Tree Removal in Duncan

How do we decide whether your tree comes down, and how it comes down?

We check five things before we call a tree a hazard: a lean that's changed recently, bark that's missing or come loose, fungal conks on the trunk or root flare, limbs that are cracked or hanging, and root heave in the soil around the base. Two or three together usually means the tree comes down instead of getting pruned.

In Duncan, a permit kicks in when a tree trunk hits 30 cm in diameter. That limit drops to 20 cm for Douglas fir, western red cedar, grand fir and big leaf maple. If we confirm a hazard, the City waives the permit fee — you still pay a refundable security tied to the replacement tree. North Cowichan has no tree bylaw, but a Development Permit Area over natural or hazard-prone land can still limit what comes down. We check your address first so you know where you stand.

Federal and provincial law both protect active bird nests, and the local nesting window runs from late March through mid-August. We check for nests before we cut in that window, no matter how urgent the job feels. If your property backs onto a watercourse, we also check the floodplain rule that protects the root systems holding the bank together.

One boxed in by your house, a fence or your neighbour's yard doesn't — we rig it and bring it down in sections instead, one cut at a time, under control. Where the tree is healthy enough to keep, we prune it to the ANSI A300 standard instead of taking it down. Before we cut anywhere near a power line or a buried line, we call BC Hydro so the crew knows exactly where those lines run.

We haul away the rounds, brush and chips when we're done, or we leave them for you as firewood or mulch — either way, that's already priced into your quote, not added after. A stump comes down 15 to 25 centimetres below grade as standard, and we grind deeper on request when you're planning a deck footing or a new tree in the same spot. How easily we can get the grinder to the stump usually matters more to scheduling than the stump's own size.

Every crew member works to WorkSafeBC standards, and we carry insurance on every job, hazard or routine. An emergency call during an active winter storm runs 50 to 100 percent over our standard rates because our crew works in hazardous conditions and tough access.

We put the hazard call in writing ourselves, file the permit paperwork when one applies, and make the BC Hydro call before you ever have to think about it.

Give us the species if you know it, roughly how tall the tree is, which way it leans, and what's nearby — a fence, a deck, a power line. We take it from there, walk the property, and come back with a flat-rate price you can hold us to.

There's no separate government licence for arborists in this province. Our crew carries ISA certification, insurance and follows WorkSafeBC standards on every job.