Taking trees down in Concord without damage or mess
Whether the tree is dead, declining, leaning or just in the wrong place, we bring it down clear of your house, deck and fence and your neighbor's Bradford pear. We will also tell you plainly whether the city has any say in it.
Most removal requests we get in Concord fall into three groups. The first is a water oak that has begun dropping limbs or has a hollow showing at the base. The second is a loblolly pine that started leaning toward the house after a wet winter. The third is a sound tree standing where a pool, garage or addition needs to go. All three begin the same way: the arborist looks at the tree and tells you whether it really has to come down. Plenty of oaks that look dead are only slow to leaf out, and plenty of pines have leaned the same way since the house went up.
If removal is the right call, the method depends on what lies below. A tree with open ground around it is felled and cut up on the lawn. A tree over the house, a deck, the power drop or a neighbor's fence is climbed and lowered piece by piece on ropes, or lifted out by crane when that is quicker and safer. In every case the wood is chipped or hauled off, the yard is raked, and the stump is ground if you want it gone.
What's included
Arborist's opinion
Dead, declining, structurally weak, or only unattractive? You get an honest answer before any money is spent.
City & HOA rules
We find out whether the tree is yours, sits in the city right-of-way or belongs to a subdivision landscape plan, and who has to approve taking it out.
Sectional takedowns
A climber and a ground crew lower the tree in pieces on rigging lines over roofs, decks, fences, sheds and service drops.
Crane work
Big oaks and pines lifted out over the house when rigging would take days or put the roof at risk.
Cleanup
Wood chipped or carted away, lawn raked, driveway blown off, and firewood left in cut rounds if you ask for it.
Stump grinding
Done on the same visit or later, at the per-inch rate shown on your estimate.
What tree removal costs in Concord, NC
| Job | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Small tree under 25 ft with clear access | $300 – $750 | Examples: dogwood, crape myrtle, Bradford pear |
| Medium tree, 25 to 50 ft, in an open yard | $700 – $1,600 | Felled in one piece and cut up |
| Large oak or poplar, 50 to 80 ft, close to buildings | $1,700 – $4,200 | Lowered in sections by a climber |
| Removal using a crane | $2,800 – $7,500 | Large trees over a house or garage |
| Storm or emergency removal | $700 – $5,000 | Day or night, with paperwork for your insurer |
| City or HOA approval, if one is required | We take care of it | Most yard trees on single-family lots need none |
These are 2026 price ranges for Cabarrus County, meant to help you budget. Your own written quote lists each part on a separate line (removal, rigging or crane, hauling, stump grinding and any paperwork) and stays valid for 30 days.
Species we take down most often around Concord
- Water oak. The most frequent removal in the older neighborhoods. It grows fast, lives a short time for an oak and tends to go hollow at 60 to 80 years, which is about the age of the trees beside many 1950s and '60s homes today. Falling limbs are the first warning.
- Loblolly pine. Tall, top-heavy and shallow-rooted in Cecil clay. When the ground is soaked, wind levers them over, and southern pine beetles and ips beetles kill off the ones already weakened by drought.
- Tulip poplar. Large, handsome and brittle. Poplars drop heavy limbs in summer thunderstorms, and decay moves quickly once a wound opens.
- Bradford pear. Breaks apart at the branch unions under ice and wind, and fills creek banks across the county with thorny thickets. We have a full page on removing them.
- Leyland cypress. Often planted as a privacy screen, then killed by Seiridium canker and bagworms, which leaves a brown wall of dry fuel ten feet from the house.
Recent work
Questions we get about tree removal
What will it cost to have a tree removed in Concord?
Anywhere from roughly $300 for a small ornamental to $7,500 for a crane job over the house. Most oak, poplar and pine removals fall between $700 and $4,200. The figure moves with the tree's height, what is underneath it, whether a truck can get down the side yard, and whether you want the stump ground. We give it to you in writing at the property.
Does the city require a permit to cut down a tree in my own yard?
In our experience, no city permit is involved for a tree on your own existing single-family lot. The tree and landscape requirements in Article 11 of Concord's Development Ordinance apply to development and redevelopment plans, and the Chapter 50 tree rules apply to trees on public property. There are genuine exceptions. A tree in the street right-of-way belongs to the city. Some subdivision plats require certain buffer or street trees to remain. HOAs set rules of their own. The North Union Street historic district may ask for a Certificate of Appropriateness before major changes. We check all of this first, so a violation never lands on you.
Can you take down a tree near my deck or the power drop?
Yes. Many removals in Concord are within twenty feet of a deck, a screened porch or the service drop running from the pole. We lower each piece on ropes or lift it with a crane so the house is never touched. When limbs are within ten feet of the energized line, we ask Concord Electric Systems or Duke Energy to drop or sleeve it first. Nobody should be cutting closer than that.
My HOA wants a tree gone. Can you handle it?
Yes, as long as the tree is on your property and the removal is allowed. Highland Creek, Skybrook, Christenbury, Moss Creek, Afton Village and most of the newer neighborhoods off Poplar Tent and Cox Mill have architectural review rules in addition to the city code. We know those rules and can tell you which forms the association will expect.
What do you do with the wood?
We chip it on site and haul it off, or leave the chips or firewood rounds for you if you would like them. Oak and hickory rounds are worth holding on to. Big trunks are loaded onto the log truck.
Do tree services need a license in North Carolina?
There is no statewide license for tree services in North Carolina, which is why the certificate of insurance is the thing to ask for. Ours covers general liability and workers' compensation for tree work itself, not a landscaping policy that excludes climbing, and we send it to you before the job begins.