# Grass is buried - how long do I have?



## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

I was leaving my house this morning when I saw the tree guy I hired a couple days ago dumping the logs back on my yard. Yes, I payed him and thought everything was all square but guess he wasn't happy I didn't pay full price for dropping one on my yard.

So, my question is, will the grass under all this be ok until Monday? That's the soonest I can have somebody out to clean it up.


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## david_ (Aug 22, 2019)

Wow. I think it'll be fine for Monday but I'd shovel/rake what you can onto the street.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

https://www.wtvm.com/story/16538804/how-the-castle-law-protects-you-from-intruders/

Hope this helps


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## cbagz (May 12, 2020)

SCGrassMan said:


> https://www.wtvm.com/story/16538804/how-the-castle-law-protects-you-from-intruders/
> 
> Hope this helps


???? 
Hmmmm so did the tree chopper dude come inside your home and that's your defense is castle doctrine?
Me thinks you need an attorney and not worry about the grass at the moment


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

cbagz said:


> SCGrassMan said:
> 
> 
> > https://www.wtvm.com/story/16538804/how-the-castle-law-protects-you-from-intruders/
> ...


Knock on wood, but he hasn't come inside my home yet. He seems like he'd be the kind of person who would though. I'll be investing in some security camera's in the very near future. I've also got a 2 year old 75lb bluetick coonhound who's got a mean bark/howl


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## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

Let me get this right. You hired a guy, he chopped a tree down and took all the tree/wood with him. He didn't get paid what he wanted so he came back to your house and dumped a bunch of logs in your yard? @\


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

rjw0283 said:


> Let me get this right. You hired a guy, he chopped a tree down and took all the tree/wood with him. He didn't get paid what he wanted so he came back to your house and dumped a bunch of logs in your yard? @\


Pretty much. He was supposed to cut down 6 total but after he did this to my yard I told him I did not want him to finish the job. The last two trees were the biggest and one is between two houses and I didn't trust him at that point. He drove back to may house later that evening and got in his bobcat saying "So this is how it's gonna be?" My neighbors were all watching and called the police. I told him i'd give him $750 once he hauled them off, which he did yesterday morning. And then this morning he drove them back over and dumped everything on my lawn.


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## Tjstampa (Nov 16, 2020)

That looks like illegal dumping to me.


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## Tjstampa (Nov 16, 2020)

That looks like illegal dumping to me. I would file police report and complain to the BBB and pissedoffcustamer.com


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

Tjstampa said:


> That looks like illegal dumping to me.


That's what he's been charged with by the City.


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## SeanBB (Jul 11, 2020)

That is unbelievable. Holy smokes!


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

Damn talk about bad blood.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

I'm sorry this happened, but I'm very thankful to learn about these kind of events. I honestly never imagined someone could be so butthurt that they would bring back material they already removed. Owning a house has been a real eye opener for me.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

What company or service was this?? Be sure to share how awful they are.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

FATC1TY said:


> What company or service was this?? Be sure to share how awful they are.


The company was Trees of Georgia. They have good google reviews but if you look at facebook and other social media reviews it sounds like this is typical behavior from them/him.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

cbagz said:


> SCGrassMan said:
> 
> 
> > https://www.wtvm.com/story/16538804/how-the-castle-law-protects-you-from-intruders/
> ...


Cant speak for GA, but in SC where I am, your castle begins at the property line or the car window, depending on the scenario.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

SCGrassMan said:


> cbagz said:
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> > SCGrassMan said:
> ...


I did not see where the OP described an imminent threat of severe injury or death, so this is entirely off topic.


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## McDiddles (Feb 24, 2020)

speechless!

If you need someone. https://www.arbor-nomics.com/tree-removal/ not sure if they cover your area but they've done great work at my place several times.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Ware said:


> SCGrassMan said:
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> > cbagz said:
> ...


Sorry. You can delete if you wish.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Lawn Smith said:


> ...guess he wasn't happy I didn't pay full price for dropping one on my yard...


This bothers me a little. He definitely shouldn't have dumped the waste back onto your lawn and into the street, but if you didn't pay him for what you initially agreed upon, I don't think you're completely innocent in this matter.

I'm as OCD as they come when it comes to my lawn, but that photo you posted of the damage really doesn't look that bad to me considering the type of work/size of the trees. Honestly, I probably would have expected worse.



Lawn Smith said:


>


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## BobRoss (Jul 3, 2019)

Those are some big trees. Did you expect them not to do any damage to the ground when they fell? I can imagine he would be upset and now he just passed the dumping fees onto you since you wouldn't pay him the agreed amount.

