A chat with a city forester in Tacoma about a 60-year-old maple made me reconsider how we define 'hazard' trees.

He said, 'We're not just looking for dead limbs, we're looking at the whole story of the tree and the soil around it,' which really hit home after I spent last Tuesday climbing one that looked fine but had a root plate that was totally gone.

3 comments

3 Comments

morgan.mary1mo ago

Sounds like a good way to waste money on inspections.

ellis.susan29d ago

Yeah, but @morgan.mary, skipping them is a great way to waste way more money on a lemon later. Trust me, I learned that the hard way.

phoenixa6414d agoMost Upvoted

Pick a mechanic that does mobile inspections and bring them with you to look at a car... that way you're not paying for a separate appointment and you get a real opinion on the spot. @morgan.mary, the money you save on inspections is nothing compared to what you'll lose when the transmission goes out a week later... I've seen it happen to way too many people who thought they were being smart. A proper inspection catches stuff the seller might not even know about, like hidden rust or a bad compression issue. It's basically insurance against a nightmare purchase...

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