Storm Prep
The ideal time for tree work was spring. But a storm is on the map, and there is still a useful weekend of work in front of you. This is the checklist we run through with our own neighbors in Clay County — split into what you can do yourself and what needs a crew on short notice.
Spend twenty minutes just looking. You are checking for dead limbs (bare and gray among the green), limbs resting on the roof or rubbing it, anything hanging broken in the canopy, and trees leaning toward the house. Mark what you find with flagging tape or photos so nothing gets forgotten once you start working.
Everything you can reach from the ground is fair game: pick up dead branches, move the boat, trailer, grill, and patio furniture out from under the canopy, and clear loose items that become projectiles. If limbs are touching the roof and reachable with a pole saw from the ground, take them back — carefully, small pieces.
Take wide photos of every side of the house and the trees around it. If the storm does damage, these before shots make the insurance claim dramatically smoother — adjusters ask for them, and nobody has them.
If your walk-around turned up a leaning tree, a hollow trunk, deadwood over the roof, or a limb hanging in the canopy, that is crew work. After the storm every insured, reputable crew in Northeast Florida is booked for weeks and the door-knockers roll in. A removal or deadwooding this week is scheduled work; next week it is an emergency call.
Save your insurance claim line and a 24/7 emergency tree number in your phone before the power goes out. Ours is (904) 762-3786 — we answer storm calls across Middleburg, Orange Park, Jacksonville, and Clay County around the clock during hurricane season.
Estimates are free and nothing is due until the work is done. Call (904) 762-3786
