Emergency tree removal in Brisbane works like this: you ring, we ask five questions, and the first visit is a make-safe, not a tidy-up. We get the tree off the house, the car or the driveway, cut the hazard out and leave the site safe. The full removal, the chipping and the stump come after, usually once your insurer has had a look at the photos. If anyone is hurt or power lines are down, that is a 000 or Energex call before it is a tree call.
Storm season in South East Queensland runs from about now until March, and every year the same thing happens: a cell rolls through at 4 pm, a gum or a cocos palm goes over, and the phone does not stop. This is what happens from the moment you call us, in the order it happens, so you know what to do and what to expect.
Who do I ring first when a tree comes down?
Not us, if anyone is hurt or there are wires involved. The order is:
| Situation | Ring | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Someone is injured or trapped | 000 | Ambulance and fire first, tree second |
| Tree on or near power lines, lines down | Energex 13 19 62 | Only Energex or an authorised contractor can work inside the exclusion zone |
| Roof open to the weather, water coming in | SES 132 500 | The Queensland SES does temporary tarping and sandbagging |
| Tree on the house, car, shed, fence or driveway | All Sites 0449 003 606 | Make-safe, removal and the stump afterwards |
| Then | Your insurer | Lodge the claim the same day; most insurers authorise a make-safe straight away |
If the tree is leaning on the house but nothing is sparking, dripping or bleeding, we are your first call. Keep everyone out of the rooms under it. A limb that has stopped moving can start again when the wind picks back up or the roof sheet it is resting on gives way.
What is a make-safe, and why is it not the whole job?
A make-safe is the emergency work that removes the immediate danger and nothing more. Cutting the limb off the roof. Taking the weight off a crushed carport. Dropping a half-uprooted tree before it finishes the job on your fence. It is done fast, in the rain if it has to be, with the gear on the truck.
What it is not: a full removal with every branch chipped, the lawn raked and the stump gone. Insurers want the make-safe done quickly to stop further damage, and they want the rest quoted separately so the assessor can see what happened before everything is cleaned up. That is why our quotes come in two parts. On a job in Deception Bay, a split tree had come down across the backyard shed, and the insurer asked for one price to get the tree off the shed and a second price for the root ball. That is normal, and it is the right way to do it.
Heavy dismantling, climbing and crane work is done by our arborist crew at Dynamic Tree Solutions. All Sites takes the call, runs the job and grinds the stump at the end, so you deal with one person from the first phone call to the last pile of grindings.
What do you need from me on the phone?
Five things, and you can text most of them:
- Where it is. Street address and which side of the house. “Behind the garage, on the neighbour’s side” saves us ten minutes.
- What it is on. House, shed, car, fence, pool, driveway, or just lawn. A tree on a roof is a different job to a tree across a driveway.
- Wires. Are there power lines anywhere near it? If yes, ring Energex first and tell us when you have.
- Access. Can a ute and trailer get to it, or is it a carry-everything-through-the-side-gate job? Is the gate wider than a metre?
- Photos. Two or three from a safe spot. Wide shot of the tree, close shot of where it is resting, and one of the base. We can quote most make-safes from the photos and be rolling before you hang up.
You do not need to know the species. “Big grey one with smooth bark” is fine.
Which photos does my insurer want?
Before anything gets moved. That is the rule. Take them from the ground, from a safe distance, and do not climb onto the roof for a better angle. You want:
- A wide shot showing the whole tree and what it landed on
- Close-ups of the damage: the roof sheets, the gutter, the fence panels, the car
- The base of the tree, so the assessor can see whether it snapped or uprooted
- Anything inside the house: ceiling stains, water on the floor
We take our own set before, during and after the make-safe and we hand them to you with the invoice, because we have worked with insurers and storm-damage builders for years and we know what the assessor asks for. Keep the big sections of trunk on site until the insurer says they can go. If they tell you to clear it, we chip it and it is gone the same day.
How fast can an emergency tree removal service get there?
On a normal day, a few hours. After a big storm, it depends on where you are in the queue, and the queue is sorted by danger, not by who rang first. Trees on houses with people inside go first. Then trees across driveways and roads. Then fences, sheds and yards. If your tree is lying quietly on the lawn hurting nobody, we will tell you straight that it can wait a day.
