sstug
TUG Member
My neighbors’ tree hangs over my driveway and is extremely close to my power lines and the corner of my house. They have always maintained the tree well and just had someone out yesterday to trim it back. I actually heard her tell them about my wires and house.
So when I left for work in the morning I was confident they would cut it back for clearance. But when I got home I noticed the branches were still too close. So I went next door and she called the guy who did the work, then let me speak to him. He insisted he did cut the branches back, and if he had to come back out again I would have to pay ($100 - $125). He said if you cut too much off the tree loses the aesthetic value…but I’m more concerned about a winter storm with heavy snow or ice ripping down my power lines! He was adamant that he did the job right and I told him I would call the city yard to see if they would come out and tell me if the tree was too close. He got very defensive and told me he was a professional doing this since 1979, etc. and went on to say that I am probably looking straight up at the branches and it is deceiving.
Well, this morning in the bright sunshine I looked again from my 2nd floor window which is pretty much eye level with the branches. The tip of one branch is about 6 inches from the wire and less than 3 feet from the corner of my house;. and others are just about a foot above and extend about 3 - 4 feet past the wires. I admit these are not thick branches.
I know from previous discussions after the recent storms that any tree limbs over my yard I have the right to cut (and I will be responsible for any damage they cause). But they are good neighbors and I would never want to damage their tree or make it unbalanced.
So now I am at a loss of what to do. The guy was very uncooperative and I would not pay him a cent to fix what I feel his did poorly in the first place. So I may need to hire someone else to cut it back. Or am I being paranoid and should I trust this guy knows better than me?
If I do nothing I may be okay this winter, but I think the squirrels will have a nice little bridge to my roof in the spring time!
How would you handle this situation?
So when I left for work in the morning I was confident they would cut it back for clearance. But when I got home I noticed the branches were still too close. So I went next door and she called the guy who did the work, then let me speak to him. He insisted he did cut the branches back, and if he had to come back out again I would have to pay ($100 - $125). He said if you cut too much off the tree loses the aesthetic value…but I’m more concerned about a winter storm with heavy snow or ice ripping down my power lines! He was adamant that he did the job right and I told him I would call the city yard to see if they would come out and tell me if the tree was too close. He got very defensive and told me he was a professional doing this since 1979, etc. and went on to say that I am probably looking straight up at the branches and it is deceiving.
Well, this morning in the bright sunshine I looked again from my 2nd floor window which is pretty much eye level with the branches. The tip of one branch is about 6 inches from the wire and less than 3 feet from the corner of my house;. and others are just about a foot above and extend about 3 - 4 feet past the wires. I admit these are not thick branches.
I know from previous discussions after the recent storms that any tree limbs over my yard I have the right to cut (and I will be responsible for any damage they cause). But they are good neighbors and I would never want to damage their tree or make it unbalanced.
So now I am at a loss of what to do. The guy was very uncooperative and I would not pay him a cent to fix what I feel his did poorly in the first place. So I may need to hire someone else to cut it back. Or am I being paranoid and should I trust this guy knows better than me?
If I do nothing I may be okay this winter, but I think the squirrels will have a nice little bridge to my roof in the spring time!
How would you handle this situation?