From request to tree-service estimate.

It is reviewed for the things that come before tree work — whether anyone is in danger, whether electrical equipment may be involved, whether the tree is public rather than private — and then routed to an independent company that serves your town and handles that job class. They contact you to arrange an on-site assessment, and the written scope and price come from them.

For planned work outside storm season, typically a first contact within a day or so, an assessment within a week or two, and scheduling from there depending on the crew's book and the ground conditions. Crane work and multi-tree projects run longer because a second machine and sometimes a road permit are involved. After a regional storm, all of that stretches.

No. Requesting an assessment is not a commitment to have the work done, and there is no obligation attached to submitting a request here. For a significant removal it is reasonable to get a second scope and compare them properly — most large gaps between quotes are scope gaps rather than price gaps.

Because the things that decide the method are on the ground rather than in a photograph: whether there is a usable drop zone, the real width of the access route, whether the ground will carry a truck, what sits underneath, and whether the trunk can be climbed. Photographs screen well and decide nothing, which is why nobody responsible prices a removal from one.

The history: what changed, when you noticed it, what the weather was doing, previous work on the tree and by whom, and any digging, grading, trenching or paving near the roots in the last decade. That last one is the cause most often missed and only you can report it. Also know what you want to happen to the wood and the stump.

The company that performs it, under its own contract with you. Its assessment, its written estimate, its credentials, its insurance, its warranties and its customer service are its own. This site does not perform, supervise or warrant tree work, and it does not promise insurer coverage, permit approval or a particular schedule.

There should be an agreed process before it happens: work stops, you are told, and any additional cost is agreed before it is incurred. Ask for that in the written scope. The common surprises are internal decay far worse than it looked, embedded metal in an old fence-line tree, and buried services nobody marked.

Being there at the start is genuinely useful — ten minutes at the tree with the person who will cut it eliminates most of the disputes that otherwise surface afterwards. You do not need to be there throughout, and you should not be in the work area while cutting is happening; the hazard zone is much larger than the area under the tree.

By checking the finished condition against the written scope, item by item, before the final payment. That is the whole reason the scope names the access route, the ground protection, the outcome for logs and chips, the stump depth and the finished condition — each of those is checkable when the crew leaves, and 'full cleanup' is not.

Service, town, timing, whether the tree is on your own property, whether a power line may be involved, what the tree could strike, a description in your words, and contact details with your consent to be contacted. Those specific fields exist because they are what determines urgency, equipment and whether someone else needs contacting before us.

Only with the owner's knowledge and authority, and it is worth saying so in the request. The party who authorises tree work is the party held responsible for it, which is why ownership and boundary questions are settled before a crew is scheduled rather than discovered on the day.

You are told, rather than left waiting. Availability depends on the town, the job class, the season and crew capacity, and after a widespread storm it depends on where a job sits in a triage ordering set by danger. An honest 'not this week, and here is why' is more useful than a date that will not hold.