Should I put a tarp on the roof myself after a tree falls on it?

No. A roof that has taken a tree strike has weak points you cannot see from above, and people fall through them. Have a roofing or restoration contractor tarp it. Emergency mitigation is usually covered by homeowners insurance.

The tree came from my neighbor's yard. Who pays for the damage?

In North Carolina the damage is usually handled by the policy on the house that was hit, regardless of whose yard the tree grew in. A neighbor becomes liable mainly when the tree was visibly hazardous, they were notified, and they did nothing.

Do I need a permit to remove a storm-damaged tree in Durham, NC?

For a residential property in Durham, almost always no. Permits mainly come into play with building projects and protected trees.

What to do in the first hour after a tree falls on your house in Durham

Kendrick Hunter

Sep 2

7 min read

By Kendrick Hunter, owner of Hunter Excavating in Durham, NC.

Short version: get everybody out of the house, stay away from anything touching a power line, photograph the damage before you move a single branch, then call your insurance company and a tree crew, in that order. Do not climb on the roof. Do not start a chainsaw.

I have been pulling trees off houses around Durham for years now. The calls come in clusters. A line of thunderstorms rolls through on a July afternoon, and my phone rings six times before dinner. An ice storm coats everything overnight in February, and I spend the next week doing nothing but this. The pattern I see every time is that the first hour is when people make the decisions that cost them money later, usually because nobody told them what the sequence is supposed to be.

So here is the sequence.

Minutes 0 to 5: get out and stay out

If a tree is on your roof, the house is not safe, even if it looks fine from inside. A big water oak or willow oak coming down puts several thousand pounds on framing that was never designed for it. I have walked into Durham houses where the ceiling looked intact and the ridge beam was already cracked. You cannot see that from the living room.

Get everyone out, including pets. Go to a neighbor's house or sit in the car. Then look up and around before you walk anywhere in the yard.

If any part of that tree is touching a power line, or if a line is down anywhere near it, treat the whole area as live. That includes the tree, the branches, the fence it fell on, and any puddle near it. Duke Energy's number for reporting downed lines in North Carolina is 800-769-3766. Call them, then call 911 if a line is across a road or arcing. Nobody works that tree until the utility has been out and killed the power. That is not a formality, and it is not something a tree company can shortcut.

Minutes 5 to 15: do not go back in for your stuff

People do this constantly. The laptop is on the kitchen table, the tree is on the other side of the house, and it feels ridiculous to leave a laptop behind. I understand the impulse. Do not do it.

Two reasons. Ceilings that have taken a hit fail in the hours after, not during. And a tree that punched through a roof has likely torn something in the attic: a gas line running to a furnace, a service entrance, an old knob-and-tube run in one of the pre-war houses over in Trinity Park or Old North Durham. If you smell gas, get further away and call 911 from outside.

Shut off the main breaker only if the panel is somewhere you can reach without going near the damage. If it is not, leave it and tell the fire department when they arrive.

Minutes 15 to 30: photograph everything before anyone touches it

This is the step that pays for itself and the one people skip because they are rattled.

Stand in the street and take wide shots of the whole house. Then walk the perimeter, at a safe distance, and take more. Get the base of the tree, the root plate if it pulled out of the ground, the point where it hit, and the interior damage if you can see it through a window or an open doorway you do not have to walk under. Video is better than nothing if you are shaking too much to frame a photo.

Adjusters want to see the scene before cleanup. Once my crew has cut that tree into rounds and hauled it off, the evidence is gone, and you are left arguing about what the damage looked like. I have had customers lose real money over this. Two minutes of phone footage prevents it.

While you are at it, note the time and what the weather was doing.

Minutes 30 to 45: call your insurance company

Most homeowners policies in North Carolina cover removal of a tree when it damages a covered structure, and they usually cover the repair of the structure itself. The same policy often will not pay to remove a tree that fell in your yard and hit nothing. That surprises people every single time. Read your declarations page or ask the agent directly, because the limits and the deductible vary and I am a tree guy, not your adjuster.

