Hiring a Tree Service in Dawsonville, GA

1What Georgia licenses

The Georgia Secretary of State's licensing division lists its professional licensing boards, and the list includes the Georgia State Board of Registration for Foresters, Landscape Architects, Residential and Commercial General Contractors and Utility Contractors. It does not include a board for tree services or arborists. We found no Georgia state license for tree removal companies, so do not expect a state license number from a tree service.

Arborist certifications from private professional organizations exist, but they are not state licenses, and this page does not rely on any private body's rules. Georgia Power says the contractors who prune for it follow ANSI and ISA standards, which is one way to frame the question of how a crew prunes.

2Questions about the job

Ask for a written scope: which trees, cut to what height, whether stumps are ground or left, whether wood and brush are hauled, chipped or left, and how the yard is protected. Ask whether the job will disturb enough soil, or come close enough to a creek, to need a Dawson County Land Disturbance Permit, and who will apply. Ask whether the crew will work on a city right-of-way, which needs a City of Dawsonville encroachment permit with 48 hours' notice. Ask whether they will call Georgia 811 before grinding stumps.

If any tree is near a power line, ask how they will handle it and whether the utility needs to be involved first.

3Questions about risk

Tree work is dangerous, and the City of Dawsonville's encroachment form shows how seriously governments take it: it makes the applicant indemnify the city for damage or injury caused by cutting or removing trees on the right-of-way. On private property, the same risk falls on whoever hires the crew if things go wrong. Ask for current certificates of liability and workers' compensation insurance, and ask the insurer to confirm them.

Get the price in writing before work starts, and pay for finished work rather than in full up front.

4A short checklist

Confirm whether the property is inside the City of Dawsonville or in unincorporated Dawson County. Note how much ground the work will disturb and how close it comes to any creek, stream, pond or the lake. Check the subdivision's first plat date if the lot is in one. Look for power lines above the trees and call the utility on your bill if any tree is near them. Call Georgia 811 before any stump grinding or digging. Decide whether wood and brush will be chipped, hauled or burned, and check the burn permit rules if burning. Get written quotes that list the trees, the stumps, the debris and any permits. Ask for proof of insurance. Photograph the site before and after the work, and keep every permit, receipt and approval together.

5Keep a record

Start a single folder, paper or digital, for the job. Put in it the photos, the quotes, any permit or encroachment approval, the utility's reference number if you reported an outage, the insurer's claim number and the names of everyone you dealt with. Note dates. After the work, add the final invoice and photos of the finished site. A record like this helps with an insurance claim, with a question from the county or city, and with a buyer years from now who asks why a tree is gone or where a stump was ground.

6Comparing quotes

Ask each provider to put in writing what they will do: which trees come down, how they will be felled or lowered, whether stumps are ground and how deep, and whether wood, brush and chips are hauled away, chipped on site or left for you. A quote that leaves out stump grinding or debris removal is not comparable with one that includes them. Ask how long the job will take, what equipment will cross the lawn or driveway, and how damage to turf, fences or pavement will be handled. Ask whether any permit, encroachment approval or utility coordination is included, or whether that falls to you. Ask for proof of insurance and keep a copy. When the quotes are side by side, compare the scope first and the price second.

7Prepare for the next storm

Walk the property after leaf drop, when the structure of each tree is easiest to see, and note trees with dead tops, large dead limbs, cracks, cavities, mushrooms at the base or a new lean. Look up for limbs hanging over the roof, the driveway and the service line to the house. Keep the utility's outage numbers, your insurer's claim line and your policy number where you can reach them without power. Photograph your house and yard now so you have a record of how things looked before a storm. If a tree worries you, have it looked at in calm weather, when scheduling is easier and there is time to compare quotes.

8After a storm

After storms, crews arrive from out of the area and some knock on doors. Take your time. Georgia's insurance commissioner's office advises photographing damage, making only temporary repairs, not making permanent repairs before inspection, keeping receipts, and asking the adjuster for an itemized explanation of any settlement. It also says the standard policy covers removal of a wind-fallen tree only when the tree damages covered property, up to a capped amount. See the insurance page and the storm guide.

For a timber sale rather than a removal, a registered forester can be checked through the Secretary of State; see the timber page.