When a storm drops a limb on your roof or splits a mature maple down the middle, you need someone who will pick up the phone, tell you honestly whether the situation is dangerous, and get a crew there fast. That is what our emergency storm damage service is for. We handle everything from a single hung-up limb over a walkway to full trees down across driveways, fences, and garages, on properties across Toronto, Etobicoke, Mississauga, and the rest of the west GTA. Most storm calls involve mature trees in the 40 to 80 foot range, silver maples, willows, and old Norway maples that shed large limbs in wind and ice. We offer same-day response during business hours for hazardous situations. If you call after hours, leave a voicemail with your address and a description of the damage and we will call you back first thing to triage it. Our first job on site is always the same: make the area safe, then give you a clear written price for the rest of the work before we touch anything that is not an immediate hazard. Pricing starts at $500, and the final number depends on what actually came down and where it landed.
What's included
- A walk-around hazard assessment before anyone starts cutting, checking for hung-up limbs, cracked stems under tension, contact with hydro service lines, and anything else that could shift while we work.
- Immediate stabilization of the dangerous part first, cutting away limbs resting on roofs, cars, or fences in a controlled sequence so nothing drops further or springs back under load.
- Sectional dismantling of downed or split trees using ropes and rigging wherever the wood sits over a structure, rather than free-cutting and hoping it falls clean.
- Careful removal of debris off roofs, decks, sheds, and vehicles, working to avoid adding new damage to whatever the tree already hit.
- Cutting the remaining stem down to a safe stub or standard stump height, depending on whether you want stump grinding booked as a follow-up.
- Chipping of all brush on site and hauling away of wood and debris, unless you ask us to leave firewood-length rounds behind to save on disposal.
- A final raking and blow-down of the work area, plus photos of the failure point and the debris in case your insurance company asks for documentation.
How it works
- Call or text with your address and photos of the damage if it is safe to take them. During business hours we triage hazardous calls for same-day response. After hours, leave a voicemail and we return calls first thing the next morning.
- We assess on site and deal with any immediate danger first. Before the non-urgent portion of the work begins, you get a free written quote for the full cleanup so there are no surprises.
- If the damaged tree is over your municipality's permit threshold or sits on ravine-protected land, we explain how the hazardous-tree exemptions and simplified permit streams apply. Many storm-damaged trees qualify, but we confirm rather than guess.
- The crew dismantles and removes the damaged tree or limbs in a controlled sequence, rigging pieces down over roofs, fences, and gardens where free-dropping would cause more damage.
- We chip the brush, haul the wood and debris, and rake out the work area before we leave. Stump grinding can be booked as a follow-up visit if you want the stump gone as well.
What moves the price above starting at $500
- What the tree landed on. A limb lying on open lawn is quick work. The same limb on a roof, a fence, or a parked car takes rigging, ladder or roof work, and far more time, and time is most of the price.
- Size and species of what came down. A 30 foot section of silver maple holds a surprising amount of wood. Bigger stems mean more cuts, more rigging, and more hauling, which pushes the job above the starting price.
- Tension and compression in the wood. Storm-damaged trees are loaded like springs. Stems bent under load or trunks split down the middle take slower, more deliberate cutting than clean standing wood, and that care costs time.
- Access for equipment. If we can bring the chipper close to the debris, cleanup is fast. A backyard tree behind a narrow gate means carrying everything out by hand, which can double the labour on the same volume of wood.
- How much material there is to dispose of. Chipping and hauling an entire downed 60 foot tree costs more than clearing two broken limbs. Having us leave firewood-length rounds on site brings the disposal portion down.
- Whether hydro or telecom lines are involved. We do not work on limbs in contact with energized lines. If the utility needs to attend first, that adds a step to the timeline before our portion of the work can start.
Starting at $500, quoted in writing before any work starts.
On-site visit, written quote, no obligation. Usually within 24 hours of your call.
When you need this
- A limb is resting on your roof, garage, or car after a windstorm. Even if it looks stable, storm-broken limbs are usually under tension and can shift with the next gust, so treat the situation as hazardous.
- A silver maple or willow has dropped a major limb. These fast-growing species are common across older Toronto, Mississauga, and Oakville neighbourhoods and are known for shedding large limbs in wind, ice, and summer downbursts.
- An ash tree killed by emerald ash borer has snapped or shed limbs. EAB-killed ash gets brittle fast and fails unpredictably, which is why dead ash over houses and driveways should come down before storms rather than after.
- A tree has split at a weak crotch or the trunk has cracked but the tree is still standing. A half-failed tree is often more dangerous than a fully downed one and needs controlled dismantling, not a chainsaw and optimism.
- A mature Norway maple in visible decline has started dropping deadwood every time the wind picks up. Repeated limb drop over walkways, driveways, or play areas is a sign the tree needs assessment, not just another cleanup.
- A tree or large limb is blocking your driveway, a shared laneway, or access to your door, and you need it cleared the same day so the household can function again.
