Call (425) 369-8733 — Redmond Storm & Emergency Tree Service

A Redmond wind event does not wait for a permit window. If a tree is on the house, on a car, blocking the only way out, hanging over a roof, or split and leaning after the storm, call MTS Tree and Landscape at (425) 369-8733 . The line is answered 24/7. We are a Sammamish tree company. Redmond — Education Hill, Idylwood, the Sammamish River corridor, and the tech campuses — is a normal service area, not a side trip.

This page is for storm damage and true emergencies only. A stable dead tree, a crown that needs thinning, or a planned backyard take-down belongs on our Redmond tree removal or trimming pages.

Key takeaways

• Call (425) 369-8733 first. Stay out of the drop zone. Do not climb, chain-saw, or pull on a hang-up over a roof.
• If the tree is in or on wires: stay at least 35 feet back, call 911 for downed lines, then Puget Sound Energy at 1-888-225-5773. MTS does not work live wires. We take the tree once the utility says the lines are safe.
• Inside Redmond city limits, private-property trees fall under RZC 21.72. A true emergency (an imminent dangerous situation) can be made safe without a pre-approval. The city still wants a Tree Removal Permit issued retroactively after the tree is down.
• Street trees and right-of-way trees are not a DIY job. City of Redmond Parks supervises street-tree work. A Right-of-Way Use Permit covers tree trimming or removal in the ROW. We do not treat a planting-strip tree as a backyard tree.
• We make the site safe, rig or crane the wood off the structure, haul debris, and can help tarp an opening the tree made. We are not a roofing contractor.
• We can photograph and write arborist notes for a homeowners claim. We do not promise the insurer will pay.

Tree on the house, driveway, or car? Call (425) 369-8733 .

What to do right now

1. Get people and pets out of the rooms or yard the tree can still hit. If anyone is hurt or trapped, call 911.
2. Stay back. A cracked Douglas fir on Education Hill or a hung-up maple over an Idylwood roof can finish falling without warning. Do not stand under it to “check the damage.”
3. If you see downed or sagging lines, or the tree is on a pole or service drop: stay at least 35 feet away. Call 911. Do not touch the tree, the fence, or standing water near it. Report it to Puget Sound Energy at 1-888-225-5773. Call MTS after the lines are safe.
4. If it is safe to do so from a distance, take photos: the tree on the structure, the point of impact, the blocked driveway, interior damage if you can reach it without walking under wood. Insurers ask for this. Do not delay the safety call to stage a photoshoot.
5. Call MTS Tree and Landscape at (425) 369-8733 . Tell us the address, whether anyone is still in the house, whether lines are involved, and whether the only exit is blocked.
6. Do not DIY. A chainsaw in a compression bind, a rope on a hang-up over shingles, or “just dropping it into the street” is how a salvageable roof becomes a second claim. Leave the tree where it sits until a crew is on it.

Phone first. The quote form is for later, when the site is already safe.

What we do on a Redmond emergency call

The job is make-safe, then clean-up — not a planned backyard take-down.

• Triage on the phone. Life-safety and occupied structures first. A fir through an Education Hill living room beats a split alder that landed in a side yard and hit nothing. A tree across a campus driveway that is the only way out of a lot is still an emergency.
• Make the tree safe. Cut and rig the parts that can still fail onto the house, the car, or the only way out. Sometimes that is a full removal. Sometimes it is a hang-up, a split leader, or a leaner that has to come down in sections.
• Crane or climbing/rigging when the drop zone is a roof, a parked car, or a Sammamish River lot with no open fall. Downtown Redmond and Overlake campus sites often have no drop zone at all. We use a crane when it is the safer way to get wood off a structure.
• Haul. Storm wood, chips, and the pieces that were on the driveway leave with us unless you ask to keep firewood that is actually safe to keep.
• Tarps, not roofs. If the tree opened a hole, we can help get a tarp over it so weather stays out. Call a roofer for the repair. We will not claim we rebuilt the house.
• City follow-up. Photos, an arborist write-up when Redmond wants one, and the retroactive Tree Removal Permit (Hazard Tree Declaration, Significant Tree Removal, or Tree Exception Request, depending on the tree). Redmond still wants the file after a true emergency.

