Hear from Our Customers
Commerce Township is one of the most naturally wooded communities in Oakland County. That’s a big part of why people choose to live here — the mature trees, the rolling terrain, the lakes. But when one of those trees has to come down, the stump it leaves behind doesn’t fit that picture.
It sits there through every mowing season, collects water, and starts attracting pests that thrive in Commerce Township’s consistently moist, clay-heavy soil near the water. When stump grinding is done right, that problem disappears completely. The area is ground down below grade, leveled out, and left clean — ready for new landscaping or just a smooth lawn you can actually use.
No more mowing around it. No more worrying about a guest tripping on it. No more watching carpenter ants work their way through rotting wood a few feet from your deck.
For homeowners near Commerce Lake, Union Lake, Wolverine Lake, or any of the township’s other inland lakes, this also matters for property value. Waterfront and near-water homes in Commerce Township list in the $500,000 to $1,000,000-plus range. A stump visible from the water or from the street is a drag on that number — and removing it professionally is one of the cleaner investments you can make in a property at that level.
Ivan’s Tree Services LLC is based in Oakland, which puts us right next door to Commerce Township. That proximity isn’t just convenient — it means we know this terrain. The clay soils, the lake-adjacent lots, the older resort-era trees that grew for decades before anyone thought about managing them.
When we show up to a property near Proud Lake or off Commerce Road, we’re not orienting ourselves to a new environment. We’ve worked in this corridor for years.
Ivan started his career as a groundman in California, learning the fundamentals of rigging, safe climbing, and tree assessment from the ground up before bringing that experience to Michigan. Today, Ivan’s Tree Services LLC carries ISA Certified Arborists and TRAQ-qualified risk assessors on larger jobs — credentials that matter when you’re dealing with the kind of mature, deeply rooted stumps that are common on Commerce Township’s older lake properties.
Every job starts with a personal site inspection and ends with a written estimate you can hold onto for 30 days.
It starts with a site visit. We don’t quote jobs over the phone, because a stump that looks straightforward from a description can be something entirely different in person — especially on Commerce Township properties where resort-era trees have had decades to spread their root systems.
The inspection lets our team assess the stump’s diameter, depth, proximity to any structures or shoreline, and what the ground conditions look like. From there, you get a written estimate with a clear scope of work.
Before any grinding begins, underground utilities get located. Michigan’s MISS DIG requirement applies to every job statewide, and in Commerce Township’s established lake subdivisions — where irrigation systems, gas lines, and water lines run beneath well-maintained yards — this step isn’t optional. It’s how we protect your property and our equipment.
The grinding itself uses professional-grade equipment built to fit through standard residential gates and navigate the kind of sloped, lake-adjacent terrain that’s common throughout the township. The stump gets ground down to the depth your project requires — deeper if you’re planning to plant or landscape over the area, shallower if you’re just restoring the lawn.
After grinding, the wood chips are handled based on your preference: left to decompose naturally into the soil over time, spread in garden beds, or removed from the property entirely. The area is left smooth, clean, and ready for whatever comes next.
Ready to get started?
Commerce Township has a specific stump problem that most other Oakland County communities don’t deal with at the same scale. Because the township developed as a summer resort destination, a large portion of its residential properties — particularly those near Commerce Lake, Union Lake, Carroll Lake, and Middle Straits Lake — feature trees that grew undisturbed for 40, 50, even 80 years before permanent homeowners started managing them.
These aren’t the typical 12-inch subdivision stumps. They’re large-diameter oaks, maples, and cottonwoods with root systems that spread well beyond what’s visible above ground.
Ivan’s Tree Services LLC handles stumps of any size. The deep grinding process removes the stump and root crown below grade — far enough down to destroy the structure responsible for regrowth, and far enough to give you a usable surface afterward.
For stumps near lake shorelines or drainage areas, we also offer same-day herbicide treatment of the cut stump, which eliminates any risk of root regrowth that could destabilize a shoreline bank or push up against a nearby structure.
The full service includes cleanup. Wood chips, debris, and any material generated during grinding are managed before the crew leaves. If you’re prepping for new landscaping or a patio, the grinding depth gets adjusted to match. Every job is scoped to the specific property — not run through a one-size process that ignores what’s actually in front of us.
The depth depends on what you’re planning to do with the space afterward, but for most residential jobs the stump gets ground down six to eight inches below grade. That’s enough to destroy the root crown — the part of the stump responsible for sending up new shoots — which effectively stops regrowth for the vast majority of tree species.
