A 60-mph gust line rolls through Lewisville around midnight, and by morning a post oak is lying across your bedroom ceiling. Insulation is on the bed, rain is coming through the decking, and you have no idea whether the limb still on the trunk is going to shift when someone climbs up. That is a genuinely dangerous moment, and the choices you make in the first hour matter more than most people realize.
The mistake we see most is a homeowner grabbing a ladder and a chainsaw before the sun is even up. A tree resting on a structure is loaded like a spring. Cut the wrong piece and the trunk rolls, the roof drops, or a limb whips back at head height. We have been pulling trees off North Texas houses for more than 25 years, and the jobs that go badly are almost always the ones where someone tried to shortcut the sequence below.
Here is exactly what to do, in order, and what to leave to a crew with rigging, insurance, and a plan.
First, get everyone out and account for the hazards
Before anything else, move every person and pet out of the rooms under and around the impact. A tree that has already broken through the roof has proven the structure is compromised, and ceiling joists can let go without warning. Do not go back in for belongings while the tree is still loaded.
Once you are outside, do a slow walk of the yard from a safe distance and look for the things that turn a bad night into an emergency-room visit.
- Downed or sagging power lines touching the tree, the roof, or the ground. Treat every line as live. Stay back at least 35 feet and call the utility.
- The smell of gas, which means shut off nothing yourself if you cannot do it safely from outside, leave, and call 911 and your gas provider.
- Limbs under obvious tension, bent and pinned, that could spring loose.
- Standing water near outlets or the panel, which is a shock risk.
Kill the power and gas if it is safe to do so
If your electrical panel is accessible, dry, and not near the damage, shut off the main breaker. Water pouring through a damaged roof can reach wiring and fixtures, and de-energizing the house removes a shock and fire hazard for you and the crew that comes later.
Never touch the meter or a service drop that the tree has pulled loose. That repair belongs to your utility and a licensed electrician. If a limb has ripped the weatherhead or mast off the wall, tell the power company when you call so they can dispatch correctly.
Document everything before anyone moves a branch
Your insurance adjuster will pay based on what they can prove happened. Spend ten minutes with your phone photographing the scene from every angle before a single limb is cut.
Get wide shots that show the whole tree and the house together, then close-ups of the roof penetration, interior damage, wet drywall, and any belongings. Photograph the base of the tree and the root plate too, because whether it uprooted or snapped can matter for the claim.
- Exterior wide shots of the tree and roofline together
- The point of impact and any hole in the decking
- Interior ceiling, walls, floors, and damaged contents
- A timestamp reference like a phone clock or a newspaper if you have one
Do emergency tarping, not tree cutting
You can and should stop further water damage, but that means covering the opening, not removing the tree. Most policies expect you to prevent additional loss, and the cost of a tarp is usually reimbursable. If you can safely reach a section of intact roof, run a tarp well past the damaged area and weigh or fasten the edges.
Do not climb onto a roof that has a tree on it, and do not stand under the load to tarp from below. If the only safe placement is up top, that is a reason to let the removal crew handle it as part of the job. When we respond for fallen-tree emergencies, we stabilize the load first, then dry-in the opening as we clear.
Why removal from a structure is a rigging job, not a cutting job
Pulling a tree off a house is the opposite of felling one in an open field. The trunk is often the only thing holding a section of roof up, so cutting it in the wrong order drops the roof further. Crews use ropes, rigging blocks, and sometimes a crane to take the weight in controlled pieces so the load comes off the structure instead of onto it.
This is where experience and insurance both earn their keep. Our emergency response for a fallen tree on a house starts with a load assessment: which pieces are holding weight, where the tension is, and what could hit the crew or the rest of the house when it releases. That planning is why we can get a large tree off a roof without turning a repairable roof into a rebuild. If you are in Lewisville and the surrounding lake communities, our team runs emergency tree removal in Lewisville around the clock during storm season.
When the yard is safe and the photos are done, call us at (855) 615-0568 for a free estimate and fast, insured response. We will stabilize the tree, protect what is left of your roof, and give you documentation your adjuster can use.
The first thirty minutes after a tree hits your house
Order matters when a tree is through your roof. First, get everyone out and away, especially from rooms under the impact, because a limb that looks settled can shift as the structure flexes. Next, kill the power at the breaker if wires are involved or water is near outlets, and treat any downed line as live, staying well back and calling the utility. Then, before anyone moves the tree, photograph it from several angles on the house; those images are what your insurer will want, and once we cut the tree off to stop further damage, that evidence is gone.
The cut itself is the dangerous part, which is why this is not a chainsaw-and-ladder weekend job. A tree resting on a roof is loaded with stored tension, and cutting the wrong limb first can spring it, drop the trunk, or collapse more of the structure. Our crews relieve that tension in sequence, often rigging and lowering sections rather than freeing the load all at once, and we tarp the opening to stop rain damage while repairs are arranged. We respond to these around the clock across Lewisville and DFW, and we write the invoice the way adjusters need it, separating emergency make-safe work from the full removal.
- Evacuate rooms under the impact first; a settled limb can still shift
- Treat any involved wire as live, cut power at the breaker, and call the utility
- Photograph the tree on the house before any cutting, for the insurance claim
- Leave the tensioned cut to a crew; the wrong first cut can drop the load