I highly doubt you have any ground to stand on either if you took him to small claims court.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

BobRoss said:


> Those are some big trees. Did you expect them not to do any damage to the ground when they fell? I can imagine he would be upset and now he just passed the dumping fees onto you since you wouldn't pay him the agreed amount.
> 
> I highly doubt you have any ground to stand on either if you took him to small claims court.


Why would I pay him full price if he didn't cut down everything in the agreement? $750 was more than fair for 2 hours of work. The guy is careless and shouldn't be cutting down tree's that way. I was extremely lucky he didn't break a utility line and have no problem firing somebody who simply didn't care and would never pay to have a utility line fixed. I had to look out for my own best interest and that was to fire him.

I also don't plan to take him to court either. He'll be fined for illegal dumping and that's all I care about. I'll pay somebody else to have the chips and logs removed when they cut down the last two trees on Monday.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Lawn Smith said:


> Why would I pay him full price if he didn't cut down everything in the agreement?


But you said you did not let him finish...



Lawn Smith said:


> ...He was supposed to cut down 6 total but after he did this to my yard I told him I did not want him to finish the job....


So you did not really hold up your end of the agreement either.

As for the dents in the lawn - you hired a tree service, not a trim carpenter. I think your expectations may have been a bit unreasonable. I'm still not seeing anything a couple bags of play sand would not have fixed.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

Ware said:


> Lawn Smith said:
> 
> 
> > Why would I pay him full price if he didn't cut down everything in the agreement?
> ...


These holes are more than dents. To give you an idea, I've got 4 bags of mason sand in one of them and it probably needs at least 3 more. I knew I wasn't having a surgeon cut down these tree's but if you can't fall a tree close to the intended target and aren't removing branches that act like giant spears, then you shouldn't be cutting down any tree period.

There's a reason you have to call 811 to have utilities marked before you dig. While he wasn't digging, he was dropping trees with branches on top of utility lines. I don't care what anybody says, if somebody was doing that in your yard you would have told them to stop as well.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

As someone who has made this same mistake, hopefully you will hire a proper tree company next time around. I had a $750 tree guy put a tree into the side of my house causing another $750 worth of damage.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

SCGrassMan said:


> As someone who has made this same mistake, hopefully you will hire a proper tree company next time around. I had a $750 tree guy put a tree into the side of my house causing another $750 worth of damage.


That's exactly what I was trying to avoid. I don't think firing a company mid job is that big of a deal. I have every right to do so if I think they're being careless and unsafe. Add in a terrible attitude by the owner and I think you'd be the idiot not to fire them.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

If you're getting quoted less than $800-$1000 a tree to have it removed, keep shopping.


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## x Wild Bill x (Aug 17, 2018)

Ware said:


> Lawn Smith said:
> 
> 
> > Why would I pay him full price if he didn't cut down everything in the agreement?
> ...


Ware, if you see his other thread "Tree fell on yard" he gives more detail. The tree company felled the tree the wrong direction which put the large dents / holes in his lawn as well as apparently almost taking out some utility lines. Sounds like if the company had felled the tree in the proper direction / area then the OP would not have been too upset as it would not have caused this damage. Maybe it was a summation of frustrations for the OP caused him to "fire" the company, can't say I blame him.


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## NeVs (Aug 17, 2018)

I worked with a 78 year old vet, reconstructed knees, shoulders back. Pins in his neck etc... He showed me videos and pictures of his normal tree felling services. He prefers the big jobs but really liked talking to me on the phone and came to help me with my baby oaks lol.

Tree felling is an art. And if done right with pullies nothing should be dropped. Arborists like him, depending on the tree can charge upwards of 10-15 grand just for one massive tree!

It's amazing what they are capable of, even when the tree is hovering over a home.

So, I would say, you are not at fault for firing him but it sounds like you are guilty of risking the cheap route.

None of us know the true details, but he clearly dropped stuff and you have every right to terminate the job if you are afraid of property damage occurring, especially to your home.

My question is, were things dropped intentionally in a controlled fashion to speed up the job or did mistakes occur. The latter is unacceptable (multiple times) but the former is a whole nother discussion around how the job was agreed on.