For some of the more aggressive species common in Commerce Township’s older lake communities, like willows and cottonwoods that have had decades to establish deep root systems, we can also apply a herbicide treatment to the cut stump on the same day as grinding. This adds a second layer of protection and is particularly worth considering for stumps near shorelines or drainage areas where continued root activity could cause problems. If you’re not sure whether your stump warrants that extra step, the site inspection will give you a clear answer before any work begins.
This is one of the most common concerns homeowners raise, and it’s a fair one — especially in Commerce Township, where a lot of properties have established irrigation systems and carefully maintained yards. Professional equipment is designed to minimize lawn impact, and a responsible operator locates underground utilities before any grinding starts.
Michigan’s MISS DIG requirement applies statewide, which means underground utility lines — including gas, water, and electrical — get marked before work begins. Irrigation systems are a separate conversation: they’re privately owned and won’t show up on a MISS DIG locate, so it’s worth letting our team know where your irrigation lines run during the site inspection.
Commerce Township’s clay-heavy soils near lake areas tend to be softer, so we account for ground conditions when positioning equipment to avoid unnecessary ruts or compaction. The compact grinders we use on residential jobs are built to fit through standard 36-inch gates and are significantly lighter than older-generation machines, which helps protect the lawn during access.
After grinding, you’re left with a pile of wood chips and sawdust where the stump used to be. What happens to that material is your call. The most common options are leaving it in place to decompose naturally, spreading it in garden beds as mulch, or having it removed from the property entirely for a clean finish.
If you leave the chips in place, they’ll break down into the soil over roughly one to two years — which actually improves the organic content of the ground and can be a net positive for whatever you plant there afterward. For Commerce Township homeowners near lake properties, where the soil already tends to be moisture-rich and organic, this decomposition process tends to move at a reasonable pace.
If you’re planning to restore the area soon, removing the bulk of the chips first and topping the area with clean topsoil gives you a better foundation. We’ll walk you through the best option based on what you’re planning to do with the space.
Stump grinding is typically priced by the diameter of the stump, with the standard industry rate running between $2 and $5 per inch of diameter. A smaller stump in the 12-inch range costs significantly less than a large-diameter stump from a mature oak or maple that’s been growing on a lake property for 60 years.
The national average for a residential stump grinding job runs around $272, though that number moves depending on stump size, accessibility, and what the ground conditions look like. In Commerce Township specifically, the prevalence of older, larger-diameter stumps on former resort-era properties means many jobs fall toward the higher end of the size range — which is worth factoring into your expectations when you’re comparing quotes.
Ivan’s Tree Services LLC provides written estimates after a personal site inspection, so the number you receive reflects the actual stump in front of you, not a rough phone guess. The estimate is valid for 30 days, which gives you time to compare and decide without pressure.
Yes, but it requires more care than a standard backyard stump, and not every company approaches it the same way. Stumps near Commerce Township’s lake shorelines — whether that’s along Commerce Lake, Union Lake, Wolverine Lake, or any of the other inland lakes — sit in consistently moist soil that tends to be softer and more prone to equipment sinking or shifting.
We account for this during the site inspection and position equipment accordingly. There’s also the root system to consider. Trees that grow near water tend to develop wide, shallow root systems that stabilize the shoreline bank. Grinding the stump removes the above-ground structure, but the roots below will decompose over time.
If you’re concerned about continued root activity near the water’s edge — particularly for aggressive species — the same-day herbicide treatment option is available to stop any further growth from the root system. This is worth discussing during the estimate if your stump is within close range of the shoreline.
In most cases, yes — and the reasons go beyond aesthetics. A stump that’s left in place in Commerce Township’s moist, clay-heavy soil near lake areas will start attracting pests faster than it would in a drier environment. Carpenter ants, wood-boring beetles, and termites are all drawn to decaying wood, and once they’ve established themselves in a rotting stump, they don’t always stay there.
If the stump is close to a deck, fence, or the house itself, that’s a real concern worth taking seriously. There’s also the liability angle. A stump that blends into tall grass or sits at the edge of a lawn is a trip hazard — and if a guest goes down on your property, the fact that you knew it was there matters.
Beyond that, leaving a stump to rot naturally takes years to decades depending on the species and conditions. Commerce Township’s moisture-rich environment near its lakes can accelerate surface decay, but the root structure underneath breaks down much more slowly. Grinding now removes the problem completely rather than letting it slowly become a bigger one.
Other Services we provide in Commerce Township
