# Should I take down this tree leaning against my house?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-take-down-this-tree-leaning-against-my-house/660985>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 14, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-take-down-this-tree-leaning-against-my-house/660985 "2013-06-14T13:29:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-take-down-this-tree-leaning-against-my-house/660985/41 "2013-06-17T19:18:41Z")

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> [@BottledBlondJeanie](#):
>
> Permitted, _insured_ professionals.

> [@Count\_Blucher](#):
>
> You are right, spend the money, have a service do it.

Yep, insured is a big one. I called a service today, they are backed up due to the emergency tree removals being done, but I’m on the waiting list.

> [@StGermain](#):
>
> You have to be a member for your location to show up.
> 
> StG

Thanks, I was wondering about that.

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**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-take-down-this-tree-leaning-against-my-house/660985/42 "2013-06-18T17:34:43Z")

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A lot of people don’t realize this, and it might change by location, but as a home owner, when you hire people to do work for you (like taking down a tree), you may become the prime contractor, and you may be on the hook for any WCB claims. Licensed, permitted, insured services are the way to go (and if you can make sure they have their own WCB coverage, even better).

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**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-take-down-this-tree-leaning-against-my-house/660985/43 "2013-06-19T17:07:28Z")

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Well, an update: The arborist came out today, pointed out that one of the bradfords had a crack running down the trunk, and that’s the first step to a good windstorm taking it out. And that’s the one that is pointing at our bedroom. :eek:

He said that normally he’d make me wait until the emergency stuff was done, but that was enough to upgrade the job to emergency status. So naturally I asked how much it cost: $1700 :eek::eek::eek:

I did ask what the time and cash difference was if I treated it like a non-emergency call and just rolled the dice: three weeks and $200. Not worth it to me, so there’s a crew coming out this afternoon to take them both out.

He did say I got the proximity discount (since I’m right down the road from the home office), to which I was :dubious:, but I’m comforting myself by remembering that he’s licensed, insured, accredited, etc, and it’s just some guy with a chainsaw.

Well, this is why we have an emergency fund, I guess.

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