Tree Removal in Lake Barrington
Let's start with the big one. Taking a tree down. People call for tree removal when a tree is dead, damaged, leaning, or just too close to the house to trust anymore.
How it's done depends on what's under it. With open ground, a tree can be felled whole and cut up where it lands. Next to a house, a deck or a neighbor's unit, it's taken down in pieces and each piece is lowered. Slopes add work. Hauling logs uphill to the street is slower than rolling them across a flat lawn.
Then there's ash. Most untreated ash across Lake County has been killed by emerald ash borer. Dead ash gets brittle fast, and brittle trees shed tops and limbs. If one is in reach of your roof or deck, get the dead tree out sooner rather than later.
Lake Barrington Lots, Hills and Shoreline Trees
Lake Barrington has a few kinds of property. Wooded single-family lots on rolling ground. Townhomes and condos in Lake Barrington Shores, where the trees sit close to buildings and often belong to an association. And low ground toward the Fox River and Grassy Lake Forest Preserve, where it stays wet.
The hills grow oak and hickory. The low spots grow cottonwood, willow, silver maple and box elder, all fast, soft-wooded trees that break up as they age. Around the homes you'll find spruce, pine, maple and crabapple.
Stump Grinding in Lake Barrington
Once the tree's gone, decide about the stump. Leave it and you'll be mowing around it for years. Have the stump ground and the spot can be lawn again.
The grinder takes the stump down below the surface and leaves a pile of chips and dirt. Keep the chips for your beds or we'll haul them.
First, though, a free call to JULIE at 811 to get underground utilities marked. No marks, no grinding. If there's sprinkler pipe or low-voltage lighting wire nearby, flag it for us, because JULIE only marks the public lines.
Emergency Storm Work and Fallen Limbs
Soft, wet ground doesn't hold roots well in a hard wind. After a big storm, the trees in the low spots are often the ones lying down.
A tree on your house, your car or across your driveway is a phone call, not a text. We get out to storm calls as fast as the crew is able. We won't quote you a time we can't keep.
See a wire? Back away. Trees touching or tangled in power lines go to ComEd first. When it's safe, we do the cutting and the cleanup after storm damage, and haul it all off.
Trimming and Pruning Lake Barrington Trees
Good pruning keeps a tree out of trouble. We take off dead and broken limbs, clear branches away from roofs and decks, and thin crowded crowns so there's less for the wind to push against.
If your view of the water has grown in, the fix is crown raising or thinning, not topping. Topping is cutting the top flat. It's bad for the tree and we don't do it.
Schedule matters. Most trees want to be trimmed while dormant, late fall through winter. Oaks shouldn't be pruned in the growing season at all, since fresh cuts attract the beetles that spread oak wilt. Same idea for elms. Hazard limbs are the exception and can come off any time.
What Tree Service Costs in Lake Barrington
You'll know the price before anything gets cut. Text us a photo and name your town. We answer with a price in writing. For small jobs that's all it takes. For a big removal, we come out and look first, free.
One flat price covers the job. It's based on the size of the tree, where it stands, what condition it's in, how equipment gets to it and whether the stump's included. A dead tree over a deck on a slope costs more than a live one in an open front yard, and you'll see why when we walk it. Details are on our page about tree service pricing.
Permits, Associations and Cleanup
Two calls to make before a removal. First, village hall. A lot of villages in this county have tree rules, and some of them want a permit even when the tree is on private property. Second, your association if you have one. In a townhome or condo community, the tree outside your window may not be yours to cut.
After the work, we clean up and haul the brush and wood. It's chipped and recycled, not dumped, because Illinois keeps yard waste out of landfills. If you want firewood, say so and it stays, cut, where you want it. We're insured, based in Libertyville, and also work in Tower Lakes and Port Barrington.
How We Handle Tree Jobs in Lake Barrington
- One flat price in writing, agreed before any cutting
- Free quotes from a photo, and a free visit for big removals
- Cleanup included: brush chipped, wood hauled, yard raked
- We don't top trees
- We'll tell you if a trim is enough before you pay for a removal