We are licensed, bonded, and insured. Climbers and crew leads train to ISA and L&I standards. We do not cut live electrical.

Call (425) 369-8733 .

Storm work vs planned removal

A wind-thrown cedar through an Idylwood garage is an emergency. A 70-foot fir you have been watching for two years on Education Hill is a planned removal, even if it makes you nervous.

Situation	This page	Other page
Tree on house, garage, or occupied room	Yes	—
Tree on a car	Yes	—
Only driveway / only exit blocked	Yes	—
Split, hung-up, or newly leaning over a roof after wind	Yes	—
Debris making the house unsafe to occupy	Yes	—
Tree down on a tech-campus drive, loading dock, or occupied parking stall	Yes	—
Dead or declining tree that is still standing and stable	No	Redmond tree removal
Large or hazardous tree you want off before the next storm	No	Redmond tree removal
Clearance, shape, or storm-proofing a healthy crown	No	Redmond tree trimming
Stump left after the emergency wood is gone	After make-safe	Redmond stump grinding

Emergency work is usually more involved than a scheduled job: night or weekend labor, tight urban access, crane time, and protecting a damaged roof. We give you a number for the work in front of us. We do not invent a citywide price list on this page.

For a tree that can wait, use Redmond tree removal services. Call (425) 369-8733 either way if you are not sure.

Redmond emergency rules, in plain language

This is a field guide, not a substitute for the code. Thresholds and forms get updated. We classify the tree on site.

Private trees (City of Redmond, RZC 21.72). Authorization is required to remove any Significant Tree (about 6 inches in diameter at 4.5 feet above grade). Landmark trees are the big ones — greater than 30 inches DBH. In an emergency, Redmond’s January 2025 Tree Removal Tip Sheet is clear: a tree can come down without first obtaining a Tree Removal Permit when an imminent dangerous situation exists. A Tree Removal Permit is then issued retroactively. We do not use “emergency” as a shortcut to take down a healthy tree someone wants gone.

Hazard vs emergency. A Hazard Tree (dead, or so affected by a structural defect or disease that failure appears imminent, or a tree that currently threatens life or property) normally needs a Hazard Tree Removal Declaration and a certified-arborist health assessment before removal. Staff may accept photos of a clearly dead, dying, or diseased tree — ask Planner on Call first. That is not the same as a tree that already failed onto a house at 2 a.m. The first is a hazard path. The second is make-safe, then paperwork.

Landmark, protected, and critical-area trees. Landmark trees, trees on a Tree Preservation Plan, and trees in designated critical areas (NGPA/NGPE, classified streams and buffers, wetlands and buffers, landslide hazard areas, floodplains) cannot be removed or altered unless they are deemed hazardous by a certified arborist, and they generally need a Tree Exception Request. In a critical area, the city’s tip sheet says a certified arborist should recommend how to mitigate the hazard, and that all portions of the felled tree are to remain in the critical area or buffer. Sammamish River lots, Bear Creek, Evans Creek, and steep-slope pockets hit this more than a flat Education Hill backyard.

Street trees and the right-of-way. Street trees are cut or pruned only under City of Redmond Parks supervision. Work in the public right-of-way (including tree trimming or removal) is a Right-of-Way Use Permit, not a backyard permit. Homeowners generally cannot take these down on their own.

Eleven or more Significant Trees. If a storm took a stand, not one tree, Redmond also wants a Clear and Grade Permit (Development Engineering). That is a different path than a single-tree retroactive filing.

Unincorporated King County (east of city limits). Some addresses people call “Redmond” — parts of Novelty Hill / Redmond Ridge — sit outside city limits. Those lots follow King County clearing rules (K.C.C. 16.82), not RZC 21.72. King County says an imminent hazard (could fail at any moment in an area people use) may be removed without a clearing permit; take before-and-after photos. A hazard that is not imminent still needs a certified-arborist write-up and a clearing permit. We check the jurisdiction before we file.

Penalties. Unpermitted work is expensive. We do not invent a dollar fine on this page. We also do not skip the paperwork because it was windy.

Planner on Call: planneroncall@redmond.gov or (425) 556-2494. Applications go through Plan Review Online (PRO), then Redmond ePermitting Service (REPS).