Keep an eye on the Bureau of Meteorology Queensland warnings before you ring. If another cell is due in two hours, we might make-safe and come back, rather than finish the job with a chainsaw in a lightning storm. Nobody wins that one.
When the damage is bigger than trees, a landslip behind the house, a creek bank that has gone, a driveway washed out, the Dynamic Earth Solutions emergency works crew brings the excavators. Same group, same phone call.
What does emergency tree removal cost?
It is quoted on the job, because no two storm jobs are the same. A limb cut off a carport roof in Chermside is a small make-safe. A whole camphor laurel through a Queenslander in Forest Lake with a crane to lift it off is a very different number. What drives it: how big the tree is, what it is sitting on, whether it needs rigging or a crane, access for the truck and chipper, and how much timber has to leave the site.
A few honest points. Most storm damage from a healthy tree is treated as an act of nature, so each owner claims on their own policy, even if it was the neighbour’s tree. If the tree was known to be dead or dangerous, it can be different, and that is where our photos of the base help. Insurers usually authorise the make-safe straight away and assess the rest. And we do not charge storm-season surge pricing. The quote is the quote.
The stump is the one part we can give you a number on. A storm-felled tree rarely leaves a clean stump; it leaves a lifted root plate with a hole under it. We grind it flat and backfill so the ground can be repaired, and the stump grinding price is the same as any other job: from $110 for a small one, about $220 for a typical domestic stump, with a multi-stump discount of up to 50 per cent if the storm took more than one.
What happens after the make-safe?
Once the insurer has the photos and gives the go-ahead, we come back and finish. The tree is dismantled and chipped, the timber goes, the yard is raked, and the stump or root plate is ground out. If the tree was half over and half standing, this is where the rest of it comes down. We also look at the other trees while we are there. The storm that took one often cracks another.
Old stumps left in the yard are part of the problem. Rotten root plates let go in wet ground, which is why we push people to deal with them before November. There is more on that in our storm season stumps post, and our emergency tree services page covers the make-safe and insurance side in more detail. We cover the northside from Chermside to Caboolture and Deception Bay, the southside to Browns Plains, and Ipswich.
If a tree is on something it should not be, text two photos to 0449 003 606 or use the quote form, and we will tell you how fast we can be there.
Frequently asked questions
Who do I call for emergency tree removal near me in Brisbane?
If anyone is hurt, ring 000. If power lines are involved, ring Energex on 13 19 62. If the roof is open to the weather, the SES on 132 500 can tarp it. For a tree on a house, shed, car, fence or driveway in Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan or Moreton Bay, ring All Sites Stump Grinding on 0449 003 606 and we will arrange the make-safe and the removal.
What does an emergency tree removal service actually do on the first visit?
The first visit is a make-safe: we remove the immediate danger, such as cutting the limb off the roof or dropping a half-uprooted tree, and leave the site safe. The full removal, chipping and stump grinding are quoted separately and done once your insurer has seen the photos and approved the work.
How much does emergency tree removal cost in Brisbane?
It is quoted per job. The price depends on the size of the tree, what it is resting on, whether rigging or a crane is needed, access for the truck and chipper, and how much timber has to leave the site. Insurers usually authorise the make-safe straight away. Stump grinding afterwards is from $110, about $220 for a typical stump, with a multi-stump discount of up to 50 per cent.
Will my insurance cover a tree that fell on my house in a storm?
Usually, yes. Storm damage from a healthy tree is generally treated as an act of nature, so each owner claims on their own policy, even if the tree came from next door. If the tree was known to be dead or dangerous it can be different. Take photos before anything is moved and lodge the claim the same day.
What photos should I take before the tree is removed?
From a safe spot on the ground: a wide shot of the whole tree and what it landed on, close-ups of the damage, the base of the tree so the assessor can see whether it snapped or uprooted, and any damage inside the house. Do not climb onto the roof. We take our own before, during and after set and give it to you with the invoice.
Can you remove a tree that is touching power lines?
Not until Energex has made it safe. Trees touching or inside the exclusion zone of live lines must be handled by Energex or an authorised contractor. Ring 13 19 62 first. Once the lines are safe, or if the tree is near but clear of the lines, we can remove it.