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Tree Safety Assessment Wizard

A structured risk rating for one tree — the same likelihood-of-failure and likelihood-of-impact thinking a certified tree risk assessor uses.

4 screens, about a minute Nothing you type leaves this page How it works

Rates and bands last reviewed October 2026 · coastal San Luis Obispo County market rates

Terms of use, and the limits of these tools — please read before you rely on a figure

In short: these are estimates and general information, not quotes, appraisals or advice. Prices here can be higher or lower than Cambria Pines Tree Service Inc. or anyone else would charge, and ticking the box on the first screen means you accept the terms. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

Read all 13 terms in full →

Tick the box above to begin — 10 screens, about a minute, one question at a time.

Step 1 of 10

What is the ground at the base doing

How to answer this

Start at the bottom, where the tree meets the soil. A tree that has always leaned is usually fine; one that started leaning recently is the emergency.

What is the ground at the base doing?

Before you answer
  • Soil lifting, cracking or tilting on the far side of a lean is a root plate coming out of the ground, and that is a failing tree.
  • Mushrooms or conks at the base mean decay inside the trunk where you cannot see it, and they matter more than the crown looks.
  • A lean the tree grew into is normal on a wind-shaped coast; a new lean is not, and the two are told apart by the soil rather than by the angle.

Step 2 of 10

Is it leaning

How to answer this

Start at the bottom, where the tree meets the soil. A tree that has always leaned is usually fine; one that started leaning recently is the emergency.

Is it leaning?

Step 3 of 10

Any cracks or seams in the trunk

How to answer this

Run a hand along the trunk and look for anything that was not there last year: a seam, an opening, a bracket of fungus.

Any cracks or seams in the trunk?

Before you answer
  • A deep or opening seam is a structural defect in the wood that carries the load, and it can be invisible from ten feet away.
  • A hollow covering a third of the trunk has removed a third of the wood; the tree may stand for years and then not.
  • Conks are the fruiting body of decay, so what you can see above the bark is a fraction of what is inside it.

Step 4 of 10

Any hollow or cavity

How to answer this

Run a hand along the trunk and look for anything that was not there last year: a seam, an opening, a bracket of fungus.

Any hollow or cavity?

Step 5 of 10

Any mushrooms, conks or fungal brackets on the trunk

How to answer this

Run a hand along the trunk and look for anything that was not there last year: a seam, an opening, a bracket of fungus.

Any mushrooms, conks or fungal brackets on the trunk?

Step 6 of 10

How much deadwood

How to answer this

Deadwood is the commonest thing that falls on a person and the easiest defect to see from the ground. Look for limbs with no leaves in summer, and for a fork splitting with bark trapped inside it.

How much deadwood?

Before you answer
  • A tight V with bark trapped in the union is a fork that fails rather than bends, and it usually fails in a wet wind.
  • Whole dead limbs high in the crown are the reason to keep people out from under the tree until they are taken out.
  • Sudden dieback across most of a crown in a single season is a root or vascular problem rather than old age.

Step 7 of 10

Is a branch or fork splitting (a tight V with bark inside)

How to answer this

Deadwood is the commonest thing that falls on a person and the easiest defect to see from the ground. Look for limbs with no leaves in summer, and for a fork splitting with bark trapped inside it.

Is a branch or fork splitting (a tight V with bark inside)?

Step 8 of 10

How is the crown

How to answer this

Deadwood is the commonest thing that falls on a person and the easiest defect to see from the ground. Look for limbs with no leaves in summer, and for a fork splitting with bark trapped inside it.

How is the crown?

Step 9 of 10

What is underneath it

How to answer this

A defect is only a hazard if something below it matters. Be honest about how much the space is actually used rather than how it looks on the day you answer.

What is underneath it?

Before you answer
  • A dead limb over an empty field is a mess; the same limb over a driveway is a hazard, and the rating says so.
  • Eucalyptus, willow and cottonwood drop limbs without warning, so the same defect scores higher in those species.
  • A playground, a school route or a road raises the consequence far more than anything about the tree itself changes.

Step 10 of 10

What kind of tree is it

How to answer this

A defect is only a hazard if something below it matters. Be honest about how much the space is actually used rather than how it looks on the day you answer.

What kind of tree is it?

Your answer

Your risk rating

How to read this

A rating from low to extreme, the defects that drove it, and the action that follows — written so you know whether to prune, to move people, or to call now.