Ask them three specific things when you call:

Whether they want to send an adjuster before removal, or whether emergency mitigation is authorized immediately
What the limit is for tree debris removal specifically, since that is often a separate sublimit from the dwelling coverage
Whether they need you to use a particular vendor

Most carriers will tell you to go ahead and stop further damage. Emergency mitigation, tarping a hole, getting the weight off the structure, is normally covered and normally expected of you. Waiting three days for an adjuster while rain runs through the hole is how a roof repair turns into a drywall, insulation, and mold job.

Keep every receipt.

Minutes 45 to 60: call a tree company, and ask the right questions

Now you call someone like us. When you do, have this ready: your address, roughly how big the tree is, what it landed on, and whether power lines are involved. That tells me whether I am bringing a crane, a bucket truck, or a hand crew, and it tells me how fast I need to get there.

Ask whoever you call for their certificate of insurance, and ask for it before they start. General liability and workers' comp. If a crew member gets hurt on your roof and the company has no comp coverage, that can land on your homeowners policy. Any legitimate outfit will send you the certificate without being annoyed about it.

Ask whether the price includes hauling the debris and grinding the stump, or whether those are separate. This is where quotes stop being comparable. I wrote a whole post on reading a tree removal quote for exactly this reason.

And be careful with door knockers. After a bad storm the Triangle fills up with out-of-state trucks going house to house with cash prices and no paperwork. NC State Extension makes the same point in its guidance on storm-damaged trees, and it is worth repeating: never pay in advance, and never let yourself be rushed into signing something in your driveway.

What we actually do when we pull up

We do not start cutting. First thing is a walk-around to figure out where the load is. A tree lying on a roof is holding tension, and if you cut in the wrong order the trunk rolls and takes more of the house with it. On a house in Hope Valley last spring, a pine had come down across the ridge and the whole thing was balanced on the chimney. Cut the top off first and it would have pivoted straight through the master bedroom. We rigged it, took the weight with the crane, and removed it in sections from the far end.

That is the difference between a tree crew and a guy with a saw. The saw part is easy. Knowing what the tree is going to do when you cut it is the job.

After that we get the weight off, tarp what we can, clear the debris, and haul it. Stump grinding usually happens on the same visit if the root plate is out of the ground. Then we get out of the way so your roofer can start.

If your yard got chewed up by the root plate coming out or by us getting equipment in, we handle grading and drainage too, so that does not have to be a second contractor and a second phone call.

Questions we get after a tree hits a house

Should I put a tarp on the roof myself?

No. Roofs after a tree strike have soft spots you cannot see, and people fall through them. If the hole is small and it is going to rain, a roofing contractor or a restoration company can tarp it properly and safely. That cost is usually part of your emergency mitigation coverage.

How fast can you get here?

Depends on what else is going on. On a normal day we can usually get out to look the same day. During a widespread storm, when half of Durham calls at once, we triage by danger: trees on occupied structures first, then trees threatening structures, then everything else. Call and tell us exactly what happened so we can place you correctly.

The tree came from my neighbor's yard. Who pays?

In North Carolina this usually falls to your own insurance if it hit your house, regardless of whose yard it grew in. Your neighbor becomes responsible mainly when the tree was visibly hazardous and they were told about it and did nothing. If you had already sent them a text about that dead pine, save it.

Can the tree be saved if it only partly failed?

Sometimes. If the trunk is intact, the roots are still in the ground, and there are enough live limbs, a tree that lost its top can recover with proper pruning. If the root plate has lifted or the trunk is split, it comes out. We will tell you which one you have and we do not pretend a dead tree is savable to sell you pruning.

Do I need a permit to remove it?

For a residential property in Durham, almost always no. We covered the details in our post on Durham tree removal permits.

If it just happened

Get out of the house, stay clear of anything near a line, photograph it, call your insurer, then call us.

Hunter Excavating 1904 Front St Suite 410, Durham, NC 27705 (336) 988-7585 Hunterexcavatingllc@gmail.com

We are a veteran-owned crew based in Durham and we work across the Triangle, including Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, and Mebane. More on our tree removal services in Durham, NC, including stump grinding, trimming, and lot clearing.