None of this justifies his response, especially if you paid him for the portion of the trees he removed.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

NeVs said:


> I worked with a 78 year old vet, reconstructed knees, shoulders back. Pins in his neck etc... He showed me videos and pictures of his normal tree felling services. He prefers the big jobs but really liked talking to me on the phone and came to help me with my baby oaks lol.
> 
> Tree felling is an art. And if done right with pullies nothing should be dropped. Arborists like him, depending on the tree can charge upwards of 10-15 grand just for one massive tree!
> 
> ...


Mistakes occurred. He missed the landing spot which is why majority of the tree ended up in my yard. My neighbors have it on their ring doorbell camera. I'll try and post the video so you can see what I'm talking about.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

Here you go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARjQ-1lZJtU

https://youtu.be/SYvC0I-1vqA

https://youtu.be/mypU6Hf78us


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## MGC (Jun 4, 2017)

that's nuts , musta really hacked that guy off , so who will be responsible if lets say someone hits the tree debris piled in the roadway and even worse they claim some sort of personal injury with the incident ... my son had his foot slip off the brake pedal in a line of traffic ever so slightly touched the vehicle in front with zero damage to anything all occupants rolled out claiming back and neck injuries sued my insurance for thousands .... #brokenworld


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## gkaneko (Dec 11, 2018)

I guess you get what you pay for.

Cheap cost....cheap job......


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

MGC said:


> that's nuts , musta really hacked that guy off , so who will be responsible if lets say someone hits the tree debris piled in the roadway and even worse they claim some sort of personal injury with the incident ... my son had his foot slip off the brake pedal in a line of traffic ever so slightly touched the vehicle in front with zero damage to anything all occupants rolled out claiming back and neck injuries sued my insurance for thousands .... #brokenworld


I'm actually worried about that. I put out some orange cones and my neighbor said she'll park her van in front of it at nights so hopefully everyone will see it.


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## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

Lawn Smith said:


> rjw0283 said:
> 
> 
> > Let me get this right. You hired a guy, he chopped a tree down and took all the tree/wood with him. He didn't get paid what he wanted so he came back to your house and dumped a bunch of logs in your yard? @\
> ...


looks like you got your yard aerated free of charge


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## bp2878 (Feb 13, 2019)

It takes a special kind of idiot to spend time and resources to come back a dump that crap on your lawn. The guy clearly was not a professional, a professional wouldn't do that. He would have said his piece then took you to court for the balance. He also would have done a better job and charged you triple what you paid but I think you'd agree it would have been worth the extra price. Sucks to be going thru that, but it is a learning experience for sure. Majority of the time, the pros cost more because they are worth it and they know it. I'd be glad the moron didn't smash my house with one of those monsters.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

Ware said:


> Lawn Smith said:
> 
> 
> > ...guess he wasn't happy I didn't pay full price for dropping one on my yard...
> ...


Agree, somewhat...

I think the OP said originally they cut the tree and fell it incorrectly or as planned. Thus the lack of trust in dealing with the larger trees and their work due to the mishap.

I can understand bailing on the job, as the homeowner and customer, you do have the right to end the job on your property when confidence is lost in completing the job safely and as planned.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

FATC1TY said:


> Ware said:
> 
> 
> > Lawn Smith said:
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Trust me, if anybody on this forum was dealing with this guy they would have fired him too, including Ware. I know I probably sound like an @$$ but he was extremely rude to me and my neighbor from the time he arrived (which was 3 hours late). I had to do what I did.


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## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

I had a tree removed about the size as the video. Not a dent to the yard. They shimmied the tree and lowered every piece down with a hoist. I also paid a lot more.

It was leaning over my house, so I hired the A-team. I think it was 1700 6 years ago. 
But I wasn't risking damage to the house. I took a week of calling around before I hired the right people. It was expensive, but they were the real deal. Half acrobat/half lumberjacks


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## Disarmer (Aug 10, 2020)

For unrelated reasons, I've felled probably 500+ trees in my life with just an axe. It's not hard to drop them exactly where you want them unless the wind is really whipping hard, they're leaning hard, or they're dead (dead trees do weird things). Even then, a deep front wedge and a bottle jack in your back wedge will fix that right up. If that's not where he intended to drop it, he's an idiot.


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## Philly_Gunner (Apr 23, 2019)

Man, and you watched him pull up and do that?? Not sure I would have maintained composure in that situation. I think you're more than reasonable doing what you did.


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## Southern Lawn (Dec 31, 2019)

Philly_Gunner said:


> Man, and you watched him pull up and do that?? Not sure I would have maintained composure in that situation. I think you're more than reasonable doing what you did.


^+1


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