Stump Removal Libertyville, IL

Stump Removal vs. Stump Grinding: The Honest Difference

There are two ways to get rid of a stump. One is to dig the whole thing out, root ball and all. That means heavy digging, a wide hole and a torn-up yard. The other is to grind the stump into chips until it's below the ground. The second one is what we do.

So if you call us for stump removal, you're getting the stump ground out with a stump grinder. The part you can see, and the wood just under the lawn, gets chewed into mulch. The deep roots stay where they are and rot away on their own.

For a lawn, a garden bed or a clear place to mow, that's all you need. If you need every root out of the ground, say for a foundation or a deep dig, that's work for an excavating contractor.

Reasons to Have an Old Tree Stump Removed

Nobody loves a stump. These are the reasons people finally call.

Maybe the tree came down years ago and the stump was left to save money. Maybe a storm dropped the tree and the cleanup stopped at ground level. Either way, we grind stumps we didn't cut. If the tree is still standing, taking the tree down and grinding the stump can be quoted as one job.

• You mow around it every week, and the mower has found it more than once.
• Somebody has tripped on it, or on the roots around it.
• It keeps sending up sprouts, and you keep cutting them off.
• It's rotting, growing mushrooms and drawing ants.
• You want that spot for a patio, a shed, a fence line or a garden.

Before Any Stump Grinding in Illinois: Call JULIE at 811

A stump grinder cuts into the ground. Gas, electric, water, cable and phone lines run through the ground. So before any grinding, the underground utilities have to be marked. In Illinois that's a free call to JULIE at 811.

Make the request a few days ahead of the job, because the utilities need time to send somebody out. They mark their lines with paint and small flags. Leave the marks alone until the stump is gone.

Here's the part people miss. JULIE covers the utility companies' lines. It doesn't cover what you or a past owner buried: sprinkler pipe, the wire for an invisible dog fence, low-voltage lighting, a gas line out to a grill, a drain pipe off the downspout. If you know where any of that runs, tell us or mark it yourself.

How We Grind a Stump Out, Start to Finish

The grinder throws chips while it works. Keep kids, pets and cars well back, and close any windows near the stump.

• Look it over. We check the utility marks, the stump, the roots you can see and what's close by: fence, walk, foundation, window.
• Clear around it. Landscape rock, edging and anything else at the base gets pulled back. Rock ruins grinder teeth, and a thrown stone is dangerous.
• Cut it low. If the stump was left tall, it gets cut close to the ground with a chainsaw first. Less wood to grind.
• Grind in passes. The cutting wheel on the stump grinder sweeps side to side across the stump, shaving it down a little at a time until it's below the level of the lawn.
• Chase the surface roots. Big roots that hump up through the grass near the stump get ground down too, if that's part of the job.
• Handle the chips. The grindings are raked back into the hole or hauled off, whichever you asked for.
• Rake and sweep. The lawn, the walk and the driveway are cleaned up before we leave.

What Makes Some Stumps Harder to Remove

Width is the big one. A wide stump has a lot more wood in it than a narrow one, and the root flare under the grass is wider still.

The kind of tree matters. Oak, hickory and hard maple are dense, and a fresh stump from one of those fights the grinder. Cottonwood, willow and silver maple are softer, but those trees get huge and throw thick roots across the top of the lawn.

Then there's what's hiding in it. Trees grow around fence wire, old clothesline hooks, nails and chunks of concrete. Stumps in rock beds have stone packed against them. All of that is hard on grinder teeth and slows the job down.

Last is getting to it. The stump grinder has to reach the stump. A narrow gate, a steep slope, steps or a retaining wall can change how the job gets done. Older lake neighborhoods like the ones in Island Lake tend to have smaller lots with houses and fences close together, so we ask about gate width before we give a price.

What's Left After a Stump Is Ground Out

You'll have a shallow hole and a pile of chips mixed with soil. The pile is bigger than people expect, because ground-up wood fluffs out to more than the stump it came from.

You can leave the chips in the hole as mulch. They'll settle as they rot, and the spot will sink a little over time. Or we can haul them away so you can fill the hole with soil. Tell us which you want before we give you the price.

If you want grass there, get most of the chips out first. Fresh wood chips mixed into soil use up nitrogen as they break down, and grass seeded into them comes in thin and yellow. Topsoil and seed are the fix. We don't do that part. It's landscaping, and that's not our line of work.

The roots left underground rot slowly. Now and then you'll see a mushroom or a slight dip along an old root line. That's normal. Some trees also send up sprouts from the leftover roots for a while. Mow them off and they quit.

Thinking about a new tree? We don't plant trees, but here's a tip. Don't put it in the exact same spot. The ground there is full of chips and old roots. Move over a few steps.

What Stump Removal Is Priced On

Quotes are free, and you get one flat price in writing before any grinding starts. We don't publish prices. The number depends on these things.

If you have a row of old ash stumps along the lot line in Round Lake or anywhere else in the county, put the whole row in one photo and they'll be priced together. More on how quotes work is on our pricing page.

One thing to check on any tree quote, ours or anybody's: is the stump included? Taking a tree down and grinding its stump are two different pieces of work. Ask, so there's no surprise later.

• How wide the stump is, and how many there are.
• Where it sits. Open lawn is simple. Tight against a fence, a walk or a foundation is slower.
• Access for the stump grinder: gates, slopes, steps.
• Its condition. Fresh hardwood takes longer than old, soft, rotted wood.
• Whether surface roots are part of the job.
• Whether the chips stay or get hauled away.

Stump Removal Mistakes We See All the Time

Most of these start with trying to save a little money.

• Skipping the 811 call. It's free. Hitting a gas or electric line is not.
• Burning it out. A stump can smolder a long time, and fire can creep along dry roots underground. Your village may not allow open burning anyway.
• Pouring on stump killer and waiting. It's slow, and at the end you still have a stump. Just a softer one.
• Hooking a chain to the truck. Roots hold harder than you'd think. Chains snap and bumpers bend long before a big stump lets go.
• Cutting it flush and covering it with dirt. The wood rots, the ground sinks, and the mushrooms show up anyway.
• Building over it. A patio or shed set on top of a buried stump settles as the wood under it turns to mush.

Permits, Parkway Stumps and Village Rules

The permit question is usually about the tree, not the stump. Many Lake County villages have tree rules, and your village may require a permit before a tree comes down, even on private property. If the tree is still standing, check with village hall first.

Also look at where the stump sits. A stump in the strip between the sidewalk and the street may not be yours to remove. Ask the village before you pay anybody to grind it.

How to Get a Stump Removed in Libertyville and Lake County IL

Text a photo of the stump and your town to (224) 944-8652. Set something next to it for scale, like a shovel or a boot. Tell us how many stumps there are, how wide the gate is, what's close by, and whether you want the chips left or hauled.

Small jobs are quoted from photos, and a stump is usually a small job. You get a written price, you pick a day, the utilities get marked, and the crew grinds it out and cleans up. The crew is insured for tree work.

The crew is based in Libertyville and covers every town in Lake County. A stump in Beach Park gets quoted the same way as one down the street from us: photo, town, written price.

We work Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm, and Sundays by appointment. If you have a list of stumps and a lot to explain, send the details here.