a tree is about to fall on our house.!! it has leaned over precipitously in the last 12 hours after

[sam sarrha]

a long rain. it's an oak tree 80' tall and 28-30" in diameter. the roots have pushed up a railroad tie nearly 2'.

it is just down 10' or so by a little creek, there was another smaller tree right next to it that fell across our fence 2 days ago.. this one will hit the corner of our house, cause it is only 30' away.

it is on the city easement/watershed of the creek, but they deny it. the map they referred to shows the neighbors property line ending 30' from where ours starts along the road.. indicating a watershed buffer zone on both ends between our properties.

we are trying to get someone to cut it at least in half, or cable it to a solid tree 20' away so it will swing away from the house.

i just had an amputation of my hand and cant do anything.. it will hit the bedroom, so we are sleeping in the living room.. my wife got layed off 3 days ago, she's getting a job 4 hours away in Georgia, i will have to stay here, they devalued our house $20,000 so we cant sell it now, i got no hand but i do have a fairly good UNION JOB.. without bad luck we'd have none at all.

a breeze is coming up too.......:wow: :scared: :hide: :yoiks:

[soothsayer]

1. Good grief! Sending vibes for some kind of miraculously happy outcome

Sorry about your hand, too. Hang in there! And stay safe.

[LakeSamish706]

2. Can you find someone to take it down for you before it falls? n/t

[sam sarrha]

5. we called a good tree cutter, but he isnt back from a job site yet.. he has what is needed to cut it

safely.. some sort of lift..

no word yet

[GentryDixon]

3. Call the Fire Department.

Good Luck.

[noamnety]

4. I wonder if you can call your insurance company

they might be motivated to locate someone who can help, since if they don't they'll be paying a whopping claim.

[sam sarrha]

8. candace is looking for it...

[global1]

9. My Thought Exactly - You Need To Get Your Insurance Company To Do A.......

pre-emptive strike. It will cost them a lot more money if they let it fall. I just hope you insurance company sees it that way.

[sam sarrha]

22. we called them.. they are sending out someone.. probably just to check the first fall damage

[HereSince1628]

Not good, I hope you've contacted folks beside DU.

Try a local nursery...they may have a recommendation and if not they may have notebook full of business cards.
I'd recommend giving your insurance agent a call, the insurance company may or may not be jerks....
Also give the local red cross a call, in this situation volunteers will be your friends.

[HereSince1628]

6. Sorry double dribble.

[ohheckyeah]

7. Maybe if you called the city

and let them know that if the tree falls on your house both you AND the insurance company will be holding the city accountable.

[sam sarrha]

11. they are useless... we spent 2 hours before we got someone who knew nothing.. 5 minutes before they

went home for the day.. they looked on the F'n GEO computer map for property lines..

[ohheckyeah]

19. I'm sorry to hear that...

have you spoken with your insurance company? They will be the ones to pay for the damage if and when the tree hits the house.

[ThomWV]

10. Jesus, haven't you got a neighbor with a chain saw?

I don't know how it is where you live but around here a phone call could have that tree down and in pieces within an hour - and it would be young boys doing the work with nobody asking for a dime.

[Cronus Protagonist]

15. Yup, set a few teenagers on it with a chain saw and it will be firewood in an hour

Especially if you let them sell the firewood. Since the tree isn't owned by anyone, no one would have grounds to complain, and that's got to be several tonnes of lumber!

[SoCalDem]

20. EEEEEEK.. that's the last thing he needs

teenager....chainsaw..ladder..precariously leaning 80' tree...

what could possibly go wrong:(

I like the idea about calling the city and threatening to sue them if the tree falls..and or cvalling their own homeowners insurance.. they have a big financial stake in getting it down..safely & fast :)

[Motown_Johnny]

46. OAK IS EXPENSIVE, Don't Burn It !!!! You can sell that lumber !!!!

a lumber company will just kill another oak and make furniture out if it.

[sam sarrha]

24. it is REALLY LEANING OVER, . if it goes down it will hit the house, need to take the weight off the

top.. we are trying to get a guy with a hydraulic lift so he can take off the upper 1/3, then drop the rest over the damage the 1st tree that fell caused

[beam me up scottie]

12. Try local landscapers and see if your insurance company will pay.

You don't want some Joe Doofus who's looking for extra $ to take it down, it's extremely difficult to cut down a tree of that size. It could end up killing said doofus and/or destroying your house.

If you hire a landscaper at least it will be done safely.

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. Oak suggests that I don't live near you. Wish I did. n/t

[sam sarrha]

23. winston salem nc

[rox63]

14. Do you or family members belong to a church or community organization?

They might be able to organize some voluteers to help you out. You know, like the VFW, or the Elks, or something else like that?

[sam sarrha]

27. we're Buddhists... in South Carolina

[Cronus Protagonist]

16. Wait! It's OAK??

Call a few guitar companies and furniture companies. They'll pay to take it away.

http://www.mguitar.com/contact/

I know for a fact they're always looking for old wood. Try it and see!

