A tree on the house is one of the worst sounds a homeowner ever hears. When it happens, what you do in the first hour matters — for your family’s safety first, and for the insurance claim second. Here’s the order we’d tell a neighbour to do things in.
1. Get everyone away from underneath it
A fallen tree is rarely done moving. Trunks settle, cracked limbs hang, and the roof structure under the load can keep giving way. Stay out of the rooms under the tree and keep kids and pets away from the yard on that side of the house.
2. Check for wires
If the tree brought a power line down with it — or is anywhere near one — treat the whole area as live and call the utility before anyone else. No tree is worth touching a line for. This is the one step that comes before everything.
3. Call your insurance company
Take photos from a safe distance — wide shots and close-ups — before anything is moved. Most homeowner policies cover tree damage to structures, and the adjuster will want to see the scene as it happened.
4. Then call a tree service — and describe what you see
When you call us, tell us exactly what you’re looking at: how big the tree is, what it’s resting on, whether anything is still hanging. We’ll tell you straight away whether we can get to it and what it takes to make the property safe. We run 24/7 emergency service, because trees don’t fall during business hours.
Why storm trees need equipment, not chainsaws
A tree lying on a roof is under tension in ways that are hard to see. Cut the wrong spot and the load shifts — into the house, or into the person cutting. That’s why storm work at our company is usually crane work: the crane takes the weight of each section before the cut, and the piece lifts up and away instead of rolling off the roof. It’s the difference between removing a tree from a house and dragging it off one.
What not to do
- Don’t climb onto the roof to “check it out” — that’s the adjuster’s and the crew’s job.
- Don’t start cutting limbs off the small end. It changes the balance of everything above it.
- Don’t wait weeks. Tarped holes and shifted trunks get worse with weather.
Tree on the house right now? Call 440-901-8427 — 24/7. Describe what you’re looking at and we’ll tell you what it takes to make it safe.