Need an Arborist in Illinois

[Chuck Fischer]

So my wife and I just bought a house, its got a lot of large black oaks on the lot, one in particular that has to be about 100 years old sits only 8 feet from the back door. Its branches are hanging over the house and its roots have already caused one crack in the foundation. I'd like to have the tree taken down, do you guys know of any local arborists I could contact? The new house is just west of Elgin, about an hour west of Chicago.

On a side note, this is a beautiful tall old tree, and I would expect it would make some fine furniture. Is it even worth my time and effort to try and have it milled or should I just chop it into firewood?

Chuck

[Ted Calver]

Chuck,
Consider looking up the web site for the International Society Of Arboriculture(ISA) which maintains a list of certified members.
Ted

[Mike Evertsen]

I've used Anderson tree service in Mchenry.

[Tom Dunlap]

What a treat to read that you care enough about your trees to call an arborist to look after them.

Check the ISA site:

http://www.isa-arbor.com/

If you can't find an arbo close by that you're comfortable working with, let me know. I have several friends who are very good arborists in the Chicago area. They might be close enough to help with the consultation or find a good referral.

Just because someone is a Certified Arborist doesn't necessarily mean that they have the knowledge to help with your project. Certification sets minimum knowledge levels for the industry. Better than nothing though.

Just because there is a crack it doesn't mean that the tree is at fault. I've made my living as an arborist for thirty years. There has been only one tree that surely did damage to the foundation. A couple of other times there was a small chance. The trees came down anyway in the second instance because they were nasty trees not because of the possibility of damage.

To get an idea of what the root system looks like eight feet from the trunk, think back to the last windstorm or woods clearing job that you've seen. Most root systems taper out quite quickly. It's rare that ANY roots are very large that far from the trunk. Besides, roots don't have much pushing power in them. If the tips hit an object they either die or grow in another direction. Cracking walks and drives is a whole different topic.

It would be a shame to cut down a century tree.

Drop me a line off the forum if you'd like.

Tom Dunlap
ISA Certified Arborist MN 0132

[Chuck Fischer]

Tom, thanks for the info. I never thought about it that way. I don't know how long ago the crack formed or anything, we're at least the third people to be living in the house (we actually don't move in until the end of march) so its very possible the crack wasn't caused by the tree but something else. Its just on the same side of the house and in very close proximity to the tree so I just made an educated (or uneducated) guess.

So it is a beautiful tree, but like I said its very close to the house and the branches are hanging so low over the roof my inspector could hardly move around up there. He said whole sections of the roof were almost impossible to get to. I suppose a professional could trim it back though. I hate to see any tree get cut down, so saving it would be nice. (I don't know how the wife will feel, she wants it out of the way so she can get me working on a big deck project. I think she'll manage though)

Your email was blocked, so you can hit me back at chuck@strengdesign.com. If you could put me in touch with some of your friends that would be great, even a referal is better than just picking someone out of the yellow pages.

Thanks again,
Chuck