A Tree Hit Your Skagit County House. Here's What to Do First.

I have been on a lot of Skagit County driveways after a windstorm. The call usually starts the same way: a fir or cedar is on the roof, or through a window, and someone is already in the yard with a chainsaw.

Stop. The tree is the obvious problem. The water getting into the house, the live wires, and the unstable limb are the ones that get people hurt.

Cleaner Guys is in Mount Vernon. We have been doing property damage restoration in the Puget Sound for more than 20 years, including temporary storm and tree repairs. This is the order I want you to follow before anyone starts cutting.

1. Stay out from under it

If a tree is on the roof, the roof structure may have shifted. Do not walk the attic. Do not climb up there with a ladder to "just look." If a limb is hanging, treat it as if it will drop.

Keep kids, pets, and neighbors back. Power lines in the trees are common out here. If anything is sparking or a line is down, call the utility first, then us.

2. Make it weathertight, not pretty

Rain in Skagit, Whatcom, and Snohomish counties does not wait for a contractor's office hours. Once the envelope is open, water damage starts on the clock we already know: wet drywall and insulation do not stay a "tree problem." They become a water damage problem, and mold is not far behind.

Temporary repairs mean tarping the roof, boarding broken windows, and covering holes so weather stays out. That is not the rebuild. It is the pause button. We do this work. So do some restoration crews. A random tarp from the garage that is not fastened for wind will be in the neighbor's pasture by morning.

3. Photograph everything before it moves

Insurance will want the tree where it landed, the hole in the roof, the broken glass, and the wet rooms. Take wide shots and close-ups. If it is safe, walk the interior and shoot stained ceilings, wet carpet, and anything you are about to throw away.

Do not start a debris pile in the driveway until you have pictures. Adjusters cannot pay for a sofa they never saw.

4. Call your carrier, then a restoration company

Report the loss. Get a claim number. If they tell you to mitigate further damage, that is the green light to tarp, extract water, and dry. Waiting for an in-person inspection while a hole sits open is how a tree claim turns into a mold claim.

A tree service can remove the tree. They are not a water-mitigation company. If the roof is open or water is in the house, you need both, and the drying file (moisture readings, not a box fan) is what keeps the claim from stalling.

5. Do not live in a wet house "until the rebuild starts"

I see this after storms: the tree is gone, a tarp is up, and the family is sleeping under a stained ceiling. That stain is still wet in the cavity. We have already written about what to do in the first 24 hours after water damage. Same rules apply when the water came through a hole a tree made.

What not to do

Do not start cutting if a line is in the tree. Do not put a household box fan on a wet ceiling and call it dry. Do not assume the cheapest tree guy also knows how to tarp a roof for a week of Skagit rain. And do not wait until Monday if the house is open to weather tonight.

What we actually do on a storm call

We stabilize. Tarp or board-up so the weather is out. We extract standing water, pull wet materials that cannot be saved, and dry the structure to a measured dry standard. Then the rebuild can happen on a house that is not still rotting under the tarp.

If you are in Mount Vernon, Burlington, Sedro-Woolley, Anacortes, or the rest of our Puget Sound coverage, call Cleaner Guys at 360-757-4300. We are locally owned, and storm work is not a sideline. It is one of the reasons people call us at odd hours.