When To Hire A Professional For Hurricane Cleanup

When do you hire a professional to clean up the mess in your yard after a hurricane and when do you do it yourself? As a homeowner, the only jobs you should tackle are ones that you can do from the ground. In all other scenarios you should hire someone who knows what they're doing.

Hire a tree care professional for taking down trees in open areas and removing dead or dangerous limbs. Before you hire a tree care professional, make sure they have the right equipment and enough insurance to work in such conditions.

Hire a certified arborist if you need to remove a leaning tree or broken limbs very close to a house or other objects. These professionals are also trained to remove reaching limbs that you have to climb to access, to restore damaged trees that can be saved, and for pruning. Certified arborists have advanced training - make sure you hire someone who is ISA certified.

Certified arborists are specially certified to deal with electrical hazards. Because tree roots often disturb underground utilities and pull down power lines during a hurricane, specialists are the only ones trained to handle this type of job. Electrical wiring and flooding creates a dangerous combination that can be only handled by professionals. Only qualified line clearance arborists are allowed to work with electrical utilities.

If you need to call someone to remove a tree from a power line, call the power company and report any tree limbs that need to be removed. Always treat power lines as energized and never touch them. Electrocution is a real danger you have to watch out for, so leave it to the professionals.

Hiring an arborist is recommended in most cases, and worth the money if you want to save as many trees on your property as you can, and sustain the value of your property. Well-maintained trees are a great asset, but if they are not properly maintained or become diseased they can actually become a liability.

It's important to realize, however, that not all arborists are created equal. Scammers often try to take advantage of people in vulnerable situations and may attempt to get hired even though they're not qualified to do the job. They want to make a quick buck and "help" homeowners clean up after a storm. If you do some research ahead of time and find a qualified arborist before you run into problems, you'll save yourself a lot of time, trouble, and money.

When interviewing an arborist, make sure you ask some important questions. Ask if they are properly insured for property damage, personal liability, and worker's compensation. It's not a good idea to hire an uninsured company because if something goes wrong, you will have to cover medical bills and/or lost wages for any injured workers.

Also, make sure they are certified by the International Society of Aboriculture. You can only become certified under the ISA if you have professional experience and up-to-date knowledge. Arborists in this association have to attend training courses and continue their education to keep up with the latest trends.