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A tree down after a storm is stressful enough. What makes it worse is calling a company that shows up, looks at the situation near a power line, and tells you they can’t touch it. That’s a real scenario in Commerce Township, where overhead utilities run along aging corridors like Haggerty Road — corridors that DTE has acknowledged are more susceptible to damage.
We hold line-clearance arborist certification, which means our crew can work safely near energized lines where unlicensed operators legally and safely cannot. That distinction matters when a storm-damaged tree is sitting on or near a utility line and every hour of delay means more risk.
Beyond the emergency response, there’s the question of what’s still standing. Commerce Township’s lake communities — Commerce Lake, Union Lake, Wolverine Lake — sit on lots with lake-adjacent soils that stay wet long into the spring. Root systems in those conditions are shallower than they look. A tree that survived the storm may have experienced root heave that isn’t visible from the surface but represents a real failure risk before the next one hits. A TRAQ-qualified risk assessment from us gives you a professional answer, not a guess.
The result after a completed job: the hazard is gone, the debris is cleared, and you know which trees still standing are safe and which ones need attention. That’s what storm damage cleanup in Commerce Township should actually look like.
We’re based in Oakland, MI — directly on Commerce Township’s northwestern border. When a derecho tracks across Oakland County or an ice storm loads the maples along the Proud Lake area, our crews are already in the neighborhood. This isn’t a company dispatching from the other side of the metro; we’re a family-owned operation that serves the communities we live in.
Ivan built his career starting as a groundman in California before bringing that hands-on foundation to Michigan. Over seven years of serving Oakland County, that experience has translated into a team with ISA Certified Arborists on staff, TRAQ-qualified risk assessors for post-storm evaluations, and line-clearance arborist certification for work near energized utility infrastructure — the credential that separates a crew that can safely handle a Haggerty Road tree-on-wire situation from one that has to walk away from it.
Every job starts with a face-to-face site walkthrough and a written estimate before any work begins. No surprises, no pressure — just a clear picture of what needs to happen and what it’s going to take.
When you call us after storm damage in Commerce Township, someone answers — not a voicemail. The first conversation covers what’s down, what’s at risk, and whether there’s an active hazard that needs immediate attention. If a tree is on a structure, blocking access, or in contact with utility lines, that call determines the response priority and the crew configuration we’ll need for the job.
Once on-site, we do a full assessment before any cutting starts. Commerce Township’s lake lots present specific access challenges — many properties along Commerce Lake or Union Lake are narrow, with the house between the road and the water, and limited room for equipment. We account for that before the first cut, planning the removal sequence to protect the structure, the shoreline, and anything else in the fall zone. If the situation involves proximity to utility lines, our line-clearance certified arborists take the lead on that portion of the work.
After the primary removal is complete, the job isn’t done until the site is clean. Wood, debris, and material are cleared — not left at the edge of the property for you to deal with later. If you want a post-storm assessment of trees still standing on your property, our TRAQ-qualified team can walk those with you and give you a documented risk picture before the next storm season arrives.
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Storm damage in Commerce Township covers a wider range of situations than most homeowners expect when they make the first call. We handle the full scope: fallen tree removal when a tree has come down on a structure, fence, dock, or across a driveway; emergency tree clearing when access to the property is blocked; hazardous limb removal for widow-makers and hanging branches that are still in the tree but are under tension and one wind gust away from coming down; and post-storm tree risk assessments for standing trees that may be compromised but aren’t visibly down yet.
Commerce Township’s history as a resort destination means many properties — especially in the lake communities — have mature hardwoods that predate the homes themselves. These are decades-old oaks and maples with root systems that interact with the wet, lake-adjacent soils in ways that make post-storm assessment genuinely important, not optional. The northern edge of the township, where residential neighborhoods border Proud Lake State Recreation Area, also sees wind-driven debris from unmanaged forest reaching private lots during major storm events.
We offer 24-hour emergency tree service covering all of these scenarios across Commerce Township and the surrounding Oakland County area. Michigan doesn’t require a state license to operate a tree service, which means the credential stack — ISA Certified Arborists, TRAQ qualification, line-clearance certification, full liability insurance and workers’ compensation — is the only reliable way to know you’re working with a legitimate, qualified crew and not a storm-chasing operator who showed up after the weather cleared.
The first priority is distance. Don’t approach a fallen tree until you know whether it’s in contact with a power line or whether there are other compromised trees nearby that could come down. In Commerce Township, where overhead utility lines run along corridors like Haggerty Road and through residential neighborhoods, a downed tree that looks like a simple removal can be a live-line situation.