Local notes for the west GTA
Most municipalities in our service area build hazard exemptions into their tree bylaws, but the details differ. In Toronto, including Etobicoke, private trees at 30 cm DBH and up are regulated, and trees on ravine-protected land are regulated at any size, so a storm-damaged tree near a ravine still involves the City even when it is clearly hazardous. Brampton regulates at 30 cm DBH but its bylaw includes exemptions for hazardous trees and for trees within 2 m of an occupied building, which covers a lot of storm scenarios. Woodbridge falls under Vaughan's 20 cm bylaw, which has a simplified permit stream for dead, hazardous, and EAB-killed trees, with no arborist report required for that stream. Mississauga regulates at 15 cm DBH in some zones, Burlington at 20 cm, Hamilton at 30 cm, and Oakville at 76 cm circumference. Milton has no private-tree permit for most residential lots, and Halton Hills has no private tree bylaw. We flag which rules apply before the non-urgent portion of any storm job.
Where we provide this service
Frequently asked questions
How fast can you actually get here after a storm? +
During business hours we prioritize hazardous calls, meaning anything touching a structure, blocking access, or hanging over an area people use, and we aim for same-day response on those. Storm calls cluster around summer downbursts, fall windstorms, and freezing rain events in winter, and after a big regional event every tree company in the west GTA is flooded at once, so we triage by danger, not by order of call. A tree on a house comes before a limb on a lawn. If you reach our voicemail after hours, leave your address, a callback number, and a short description of what happened, and text photos if it is safe to take them. We return calls first thing the next morning and can usually tell from the photos whether you need a crew immediately or can safely wait a day.
Why does storm cleanup start at $500 and what makes it cost more? +
Starting at $500 covers the simpler end of storm calls, something like a single mid-sized limb down on an open lawn with good access, cut up, chipped, and hauled away. The price climbs with size, position, and risk. A large limb on a roof needs rigging and careful sequencing so it comes off in controlled pieces. A full tree across a fence line takes far more cutting and hauling than one limb. A backyard with no room for the chipper means hand-carrying debris out front. We give you a written price on site before the non-urgent work begins, so you are never guessing. What we will not do is quote a final number over the phone sight unseen, because with storm damage the difference between a starting-price job and a much bigger one is often only visible once we walk the property.
Do I need a permit to remove a storm-damaged tree? +
Often not for the hazardous part, but it depends where you live. Brampton's bylaw exempts hazardous trees and trees within 2 m of an occupied building. Vaughan, which covers Woodbridge, runs a simplified permit stream for dead, hazardous, and EAB-killed trees that does not require an arborist report. Toronto regulates private trees at 30 cm DBH and regulates ravine-protected land at any size, so storm damage near a ravine still involves the City. Milton has no private-tree permit for most residential lots, and Halton Hills has no private tree bylaw at all. The honest answer is that immediate hazard mitigation and a full removal are sometimes treated differently, so we make the scene safe first and confirm the paperwork before finishing a removal that crosses a threshold. Handling that conversation with the municipality is part of the job.
Will you help with documentation for my insurance claim? +
We are a tree service, not an adjuster, so we cannot tell you what your policy covers. What we can do is document the job properly. We photograph the damage before we start, keep the written quote itemized so the cleanup portion is clear, and note anything relevant we find, such as where the failure originated on the tree. Homeowners pass that paperwork to their insurer, and it generally answers most of the questions an adjuster asks. If your insurer wants the scene left untouched until they see it, tell us when you call. We can often do a minimal safety cut to remove the immediate danger, leave the rest in place for their visit, and come back to finish the cleanup once they have signed off.
A tree is on the hydro line to my house. Can you still help? +
Not until the electrical hazard is dealt with. If a tree or limb is in contact with a hydro line, including the service line running to your own house, that is the utility's territory first. Call your local hydro provider and report it, and keep everyone away from the tree, the line, and anything touching either one, including metal fences. Wet wood conducts. Once the utility has disconnected or cleared the line, we can come in and do the actual tree work, and we are happy to coordinate timing so our crew arrives right after theirs is done. This is not us being difficult. It is the one part of storm work where the wrong shortcut can kill someone, so we do not touch energized situations, full stop.
Can you just make it safe now and finish the cleanup later? +
Yes, and it is often the smart way to handle a bad storm week. Priority one is removing the danger: the limb off the roof, the cracked stem that could finish failing, the tree blocking your car in. That stabilization work is what we push for same-day response during business hours. The remaining cleanup, bucking up the downed wood, chipping the brush, hauling everything away, grinding the stump, can be scheduled for a normal slot a few days later at a normal pace, which usually costs less than doing everything as a rush. We quote it in writing as one job with the stages laid out, so you know the full number up front and can decide how much to do now and how much to book for later. Many customers also have us leave the wood as firewood rounds to trim the disposal cost.