Who does tree work here
Tree work is its own trade. A tree company brings climbers and rigging gear, and usually a bucket truck, a chipper and a stump grinder; for the biggest jobs it may bring in a crane. That's different from:
- Lawn and landscape crews, who prune shrubs and small trees but may not have the gear or the people to take down a 90-foot pine over a roof.
- Alabama Power's line clearance work, which trims along the company's easements where it has a legal right and believes it's needed. After a storm it cuts what it must to restore the lines and leaves the wood for the property owner (checked Nov 12, 2026).
- Stump grinding outfits, which grind but don't fell.
Whoever comes out, the first visit should include a walk around the tree and the ground it stands on. A price given over the phone without seeing the slope, the deck or the wires is a guess.
What to ask about the job
- How will it come down? In one fall, piece by piece, or by crane, and why that way.
- Where will each piece land? And what protects the roof, the deck, the fence, the septic field and the driveway.
- Where will the trucks go? On a sloped or soggy lot, ask whether they'll drive on the lawn, lay mats, or stay on the street and carry brush to the chipper.
- Who deals with the wires? Alabama Power's rule of thumb is 10 feet of clearance from lines under 50,000 volts for anyone who isn't qualified (checked Nov 12, 2026). Ask who contacts the company and when.
- Who calls Alabama 811? Needed before grinding, with at least 2 to 10 full working days' notice (checked Nov 12, 2026).
- What happens to the wood? Hauled away, chipped and left, or cut into firewood rounds. In Pell City, a tree crew can't leave it at the curb (Ordinance 2017-4778).
- What about the stump? Ground or left, how deep, and what happens to the chips.
- If it's a pine with beetles, will they look at the pines within 20 yards? Alabama Extension says those are at the greatest risk.
- When? A start window, and what happens if weather pushes it back.
- What does "cleaned up" mean? Raked, blown, sawdust left, ruts repaired or not.
Putting the job in writing
A short written agreement prevents most arguments. It should name:
- The address and each tree, by location ("the water oak behind the garage") and, if you like, by a ribbon tied around it.
- The method and anything special: rope lowering over the roof, a crane, mats on the lawn.
- What's included: felling, limb and trunk removal, chipping, hauling, stump grinding and its depth, cleanup.
- Who requests the Alabama 811 locate, who contacts Alabama Power about lines, and on a lake lot, who applies to Alabama Power's shoreline office.
- Where the wood goes, and whether you're keeping any firewood.
- The total price, and anything that could change it, such as rot found inside the trunk.
- When payment is due, and how much, if any, up front.
- The start window.
- If the sale was made at your home, the "BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL" notice Alabama law requires.
Deposits and payment
No Alabama cap on deposits for home repair work turned up for this site. What the Alabama Department of Insurance tells storm victims is to be cautious with contractors who ask for large payments up front, or whose prices seem unusually low (checked Nov 12, 2026). The usual way to keep it simple is to pay little or nothing until the work starts, pay the balance when the job and the cleanup are finished, and get a receipt.
When the offer comes to your door
After a storm, crews sometimes go door to door. Alabama's home solicitation law, Ala. Code § 5-19-12, covers sales solicited at your home (checked Nov 12, 2026):
- You can cancel until midnight of the third business day after you sign.
- The agreement must carry a conspicuous "BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL" notice, which begins: "If this agreement was solicited at your residence and you do not want the goods or services." The seller may use the federal cooling-off notice instead.
- If the required notice isn't given, you can cancel for up to a year.
- After you cancel, the seller must return your payments within 10 days.
- In a real emergency you can give up the three days, but only by giving the seller a separate, dated and signed personal statement that describes the emergency. Printed waiver forms aren't allowed.
So a crew that hands you a printed form saying you waive your right to cancel is handing you something the law doesn't permit.
Prices after a declared emergency
Ala. Code § 8-31-3 makes it unlawful, during a state of emergency declared by the governor or the legislature, to charge unconscionable prices for any commodity, rental or service in the affected area, and storm tree work is a service. Section 8-31-4 adds a yardstick for commodities and rental facilities: a price 25 percent or more above the average in the 30 days before the declaration is prima facie evidence of an unconscionable price, unless reasonable costs explain it. That 25 percent test doesn't mention services (checked Nov 12, 2026).
Report a problem to the Alabama Attorney General's consumer hotline, 1-800-392-5658 or 334-242-7335, or through its online complaint form (checked Nov 12, 2026).
When insurance is part of it
If your homeowner's policy is paying for a tree on the house, the Alabama Department of Insurance says to contact your insurer or agent right away, photograph the damage, make only the repairs needed to prevent further damage, keep receipts, and get any denial in writing. Generally, a homeowners policy covers up to $500 toward tree removal per event, with removal from the house itself handled under dwelling coverage (checked Nov 12, 2026). Share the contractor's written price with your adjuster before the big work starts. Its Consumer Services line is (334) 269-3550.
Extra steps on a Logan Martin lot
On a lake lot, the tree may stand on Alabama Power's land, inside the 15-foot buffer where removing a tree over 3 inches across needs the company's written authorization and "Verbal approval is not sufficient." Its permit application asks for any HOA or architectural review approvals, and Alabama Power says permits can take 30 days or more (checked Nov 12, 2026). Put in writing who applies and don't let work start until the permit is in hand. See trees on Logan Martin lake lots.
Where tree jobs go sideways
- The price didn't say who hauls. In Pell City the curb isn't an option for a tree crew, so the logs sit in the yard.
- The stump was never in the deal. Removal finished, stump still there.
- Nobody called 811. A grinder found the line instead.
- The tree was in the buffer. Cut without Alabama Power's written authorization.
- The tree was the neighbor's. Ala. Code § 35-14-1 makes someone who willfully and knowingly cuts another person's trees without consent pay a set sum per tree.
- Everything was paid up front. Then the schedule slipped.
- A form signed at the door. Read it; your three-day right may be in it.
Hiring questions from St. Clair County
Who will I be dealing with if I send a request from this site?
One independent contractor who works in Pell City and around St. Clair County. The site passes on your request and does no tree work. The price, the schedule and the agreement are between you and that contractor.
Is a deposit normal?
No Alabama rule on that turned up. The state's insurance department urges caution with large upfront payments; paying the balance when the job and cleanup are done is the safer pattern.
I signed with a storm crew at my door yesterday. Can I back out?
Under Ala. Code § 5-19-12 you can cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, unless you waived that right with your own separate, dated and signed statement describing an emergency.
Who should call Alabama 811, me or the contractor?
Either can, as long as it's done before grinding or digging. Write down who's responsible.
This site does no tree work and sets no prices. A request sent from it reaches one independent contractor who works in St. Clair County, and any agreement is between you and that contractor.
Source notes
- Ala. Code § 5-19-12, § 8-31-3 and § 8-31-4 (2025 Code); § 35-14-1. Checked Nov 12, 2026.
- Alabama Attorney General, Consumer Complaint; Alabama Department of Insurance, An Insurance Preparedness Guide for Natural Disasters. Checked Nov 12, 2026.
- Alabama Power, Trees and Rights of Way, Residential Vegetation Management, shoreline guidelines, Permits and permitting post. Checked Nov 12, 2026.
- Alabama 811, al811.com; City of Pell City, Ordinance No. 2017-4778; Alabama Extension, Managing Pine Bark Beetles in Urban Forests (FOR-2049). Checked Nov 12, 2026.