Roots lifting the sidewalk again after a repair
The paving was replaced without root management. It comes back, and in a customer area every lift is a trip claim.
Grounds & ExteriorPriced as an emergency callout2,380 businesses licensed for it
Tree trimming and removal
Trees on a commercial property become urgent in two ways: a limb over a walkway or a parked car, and roots lifting the paving into a trip hazard. Work covers crown reduction and clearance pruning, deadwood and storm damage removal, full removal and stump grinding, and root management near paving and drains. This is the trade where insurance and qualifications matter most, because the work is genuinely dangerous and the damage a dropped limb does is expensive.
Enter your ZIP to see the businesses listed for this trade nearest to your site, with their phone numbers.
- Free to searchno account, nothing to submit
- Public registersevery listing names its source
- License numberswhere the state publishes one
- Directyou call the business yourself
- Our estimate
- $300-$8,000
- Time on site
- 2-16 hrs
- Fault patterns covered
- 2
- Licensed for this trade itself
- 2,380
What tree trimming and removal costs
Most of these jobs land near $900. The full spread runs $300 to $8,000, and the gap between those two ends is diagnosis against replacement rather than one business being dearer than another.
What moves it: how much of the job is parts, whether the fault is found in the first hour or the third, access to the equipment, and the hour of the day you call. We never speak to the businesses listed here, so there is no rate card behind any of this. It is our own band for the category, and there is no regional index: the figure does not change with your metro.
| How soon you need it | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled visitBooked in advance, no urgency multiplier applied | $900 | $300 to $8,000 |
| Same dayOur band multiplied by 1.12 | $1,010 | $335 to $8,960 |
| Emergency calloutOur band multiplied by 1.35 | $1,215 | $405 to $10,800 |
Our estimate from national cost bands, not a quote from any business. Every row is the same band with the urgency multiplier the site applies everywhere else, so this table can never contradict the headline number. Ask for a written price before the work starts.
Who is licensed to do this work
In California the classification that squarely covers this is D-49 tree service, and the register says who holds it. Every listing on this site shows the classification, the license number and the date we read it, with a link back to the register entry so you can check it against the state rather than against us.
Overlapping classifications exist and are labeled as overlapping rather than as a match: C-27 landscaping. A general building contractor may hold the job and subcontract the trade, which is a real answer and a different one, so the card says which of the two you are looking at.
One thing worth being plain about: CSLB classifications do not distinguish commercial work from residential. There is no separate commercial license to hold and no register field that would prove one. That is why this page describes the equipment rather than the contractor, and why nothing here says a business has been checked out. We read a public record on a stated date. That is the whole claim.
If it is down right now
Everything below is about our mechanism. We hold no hours for any business on this site, have never contacted one, and cannot tell you who is awake, so none of this is a promise that somebody answers.
- Enter the ZIP of your premises. We measure from that ZIP to the address each business filed with its licensing authority and keep everything inside 25 miles.
- The order is distance, nearest first. Nobody buys a position in it and there is nothing here to sell.
- If fewer than three businesses clear the filters, the ring steps out toward 75 miles and the page tells you it widened. The distances you then see are the real ones.
- Each listing carries the phone number the register publishes. You call it yourself. We have no phone line, take no fee and pass nothing on.
- Our band for an emergency callout is the category band multiplied by 1.35. That multiplier is ours and describes our estimate, not a rate anybody has quoted.
Before you pay for a callout
Two minutes of checks that sometimes end the problem
We would rather you did not need a callout at all. These are the checks that end the most calls for this fault.
Try a quick fix first
Some issues resolve without a truck roll. Two minutes now can save the callout.
- 1
Cone off the area under a damaged limb and keep vehicles out from under it. A hanging limb comes down on its own schedule.
- 2
Check whether the tree is protected before you commit to removal. Many California cities have heritage and street tree ordinances with real fines, and the permit is the property owner's problem, not the contractor's.
- 3
Ask to see proof of insurance for this trade specifically. Tree work causes more property damage than any other grounds service, and an uninsured crew leaves the loss with you.
- 4
Establish whether the tree is on your property, the landlord's or in the public right of way. All three have different rules and different payers.
What the visit actually includes
- Assessment of the tree and the hazard
- Pruning, removal or stump grinding as agreed
- Debris removal and site clearance
- Protection of paving, vehicles and buildings during the work
- Note of permit requirements where the tree is protected
Diagnosis
How tree service faults usually present
Written from how these faults actually present on a working premises, not from a manual.
Tree topped rather than pruned
Cutting the crown flat produces weak regrowth and a worse hazard in a few years. It is the sign of a crew that cuts rather than an arborist who prunes.
Listed for this trade
Businesses listed for tree service
Read from public license registers, so there is no ranking here and no distance: this page has no location to measure from. Enter your ZIP to sort by who is nearest to your site.
By location
Tree trimming and removal near you
Local pages show which businesses are listed for that metro, how far out they sit, and the local conditions that drive demand.
Counted from the businesses we have imported for each metro center inside a 25 mile radius, and counting only those whose own license classification names this trade. General contractors licensed widely enough to take it on and subcontract it are excluded here, and still appear in a search. A metro reads “none yet” until we load a register that covers this trade there.
All coverage areasQuestions owners ask
Tree service FAQs
Short, specific answers. If yours is not here, ask the business you call before you agree to the visit.
Do I need a permit to remove a tree?
Often, in California cities with tree ordinances, and the fines for removing a protected tree are significant. Ask your city before you book, because the responsibility sits with the property owner.
What license covers tree work?
D-49 tree service is the California classification, and C-27 landscaping contractors also do it. Both are shown on the listings here where a business holds them.
Whose tree is it in a shared plaza?
Usually the landlord's under common area maintenance, but a tree in your demised outdoor area may be yours. The lease decides, and it is worth knowing before a storm.
Related work
Often booked in the same visit
Batching jobs into one mobilization is the cheapest way to buy this kind of work.
Parking lotPotholes, cracking, failed seal coat, faded striping, curbs and drainage.from $400FencingDamaged fence panels, leaning posts, gate operators and security fencing.from $250Walk-in coolerCooler not holding temperature, iced coils, failed compressors and door seals.from $260Water heaterNo hot water, lukewarm supply, leaking tanks, pilot faults and tankless error codes.from $220
Grounds & Exterior
Everything else in grounds & exterior
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Ready when you are
Need tree service sorted?
Search your ZIP to see the businesses listed for this trade nearest to your site, with the license numbers and phone numbers we hold, then call them yourself.
- Cost to search
- Free
- Account needed
- None
- Who you call
- The business