Tree Trouble

Trees on East Side of Our Backyard

We love the trees on our lot in Denton. There are lots of trees throughout the neighborhood. It's like living in an urban forest.

Unfortunately, we have one tree (a pretty Pecan) that is literally touching the house. That Pecan tree and a Hackberry tree (the two trees in the background of the picture near the house) are both right where we want to add our master bedroom and bathroom.

Even if we weren't planning to build an addition, our homeowners insurance company has informed us that we must remove the Pecan tree that is touching the house, or they will cancel our policy.

So, I called a couple of tree service companies and scheduled them to come give us an estimate for removing the trees.

When the first company showed up (a local Denton company), she informed me that we should probably also remove a third Hackberry tree (shown in the foreground of the picture) since it was already hollow in the middle and beginning to rot. It will be easier to take it out now, rather than wait until after we add the addition. Then, the space will be tighter and there will be a risk that the tree might come down in a storm and hit the new addition.

Luckily, they have enough room on the west side of our house to get their equipment in the backyard to take out the trees.

Not so luckily, the cost to remove all three trees is quite high ($7,000 plus tax). Yikes!

I have a different tree service coming on Monday to get another estimate, but it looks like removing these trees is going to be expensive.

Ouch.