Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
columbusguy1

Friday Tree Surprize!

columbusguy1
11 years ago

After a couple days of near 100 degree heat, we had a storm out of nowhere with winds that were darn near tornado strength...had pouring rain like crazy for nearly an hour...and about 6pm, our power went out and just came back on today at 4:30pm.

To make things interesting, at about 6:15 Friday, I went out on the porch to watch the storm and try to get some cooling breeze without getting soaked--and I noticed that my big nearly a century old tree looked different. Braving the downpour, I went onto the steps, and saw that a huge part of the tree was now leaning on my house!

Since it is a city tree, I am assuming they will remove it, since they have pruned it over the years--whether I get a new tree I don't know.

Of course, all this happens when the weekend has started, so I couldn't find the city forester's number, and must call tomorrow to talk to my insurance people--who also had no weekend hours.

Comments (15)

  • morningstarlet
    11 years ago

    We got hit with the same storm in the DC area, a lot of tree damage in the area. Hope you get help soon.

  • antiquesilver
    11 years ago

    Same weather scenerio in Richmond. My next door neighbor's huge tree went down in the alley Saturday night, taking out phone lines & one of the main power lines for the entire area, along with 4 power poles. Everyone else had power by last night but those of us connected to the 4 poles may have to wait a week. Amazingly, the only property damage seems to be a fence - & the poles.

  • civ_IV_fan
    11 years ago

    yikes! it looks like that tree is outside of the city ROW but squawk enough and hopefully they'll take care of it.

  • karinl
    11 years ago

    Whoever pruned it should definitely be taking care of it - and should have been forced to stand under during the storm too! Obviously storms can take many trees down, but you don't have to go around pruning to facilitate it!

    Congrats on a lucky escape.

    Karin L

  • slateberry
    11 years ago

    I am so sorry to see your lovely house damaged. I can't tell how bad it is--please keep us updated.

    Four years ago our neighbor's house was hit by a tree. It damaged their slate roof and hit a chimney too. Eventually, they got the roof section replaced (in matching slate, thankfully), the chimney ended up being rebuilt from the basement up--twice!, because the first company didn't do it right. They spent a lot of time watching and arbitrating, because the contractors would bill the insurance company for matching materials, then try to substitute cheap stuff when they did the work.

    Hopefully the damage to your house will not be so extensive.

  • brickeyee
    11 years ago

    "Since it is a city tree"

    Sure looks to be in your front yard.

    The strip between sidewalk and street is usually the 'city tree' area.

    Even if they pruned it over the street, that would not make them responsible for it.

  • ingeorgia
    11 years ago

    oh oh .... hope not too much damage....columbus guy, my house is painted the very same colors.

  • columbusguy1
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Haven't had the city come yet, they are doing it as they can--filed the report Sunday night but when I checked back yesterday, they had no record of it, so had to give info again. Doing yard work today, and the local historic district rep asked if I had reported it, I said yes, but he took my address and would follow it up.

    He also mentioned that as Columbus has so few areas with lawn between street and walk, the city considers anything within 10 feet of the walk to be their property...as I was pretty certain. Hydrants are definitely city, and they are all on the house side of the walks here.

    Can't tell until the tree is removed, but there isn't any damage inside--shingles on the roof might be another matter.

  • brickeyee
    11 years ago

    "the city considers anything within 10 feet of the walk to be their property"

    Your tax dollars at work.

  • karinl
    11 years ago

    You will, I hope, make sure they take the whole thing down, as otherwise there is no future for the cars underneath that tree, or anyone in them.

    By the way, is that a vine growing on your house?? Are you not worried about that?

    Karin L

  • columbusguy1
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Karin, funny what people notice in pics--I got behind in yard work, and hadn't even noticed it until I did the picture! The vine is now gone! Been trying to catch up, but it is hard in this stupid heat advisory we have!

  • cosanostra
    11 years ago

    We had a similar situation with a giant silver maple. It was a city tree that had been designated for removal in 2009. A gentle breeze kicked up over Memorial Day 2011 and that evening a large branch (~12in in diameter) fell into our yard and onto our new neighbor's van. Needless to say the city finally got around to taking the tree down. :-)
    We had to replace the tree on our own (not a surprise to us), and we still have the stump as the city did not/does not remove that. Hopefully you'll get rid of the stump too.

  • columbusguy1
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    More than two weeks, still nothing from the city, I was 'on the list'...and they said 'by the end of the week'...one quote to remove the tree was $2800, finally hired someone who did it for less than my $1000 deductible...plus he will be fixing my roof shingles (about eight or nine).

    Want to lay odds that the city stops by this coming week--I will have them grind the stump down...and pester the hell out of them about a replacement tree!

  • karinl
    11 years ago

    Way to get 'er done! You might want to consider planting your own tree if you want one - choose the species and take care of its growth yourself.

    Karin L

  • columbusguy1
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    My adventures with tree planting here are a mixed bag--all but one are now gone. :) I love apples, so planted a dwarf apple tree between my garage and the neighbor's--turned out not to be so dwarf, and it had to go...pretty crummy apples too.
    I planted a European Mountain ash, was not in a great spot, and it is now gone also.
    My latest, planted about six years ago, is a Redbud, planted equidistant from the side street and my dining room bay window, which had a lovely view of the garage across that street--it is doing great, has great blooms, and shouldn't outgrow the location.
    The city has a request form for a city tree, need to check it out--who knows when they would get around to it! What I would love, is one of those disease-resistant elm trees. My old tree was a wild Canadian Cherry--tiny blackish berries which only the birds could eat.

Sponsored
Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen & Bath
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars77 Reviews
Award Winning Kitchen & Bath Design Team | 11x Best of Houzz