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Storm Damage Cleanup in Placerville

The wind quit and the yard looks like a lumberyard blew up? Call (530) 764-5890. We'll find a tree service in Placerville to come sort it out. Storm damage cleanup in Placerville starts with the trees.

Phones and calendars are our end of it. The cleanup is up to the pro you pick.

What a storm leaves behind

Most storms in Placerville are rain and wind. The town gets about 38.11 inches of rain in a normal year. The record for one day is 6.22 inches, on February 14, 2000. December 1955 brought 23.29 inches in a single month. Soggy ground and wind make a bad pair for big trees.

Snow is a rare guest in town. It's more of an uphill problem, out toward the mountains. But wet snow on an oak that still has its leaves is a lot of weight on a branch.

After a blow, here's what folks usually find:

• Limbs on the lawn, the roof, the fence and the cars.
• Broken branches still hanging up in the tree. Old-timers call them widowmakers, and for a reason.
• A top snapped off a pine.
• A trunk torn open at the fork, where two big stems grew together.
• Roots pulled up on one side, with the tree leaning.

The weather service has a word for this. It expects scattered damage when wind blows steady in the 40 to 50 mph range. A High Wind Warning means the strong wind and stronger gusts are here now, and its advice is to get inside. Good advice. The limbs can wait for daylight.

Ice is worse than snow, by the way. The weather service says about a quarter inch of ice can bring snapped power lines and falling branches. Thankfully we don't see much of it down here.

How the cleanup goes

Your pro starts up top, not on the ground. Anything hanging or cracked above your head comes down first, because it's the part that hurts people. The stuff on the lawn isn't going anywhere.

Then the big limbs get cut into pieces you can move. The small stuff gets chipped or hauled. If you burn a woodstove, ask to keep the rounds. Free firewood is the only good thing a storm ever brought anybody.

A tree that split or tipped is a different question. Your pro will tell you if it can stay or if it should come down. Trees with a split trunk often fail again at the same spot, so don't be surprised by the answer.

Wires come first, always. PG&E says only trained line clearance crews should do tree work near power lines. After a storm, PG&E's own crews work on getting the power back. It says it may help clean up tree debris if that's needed to restore service. Phone and cable companies fix their own lines.

And here's one that surprises people. When PG&E cuts a tree for line safety, wood more than 4 inches across stays on your property. PG&E says it belongs to the owner. So the big rounds in the yard are yours to deal with.

What storm cleanup costs

Cleanup is priced by the job, not by the storm. Here's what cost guides list. They're not quotes.

Pulled from Fixr's removal and trimming guides plus Today's Homeowner for Sacramento.

Per Fixr, trees tip over roots and all mostly during wet spells and storms. Sounds about right for Placerville in January.

The cheapest storm job is a tree that fell flat on open ground and hit nothing. The priciest is a split tree still standing over the house, where somebody has to climb into a broken crown. Most yards land in between.

About insurance. Consumer Reports says if the downed tree didn't damage a building, you'll usually pay the cleanup yourself. There may be an exception if the tree blocks your driveway. Worth a phone call to your agent.

Why call us for storm damage cleanup in Placerville

The day after a big wind, everybody in El Dorado County wants a tree pro at once. That's when the phone tag gets ugly.

We make the calls for you and look for someone close by. If the wait is long, we'll say how long. We'd rather give you bad news than no news.

It's free. The price comes from your pro, and you can ask us for a second one.

Step by step: tree service in Placerville after a storm

1. Wait for the wind to drop. Stay out from under trees until it does.
2. Look up before you look down. Note any hanging limbs or cracked tops.
3. Stay clear of any wire, even one that looks dead. Call 911 for lines on the ground.
4. Take photos of damage to the house, fence or car.
5. Call (530) 764-5890 and tell us what you see.
6. We find somebody and ring you with a day and time.
7. The pro checks it over and gives you a price before starting.

Back to tree service in Placerville. Tree on the house? Go to emergency tree removal. Worried about the one still standing? Try a hazard tree inspection. Folks in Camino and Pollock Pines get more snow than town does, so their pages cover that.