years after we bought the Cheddarshack, we were approached by someone who wanted to "buy" some of our trees. It was a densely-wooded lot, and he wanted these pine trees to sell to a paper mill. I forgot how much he paid per tree, it wasn't a lot, but he took down about 50-100 trees, and you couldn't even tell they were missing. This is after...

[LuFins Dad]

Our Maple is going to have to come down, though we are treating it to get 1-2 more years out of it. It’s a beautiful big tree out front that we are not looking forward to replacing… the arborist quoted $4K for taking down the tree and probably another $1000 for stump and root removal.

[Jolly]

For a medium sized pine, I can get a local guy for about $1200 or a bit more, if complicated. If it's more than one and it's not complicated, the price will drop.

If I can throw a cable and tractor on it, and I've got a clear fall, I'll cut it myself. Over the years, we've cut a big oak and a middlin' elm, both within 20 feet of the house.

To get rid of a stump, there's several different ways.

1. Get a friend with a backhoe or a trackhoe to dig it out. Or rent a small trackhoe and dig it out yourself.
2. Grind it. Either hire somebody to grind it or rent a grinder. The ones you rent work better on smaller stuff.
3. Cut the stump as flush as you can, drill holes in it, pour your chemical of choice in the holes and over the stump. Add water and let the stump start to rot. Takes a little while, but it's easy.
4. Cut into the stump in an X-pattern from the top. Add some diesel or used motor oil. Pile on some branches and set them on fire. May have to repeat, but once that stump gets to smouldering, it make take a few days, but it will burn out.
5. If you have a friend with a good winch, cut the roots best you can and winch it out.

[89th]

Timely thread. Last weekend I felt like Jolly... cut down a tree on my yard. It was a 22-year old evergreen (spruce). It was only about 25 feet and had a clear fall line away from our deck, so I did it myself and saved some cash. Was the first tree I've cut down since I was a kid.

[Doctor Phibes]

We've got massive pines close to our home, but they're on town-owned land, and obviously the town isn't interested. Every time there's a big storm, I lie there listening to the wind howling, and wonder whether one's going to come down. We've had a couple of oaks fall, but luckily they're smaller. One fell on a car in the parking lot of the company that's next door.

[jodi]

That home owner (the one who hired the guy to cut the tree) is an idiot. This is one of those situations where you should imagine every possible thing that could go wrong and hire (and pay) your best chance at insuring none of those things happen. He’s extremely lucky nobody was killed.

[Catseye3]

All this talk of trees is reminding me to follow up on a story recited here a few months ago. I've been putting this off because, I'm embarrassed to say, I can't remember whose story it was. (Ivorythumper's?) Anyway, about the jerkwad neighbors who allowed their tree's debris to fall in IT's -- if it was IT -- yard, and a dire court battle was looming.

I've been curious to know the outcome of this. If you're reading this, IT -- if it's IT -- can you give us a followup?

If it's someone else, please forgive my poor memory. No offense intended.

If someone reading this remembers whose story it was, can you let me know? Thanks.

[Ivorythumper]

@George-K said in "Licensed, bonded and insured...." not.:

@Klaus good question.

The contractor is probably not going to be able to pay restitution. He is not insured, from what I gather, so he has no resource.

The homeowner's insurance policy might cover it. However, insurance companies being what they are, I can see them denying the claim because the contractor was an idiot not licensed, etc.

I think that the policy of the homeowner who suffered the damage has to pay for it, and then go after the policy of the homeowner whose unlicensed contractor did the damage.

[Mik]

I used to take down a lot of trees, including some 40-50 footers in my property, but no more.

[Ivorythumper]

@Catseye3 said in "Licensed, bonded and insured...." not.:

All this talk of trees is reminding me to follow up on a story recited here a few months ago. I've been putting this off because, I'm embarrassed to say, I can't remember whose story it was. (Ivorythumper's?) Anyway, about the jerkwad neighbors who allowed their tree's debris to fall in IT's -- if it was IT -- yard, and a dire court battle was looming.

I've been curious to know the outcome of this. If you're reading this, IT -- if it's IT -- can you give us a followup?

If it's someone else, please forgive my poor memory. No offense intended.

If someone reading this remembers whose story it was, can you let me know? Thanks.

Timely!!! Our lawyer just sent a love letter to their lawyer advising them of the law .

[Jolly]

@Doctor-Phibes said in "Licensed, bonded and insured...." not.:

We've got massive pines close to our home, but they're on town-owned land, and obviously the town isn't interested. Every time there's a big storm, I lie there listening to the wind howling, and wonder whether one's going to come down. We've had a couple of oaks fall, but luckily they're smaller. One fell on a car in the parking lot of the company that's next door.

Oaks uproot in high winds, usually it happens when the ground is wet. Pines tend to snap or twist off. A pine with a cat face is bad ju-ju...It's not if it snaps, but when.

[89th]

@Ivorythumper said in "Licensed, bonded and insured...." not.:

Timely!!! Our lawyer just sent a love letter to their lawyer advising them of the law!

Thanks for the update! I was thinking about this the other day. The last paragraph was a nice "BOOM!" moment too. Sucks it comes to this, but you have to do what you have to do.

Just 2 weeks ago I was talking to my neighbor (some of our spruce branches overhang the fence and also shade out some of his vegetable garden). We are both fine with whatever branches need (or don't need) to be trimmed back on his side of the fence, although admittedly it's not as significant as the red oak you're dealing with.

[brenda]

@Ivorythumper said in "Licensed, bonded and insured...." not.:

@George-K said in "Licensed, bonded and insured...." not.:

@Klaus good question.

The contractor is probably not going to be able to pay restitution. He is not insured, from what I gather, so he has no resource.

The homeowner's insurance policy might cover it. However, insurance companies being what they are, I can see them denying the claim because the contractor was an idiot not licensed, etc.

I think that the policy of the homeowner who suffered the damage has to pay for it, and then go after the policy of the homeowner whose unlicensed contractor did the damage.

This.

The damaged home insurer will go after the insurer of the tree owner , possibly in court, or more likely as a negotiated settlement. The next layer could be action against the tree cutter. The following layer of action will involve the tree homeowner's insurance rates going up significantly, as they should.

I'm thinking of how tall a 140 foot tree is, and wondering how anyone, homeowner or amateur tree cutter, could be so foolish.

[brenda]

@Ivorythumper
What a wonderfully written letter, and yes, have the neighbors move the fence and turn it so the correct side faces your property.

What nincompoops your neighbors are. There is no longer any need to care one whit what they think or want. They forfeited any expectation of your family caring about their wishes, which is further evidence of their stupidity.

If they decide to go to court, they will lose so badly, and have the bill for both sides of the case. Make them pay a very large sum for all of it, please. Be sure to share that with us as well. It's reassuring to see riduculous behavior be repaid in this way.