Tragically, the first death caused by Hurricane Ida’s landfall in Louisiana occurred due to a falling tree. Notably, 100 deaths happen when trees fall every year, and that figure does not include all the other injuries and accidents they cause. Scheduling an annual tree inspection helps prevent those unnecessary deaths while protecting your home and neighborhood. Trees and limbs fall for many reasons, including inadequate root systems, saturated soil, extensive insect damage, disease, and drought.
Ideally, the builder consulted an arborist before installing any landscaping, and contractors placed trees and shrubs far enough from the house based on the maximum diameter and height each reaches. If not, tree overgrowth eventually causes serious problems.
Annual tree inspections protect you from:
- Power outages
- Roof damage
- Widowmakers
- Reduced Home Value
- Liability
Power Outages
No one wants the responsibility of causing a power outage, but uprooted trees and falling limbs often go hand in glove with winter ice storms. Besides putting emergency services personnel and power company linemen at risk, downed power lines lead to medical emergencies when people using oxygen other medical devices lack backup power sources.
Roof Damage
Tree branches encroaching on gutters or hanging over your roof can destroy your home in an instant. An annual tree inspection by a professional arborist can identify the potential damage. They’ll be able to correctly remove the branch so that its removal does not result in waterspouts or further damage to the tree in question.
Widowmakers
Widowmakers, the larger, older limbs, can break off and kill pets or children. In addition, these limbs can easily crush cars and other vehicles, smash sheds, and other outbuildings. They can also destroy decorative features such as pergolas and shade structures, lawn and garden statues, fences, and decks.
Reduced Home Value
Downed trees reduce your home’s curb appeal and ability to regulate temperature due to losing its shade and wind-breaking. Even after removing stumps and branches and clearing away loose soil, your home could lose value, especially if the tree was a valuable species.
Liability
Diseased trees can topple power lines or telephone poles, depending on their size. If they fall as vehicles approach, limbs and uprooted trees cause serious accidents. Additionally, even if the tree does not hit a car, the blockage could cause loss of life when emergency services cannot reach anyone past the obstruction. As the homeowner, liability for injuries and damage falls on your shoulders.
Avoid these issues from developing on your property. Call Freedom Tree Service today to schedule your annual tree inspection.