Call us at (248) 636-8741 and describe what you’re seeing — we can advise you on what’s safe to do before anyone arrives on-site. If the tree has damaged your home, document everything with photos before any work begins. Your homeowners insurance may cover a portion of the removal cost if a structure was damaged, and a written estimate from an ISA Certified Arborist carries more weight with an adjuster than an informal quote.
Don’t sign anything or authorize work from an unsolicited company that shows up at your door after a storm — that’s the profile of a storm-chasing operator, and Commerce Township sees them after every significant weather event.
This is one of the most important questions to ask after a storm, and it’s one that most homeowners don’t think to ask until the second tree comes down. A tree that survived a storm can still be structurally compromised — root heave, trunk cracks, or split branch unions that aren’t obvious from the ground can represent real failure risk in the next wind event.
In Commerce Township, this is especially relevant for properties on or near the lakes. Lakefront and near-lakefront lots have soils that stay saturated well into spring, which creates shallower root systems than you’d find on well-drained upland lots. A mature oak on a Commerce Lake or Union Lake lot that appears to have come through a storm intact may have root movement that a TRAQ-qualified risk assessor can identify — and that a standard crew without that credential will miss entirely.
We have TRAQ-qualified assessors on staff who can walk your property after a storm, evaluate the standing trees, and give you a documented risk picture. That assessment is the difference between informed confidence and a guess.
It depends on the specifics of your policy and whether a structure was damaged. Standard homeowners insurance policies typically include a sublimit for tree removal — commonly $500 to $1,000 per storm event — that applies when a fallen tree has damaged a covered structure like your home, fence, or detached garage. If the tree fell in the yard without hitting anything, most policies won’t cover the removal cost at all, even if the tree is large and the cleanup is expensive.
For Commerce Township homeowners with premium lakefront properties, this gap can be significant. A large tree removal on a lake lot — especially one with limited access, proximity to the water, or contact with a dock or boathouse — can exceed the standard sublimit by a wide margin.
The practical step is to document the damage thoroughly before any work begins, call your insurance company to open a claim, and get a written estimate from a credentialed arborist. We provide written estimates as a standard part of every job, and that documentation is exactly what adjusters ask for when evaluating a claim.
Michigan doesn’t require a state license to operate a tree service, which means any company can show up after a storm and call themselves qualified. Line-clearance arborist certification is a specialized credential that goes well beyond standard tree removal training — it covers the specific techniques, equipment, and safety protocols required to work near energized utility lines. Without it, a crew cannot legally or safely remove a tree that’s in contact with or directly adjacent to a live power line.
This matters in Commerce Township in a very specific way. The Haggerty Road corridor has documented older utility infrastructure — DTE itself has noted that those poles are more susceptible to storm damage. When a major storm hits Commerce Township, the scenario of a tree down on or near a utility line along Haggerty Road or West Maple Road is not hypothetical; it has happened and left hundreds of residents without power.
We hold line-clearance arborist certification, which means our crew can assess and work in those situations safely. Most of the tree companies that respond to Commerce Township emergencies do not have that credential — and if the situation involves a live line, they have to stop and wait for DTE, adding hours or days to your resolution timeline.
We offer 24/7 emergency tree service, and the response time for genuine emergencies — tree on a structure, blocked access, active hazard — is prioritized accordingly. Because we’re based in Oakland, MI, which directly borders Commerce Township to the northwest, our crew isn’t driving in from across the metro. That proximity matters when you’re waiting on a response after a storm.
The honest answer on timing is that it depends on the volume of calls after a major weather event. Commerce Township and the surrounding Oakland County area can generate a high volume of emergency calls after a significant derecho or ice storm, and transparency about that is more trustworthy than a promise we can’t guarantee.
What we commit to is that someone answers the phone, the situation is assessed on that first call, and genuine emergencies are prioritized in the dispatch queue. If your situation involves a tree on your roof or an active hazard, say so clearly when you call — that information determines where your job lands in the sequence.
Lake lots in Commerce Township present a specific set of access and removal challenges that don’t come up on standard suburban properties. Many lots along Commerce Lake, Union Lake, and Wolverine Lake are narrow, with the home positioned between the road and the water. That layout limits where equipment can be staged and how the removal sequence needs to be planned. A crew that doesn’t account for that going in risks damaging the structure, the landscaping, or the shoreline in the process of removing the tree.
The soil conditions on lake lots also affect the work. Saturated, lake-adjacent soils mean root systems that are shallower and more spread out than you’d find on a well-drained lot — which affects how a tree falls when it’s cut and how stable the surrounding ground is for equipment.
We walk every site before any work begins, and on lake-lot jobs, that walkthrough specifically accounts for access constraints, soil conditions, proximity to the water, and any dock or shoreline structures in the fall zone. The goal is a clean removal that doesn’t create a second problem in the process of solving the first one.
Other Services we provide in Commerce Township