:P

[ColbertWatcher]

17. Take pictures! Document what's happening! n/t

[sam sarrha]

26. i did

[GoesTo11]

18. You might want to move some things out

Electronics, valuable furniture, important files. Just anticipating what might get wrecked beyond the house itself. Although really, the most important thing to not get wrecked is people, so maybe you shouldn't be there at all right now. Never mind.

[merh]

21. Call the media - get it on TV - the city is neglecting its duty and you

a recent amputee and your wife recently laid off.

Do you have an "action" reporter that likes to tackle such stories?

[rvablue]

34. This is a great idea.... all three of my local stations do "consumer reports" stories like this

and of course they always update a few days later and the problem is always taken care of.

I hope he takes your advice!

[Berry Cool]

37. Yeah, that's a great idea. TV news loves stories like this, of little guys who can't get a break

especially when the story includes a great visual...and this story has one. A tree hanging like a sword of Damocles over a house, with people in it who can't seem to get help cutting it down before the inevitable happens.

The problel will be solved in a jiffy if the local media find out.

[demigoddess]

25. call the fire department

if they don't know who to call no one will.

[sam sarrha]

28. we called the police to ask who to call.. same people who know nothing

[Phentex]

29. I wish you better luck than we had! One came down and brought

a second one with it. This was a neighbor's tree and we were told on Saturday that it was going to fall on our house. They "tried" to get someone to come out but couldn't find anyone. Storm moved in Sunday night and the huge trees fell early Monday am. No one was hurt but there was a lot of damage and I had nightmares for weeks.

It's a crashing sound you NEVER want to hear.

PLEASE be careful! If I had to do it again, I would have insisted the neighbors call an emergency tree service. Our insurance company was good but you never get the real value back plus all of your time off having to deal with contractors, roofers, etc.

[sam sarrha]

30. the wind is really coming up... some scary gusts whist'n thru the trees, but it has subsided

[bottomtheweaver]

31. Maybe try googling tree service.. I'm getting several google ads at the top of

your thread but for So Cal.. good luck sam..

[bottomtheweaver]

32. this one seems national.. says 24/7 service

http://www.servicemagic.com/sem/category.Landscaping-Maintenance-of-Lawn-Trees.10344.html

[Suich]

33. Any luck yet, sam?

:kick:

[sam sarrha]

36. it hasnt fallen yet... the roots may be well into the bank by the creek, its sway'n in the wind some

might mast till we can cut it down.. bout half the roots are washed out on the other side. neighbor said it takes a lot to bring down that type of oak.. then he said.. but i'm glad it isn't lean'n toward my house.

another big tree about 40' from this one fell across the road when it snowed here a short time ago..

we have wanted to remove 6 from around the house for a year, just cant afford it

[noamnety]

40. This won't help your immediate emergency

but might be useful for the other trees.

We had a large tree to drop. It was tall enough that it might have hit our house if dropped in one shot. But we were able to take down the top from where it branched out entirely with low tech stuff from the ground. It cost us 17 dollars at harbor freight to get the High Limb Rope Chain Saw. If you can throw a bean bag over a tree branch (as many tries as it takes), the bean bag is tied to a rope, and when the bag falls the rope goes up. In the center of the rope a chain (like from a chain saw) is tied, and there is a handle at either end.

So you need two people standing on the ground, they take turns pulling back and forth, and they can cut through branches that are way the heck up in the air. No ladders, and the people doing the cutting can be way off to either side so nothing drops on their heads. If they are far enough from the house that the branches can drop without hitting it, you can shorten the tree way down that way.

(Wishing you luck on the emergency, just thought I'd mention all that in case it helps you out in the future.)

[B Calm]

35. I would call your insurance co.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

38. You should be able to find emergency tree services in your area.

If one doesn't respond immediately, call another.

There are people who do this for a living.

[Control-Z]

39. Call your local newspapers and news station

Give them all the info you can about the lack of cooperation by the city, insurance company, etc. If it is not too busy a news day for them they might just love to do a story like yours. People get very angry with situations like this, especially right now when we're all being screwed by government, big corporations, insurance companies...and they can be very generous and willing to help.

[uppityperson]

41. kicking for Duers

[ddeclue]

42. Contact your local TV news... they love stories like this...

there's usual a consumer or gov't affairs reporter and they live for these kinds of stories.

[malaise]

43. I hope someone comes and quickly

Damn you need this. :grouphug:

[Suich]

44. Checking in to see how things are going...

....how's the tree doing? Still standing, sort of?

[Motown_Johnny]

45. How is your insurance? Maybe they can total your house so you can take the money and run, also

oak is worth some money

If you can get that wood and sell it for lumber you might be able to make a couple grand on it


Good luck to you, I hope things work out

[Arugula Latte]

47. Did you make it through the night? Is it still standing?