Downed lines: utility first, then the tree

Redmond electric is Puget Sound Energy, not Seattle City Light. PSE is clear: assume every downed line is live. Stay at least 35 feet back. Call 911. Call PSE at 1-888-225-5773.

MTS Tree and Landscape does not handle live wires, does not move a line, and does not cut a tree that is still energizing a fence, a car, or standing water. Once PSE (or the 911 response) has made the electrical side safe, we take the wood.

If the tree is on your service drop but you are not sure it is de-energized, treat it as live. Call the utility. Then call us at (425) 369-8733 .

Campus and Overlake lots often have extra private electrical, fiber, and parking-lot lighting. Treat unknown cables as live until the site owner or utility says otherwise.

Insurance after a Redmond storm

Photograph before anyone moves wood, if you can do it from a safe place. Then call us. Then call the insurer.

Homeowners policies often cover tree removal when a structure is damaged. They often do not cover a tree that fell in the yard and hit nothing. A tree on a car is usually auto, not homeowners. A tree on a campus parking stall or a leased office is a property-manager / commercial policy problem, not a homeowners form. Deductibles, “act of God” language, and neighbor-tree disputes are between you and the carrier.

We can document what we found, what we removed, and why it was an emergency. We can write the arborist notes many adjusters ask for. We cannot promise they will pay, and we will not inflate the file.

Call (425) 369-8733 .

When it is not an emergency

If the tree is dead but standing, ugly, too close to the house, or “probably coming down someday,” that is planned work. Same for a crown that needs thinning before the next Pineapple Express, or a stump you want gone after last year’s removal.

• Planned large or hazardous removal: Redmond tree removal
• Trimming and pruning: Redmond tree trimming
• Stump grinding: Redmond stump grinding

If you are standing in the yard at 2 a.m. arguing with yourself, call (425) 369-8733 . We will tell you if it can wait until daylight.

Neighborhoods we run in a storm

Education Hill, Idylwood, the Sammamish River / downtown corridor, Overlake and other tech campuses, Grass Lawn, English Hill, Bear Creek, and the Marymoor edge. Mature firs on older lots, lake-edge maples, river-adjacent critical areas, and campus parking canopies are normal Redmond conditions for us.

If your street is not on that list, we still run Redmond jobs. Call. MTS Tree and Landscape is based in Sammamish. Redmond is a served city, not the office.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Redmond permit if the tree already hit the house?

You can make an imminent dangerous situation safe. Redmond still wants a Tree Removal Permit issued retroactively. We handle the emergency work and the paperwork. We do not skip Development Services because it was a Sunday.

The tree is on the wires. Who do I call?

911 for downed lines. Puget Sound Energy at 1-888-225-5773. Stay 35 feet back. Call MTS Tree and Landscape at (425) 369-8733 for the tree after the lines are safe. We do not cut live electrical.

Will my insurance pay?

Sometimes, when a structure is damaged. Often not, when the tree only hit the lawn. We document. We do not promise a check.

A bigleaf maple split in the wind but is still standing over the roof. Is that an emergency?

If it can still fail onto the house, a car, or the only exit, treat it as one. Do not wait to see if the next squall finishes it. Call (425) 369-8733 .

You are in Sammamish. Do you actually take Redmond storm calls?

Yes. MTS Tree and Landscape is based at 4580 Klahanie Dr SE #261, Sammamish, WA 98029. Redmond is a regular service area — Education Hill, Idylwood, Sammamish River lots, and the tech campuses included. Same phone, 24/7: (425) 369-8733 .

Is this the same as a Hazard Tree Declaration?

Not always. A standing hazard that has not failed yet usually needs the declaration and an arborist assessment before the saw starts. A tree that already failed, or is in the act of failing onto people or a structure, is make-safe first, then the retroactive permit. We tell you which path you are on.

Sammamish-based. Redmond is a normal week.

MTS Tree and Landscape runs King and Pierce County from Sammamish. We are not a Redmond storefront, and we do not pretend to be. We are the crew that already knows Education Hill access, Idylwood lake lots, Sammamish River critical-area rules, campus staging, RZC 21.72, and when to stop for PSE.

24/7 phone. No web form required to start an emergency call.

Call (425) 369-8733 , email info@nwmts.com, or use the quote form once the site is safe.