What to Do When a Tree Falls On Your Home

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What to Do When a Tree Falls On Your Home

What to Do When a Tree Falls On Your Home

Storms have haunted people since the beginning of time. They can be loud as the thunder rolls over your world and lightning strikes the ground with one billion volts of electricity, which is more than five times hotter than the sun, and the rain can be pounding to the point of devastation. Hail can cause millions of dollars of damage in just minutes, and the water dumped in a violent storm can lead to flash floods. Furthermore, the wind can move objects across an entire city when it begins to blow at intense speeds.

These forces combine to affect everything in its path, including trees. While trees have deep roots, as you can see, storms can be much more powerful, ripping trees up and even moving them great distances. This can impact you, especially if a tree or a large tree branch falls on your home.

J & S Tree Service serves the Chicago area with the best tree trimming, tree removal, and stump removal services around. For your every day tree care needs, give us a call. In this blog post, we’ll go over the steps to take when a tree falls on your home or business. Contact us today for all your tree service needs!

WHAT TO DO WHEN A TREE FALLS ON YOUR HOME

  • Don’t panic. After checking to make sure your family and pets are safe, you need to get out as quickly and as safely as possible, doing your best to avoid the part of the house that the tree fell on. If no one was home at the time the tree fell, do not under any circumstances enter the house until after professionals come. Anytime something that big falls down, major structural damage can be done to your home or office.
  • Call 911 if electrical lines are involved. If your tree fell on electrical lines, this poses a major electrical hazard and a potential chance of fire. Turn off the power to your home if you can so safely, and then call your local electrical company for emergency and immediate remediation services. You’ll also need to call the authorities in case a street needs to be cordoned off. The fire department may also be called for standby services in case a fire does break out.
  • Shut off the gas lines. Because gas lines are usually buried, a tree’s roots could have damaged it if the entire stump of the tree is exposed. As a precaution, J & S Tree Service recommends you shut off the gas service to your home as well, and give your gas company a call. They may know off-hand if they were damaged or not, or they may have to send a service technician out to check it out.
  • Call an emergency tree removal service. A 24 hour emergency tree removal service, such as J & S Tree Service in Chicago, can come out right away and take a look at the damage your home has sustained. We will work quickly to remove the tree from your home as safely and as carefully as possible so as not to cause any further damage to your home. After the tree has been removed, it will depend on how much damage it has done to your home to determine safe entry. You will probably need to call a roofing company for roof repair as well as a window installer if windows were broken. If there is a gaping hole in your home, you’ll have to call a builder or a contractor who can put on a temporary patch, ensure structural soundness for liveability, and then wait for major repairs.
  • Take photos. You’ll need to show the damage to your insurance company in order to get your home repairs covered. Make sure you take photos as soon as possible while the tree is still on your home so there are no questions as to the claim. Video also works. You can have your roofer take photos of any roofing damage for your claim. You don’t want to be climbing all around on an unstable roof, only to injure yourself. Save all receipts from the emergency work and contracted work you’ll have done for the insurance company.
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  • Call the insurance company. J & S Tree Service in Chicago recommends you next call your insurance company. They will most likely send out a claim adjuster to see the damage in person, or they may ask you to get several estimates for repairs. Most forces of nature, such as hail, ice storms, high winds, trees falling on your home, tornado damage, and hurricane damage, will be covered under your homeowner’s policy. However, if you were cutting the tree down yourself instead of calling in a professional tree removal service, such as J & S Tree Service in Chicago, then most likely you will be liable for that damage.
  • Wait on permanent repairs until your claim is approved. Some insurance policies have limits on repair service costs. In that case, you’ll be responsible for the amount they don’t cover. If the costs are a lot higher than the insurance company allows for, there is an appeal process you can go through to show that all estimates cost that much for repair services. Then the insurance company will usually cover the full amount (minus your deductible) of your repairs. The important thing is to track your repair purchases with estimates and receipts of repair costs.
  • Have your repairs done. Schedule your repairs; submit your receipts, and then you’re good to go on your home repair needs.
  • Plant a new tree. Trees are the lifeblood of this planet, and no one likes to see these gentle giants fall down. However, such is the cycle of life. The best thing you can do when you lose a tree is to replace it. Choose either a small sapling or a larger, more established one. Water it. Nourish it. Love it. It will grow strong to shelter your home from all that Mother Nature will throw at you. Your kids can then climb its branches. You and your dog can rest in its shade, and even have a picnic. You can watch the birds raise their young, or see a raccoon run stealthily up when you surprise it in the middle of the night. You’ll enjoy it’s fall foliage, and it’s stark branches in the winter. You’ll enjoy the essence of a tree.

HOW J & S TREE SERVICE IN CHICAGO CAN HELP

J & S Tree Service in Chicago loves trees. These living organisms are vital to the survival of all living species since they take out the carbon dioxide in the air and replace it with oxygen, in essence, being our great air recyclers. Not only do they give us air to breathe, but they also provide shade on a hot, sunny day, a home for countless animals, including squirrels, song birds, and the great bald eagle, and an indescribable splash of color on a perfect fall day.

Trees are something we cannot take for granted and need to be cared for like all creations on this planet. J & S Tree Service takes pride in helping those unsung heroes who stand tall day after day and offer hope when hope is gone. Contact us today for care of your residential or commercial trees!

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