Go deeper

What the rating is not, and the clock it sets running

What this rating is not

The rating below is a structured visual assessment from the ground, which is genuinely useful and is genuinely the first tier of tree risk assessment. Four limits come with it.

From the ground only
Nobody has hit the wood, sounded the trunk or measured anything. The whole method rests on what can be seen from where the visitor was standing.
Decay is invisible from here
A hollow base, an internal crack or a rotten root plate cannot be seen or measured from the pavement. The trees that hurt people are usually the ones that looked fine.
Instruments are a different exercise
A Level 2 or Level 3 assessment uses a resistograph, a tomograph or a pull test, and is done by a tree care professional on site with the tree in front of them. This tool cannot and does not attempt it.
A low rating is not a guarantee
Low risk means nothing obvious was reported and little is underneath. It is not a statement that the tree cannot fail — it is a statement about what could be seen on the day.

Your options, and the clock

There are four honest answers to a tree with a defect, and the rating decides how much time the visitor has to pick one.

Reduce the load
Deadwood, thinning and reduction pruning take weight and leverage off the defect without removing the tree. It is the least costly option and the first one to try where the base and root plate are sound.
Support what is sound
A cable or brace holds a fork or a limb on a tree whose trunk and roots are intact. It is maintenance, not a repair: it needs a written re-inspection interval, and no cable holds a failing root plate.
Remove and replace
Where the base, the root plate or the trunk is compromised, removal is the honest answer — and a planted replacement is what makes it a decision rather than a loss. Both are priced on the estimator.
Monitor on a stated interval
For a tree with one defect and nothing underneath, a re-inspection in twelve months, and after every significant wind, is a legitimate answer — provided the interval is written down and kept.
The clock: today
A new lean with a lifting or cracking root plate, a trunk splitting open, or a limb already resting on a structure is not a booking — it is today, and the area stays clear until it is done.
The clock: this season
Heavy deadwood over a path, a driveway or a garden, a large cavity, or conks on the trunk. Nobody is injured by waiting a month, and every wind event is a roll of the dice.
What moved this
  • The rating is likelihood of failure multiplied by likelihood of impact, the same shape an ISA risk assessment uses.
  • This is a visual assessment from the ground: decay in the base of a pine cannot be measured from the pavement.
  • A moderate rating or worse deserves a site visit rather than a wait, and an extreme one deserves it today.

About Tree Safety

A tree is only a hazard if two things are true at once: something about it can fail, and something below it matters. A dead limb over an empty field is a mess. The same limb over the path your children walk every morning is a hazard. This wizard asks for both halves.

The structure follows the thinking behind the ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification: how likely is a failure, how likely is something to be underneath when it happens, and how bad would the consequence be. Answer honestly and the rating that comes back is conservative on purpose — a tool that tells a homeowner a leaning tree with heaving roots is fine is a tool that gets someone hurt.

Nothing here replaces a site visit. A visual assessment from the ground is the first tier of tree risk assessment and it is genuinely useful, but decay in the base of a pine cannot be seen or measured from the pavement. If this wizard says moderate or worse, book the walk-through.

What are the signs that a tree is dangerous?

A new lean or a heaving root plate, mushrooms or conks at the base, deep cracks or seams in the trunk, large cavities, an unusual amount of deadwood, and sudden dieback in the crown. Any of those over a road, a roof or a path deserves a professional assessment.

My tree leans. Is that a problem?

A lean a tree grew into is often normal. A lean that appeared recently — especially with soil lifting on the far side — is a root-plate failing, and that is an emergency. The key is which of those it is.

Can a dangerous tree be saved?

Sometimes. Pruning, deadwooding, thinning and support systems can reduce load on a tree with a sound base. Where the base or root plate is compromised, no cable or brace will hold it, and removal is the honest answer.

How often should a large tree be inspected?

Annually for a tree over a house or a road, and after every significant wind or fire event. Older trees with known defects deserve a written re-inspection each year.

The tree looks healthy. Can it still be a hazard?

Yes — the defects that fail first are usually the ones you cannot see. Conks at the base mean decay inside a trunk that still carries a full crown, and a fork with bark trapped in the union can look completely normal. That is why the rating counts defects rather than the tree's general appearance.

How soon should a high rating be acted on?

Before the next wind event rather than before the next convenient month. A high rating means a significant defect over something that matters, so keep people, vehicles and pets out from under the tree in the meantime. A written assessment and a firm price usually land within a week of your call.