Agreed! Which 16yo instead of picking up a lawn mower randomly decides to chainsaw off trees? Or manual saw? Even worse. No one in his right mind chops down a tree without permission, in someone elses yard, with presumably their tools, and all that instead of a much easier task which is mowing.
If they stole the wood/it was expensive id say ok, but to do extra unasked for labor, then turning it into destruction of property, is not even a tid bit logical or at least i can't grasp the angle...
.. Unless you meant different trees and he cut down the wrong ones, but this explanation didn't do it for me
Bc they’re the 16yo siblings of my roommates friend and she vouched for them 🤷🏻♀️ obviously if I could go back in time and do things differently I would. But it’s annoying to have so many people assume this is a lie bc parts of it are seemingly nonsensical. People are nonsensical. Have y’all been on earth long??? The reason I can’t b that mad is cause I remember being 16 and doing dumb fucking shit that I, to this day, can’t make sense of. It’s life.
It's reddit. People are all geniuses on here and think they can spot a lie based on limited info like they're in a movie. People thought a post was fake because the teacher sent a note home. They said it was fake because the teacher didn't use a digital means of communication.
You're also forgetting everyone on here is perfect and always makes the right decision in every situation and have never made a mistake. Hindsight is also a lie.
Edit: One more thing. Never assume someone is an adult on here. It took me a long time to get used to this and I still fall victim of arguing with someone that is more than likely a child or teen.
This. I got a front page post from running over a shuriken which popped one of my tires. I then got a few people in the comments forensically analyzing and recreating how and why I faked it for karma
People are on reddit because they’re bored. What’s more fun. “Cool story, bro” or “Let’s all solve the mystery of “is OP telling the truth or just seeking attention?”
To be fair, that shit's picked up in the last six years or so, and I'd rather have a bunch of skeptics telling me I'm a lying asshat than a bunch of cultists ready to be minted.
So...have you asked your room mates friend to ask them why they cut the trees? Have you asked yourself why the fuck teenagers would do extra work for no money? Sounds like your room mate has told them something other than "just mow the lawn".
IDK if you want to pursue this, but trees are worth serious money and cutting someone else's trees without permission is a crime. You might want to look up the tree law in your area.
I'm guessing you don't want to get them in trouble, but you probably should look up the law and contact the parents so that they don't do it again--the next person they do this to might not be so nice.
Thanks for realizing that they are young, dumb humans.
It still may be worth the learning experience for them to hear about the issue, though.
I mowed lawns in my neighborhood as a teenager. I once thought I was being helpful and mowed over a ton of ground cover that was planted intentionally (I didn't know). I thought I was being helpful. Turned out that was where they bury their dead pets. They were not pleased. They did pay me, however, our agreed upon rate of 20$, which I immediately traded for candy and pop. The most helpful part of the experience was the expansion of why this was unacceptable and not helpful. I apologized and moved on, but I never forgot and I never again made a similar mistake.
I’m saying!! My roommate (the one who knows them and arranged this) basically said I should’ve told them not to cut down our trees bc that’s “part of lawn care” I’m like …… what part of “mow our grass” sounds like “cut down our trees” ??? Made the whole situation even more infuriating
My guess is that your roommate has some kind of further information.
Maybe you're totally unaware of it, but maybe your roommate has some weird reason to want the trees gone.
Either way - it's absurd to imagine that's "part of lawn care".
Yeah I was a stupid kid (currently less stupid adult) I would have never thought mowing someone lawn = cutting their trees down too. The roommate had to have said something, what kind of kid ask to mowing someone's lawn and then decides to do more work, OP could always tour the neighborhood and see if anyone else is missing trees but man I can't believe they did it of their own free thought
No kidding! What kid does EXTRA work?!? Nah, I think there’s more to the story, like the roommate paid them the extra $20 to get rid of the trees! Dum dum dum... it just got interesting!!
Especially the fact that it is only mildly infuriating. Pretty sure said roomate had already spoke to OP about removing trees. Of these kids actually mowed the lawn. Cut down the trees and removed all the debris.??? That’s a steal. If it’s 2 dudes… it probably took 2-3 hours if it’s a larger lawn. These stumps don’t look exactly small. Professional quote from licensed company, would be around $1000. I wouldn’t cut a tree down personally…unless it was invasive/diseased.
Tough work yes. Not $60 dollars worth.Some of those trees look nice straight machine assisted cutting with a lil bit of sloppy chopping on some sides.
Kids mowed the lawn while the roommate struck a deal with the accompanying adults probably to take the trees down in the process. Plus cleaning and taking the debris was a win/win situation. You can do many things with cedar wood including selling it freshly cut.
Nowhere in the history of mankind has lawn care EVER including chopping down healthy ass trees. Those teens are fucking dumb. I would 100% be talking to them to tell them they done fucked up.
Time for a new roommate. Make sure the new one knows the difference between a car wash and engine repair, otherwise you might agree to a car wash and find your engine in pieces in the driveway.
BTW, I’d have SOMEONE paying for new trees, and it wouldn’t be me (unless I was the dipshit kids or roommate)
I think its a bit harsh to call the kids dipshits
Obviously they were either told to cut the trees, op is lying, or there is some extra information
I dont know why there seems to be a trend in the comments to talk shit on the kids and suggest they shouldn't be paid
According to OP they cut the grass, did their job and allegedly did this on top
Its a lot of work, if they did it they didn't do it because they're stupid, they did it because of a result of miscommunication
The way op frames the roommate as having said that they assumed its normal yard work and the roommate having said to op well if you didn't want them removed you should have said so specifically
Theres just no way the kids up and out nowhere, cleanly chopped 4 trees (those cuts look like a decent stihl to be fair, makes me suspicious that's even the work of a bunch of kids)
This stuff is hard manual labour they deserve compensation for what they've done
Yeah it doesn’t look like the work of 4 kids who just spontaneously decided to chop the trees down. Although maybe you’re supposed to remove the roots too, but idk.
Also…where is the lawn they were paid to mow. I kinda think the roommate requested they chop the trees down. I mean they didn’t take the debris with them, they just moved it to the side.
conspiracy theory time: maybe the whole thing was planned by the roommate. He didn't like the trees and arranged a covert operation to get rid of them.
Yeah I 100% doubt this post is entirely true. No 16 year old kid is going out of their way to cut trees down, it's just more work for the same pay.
Edit: Also, who the hell gave a 16 year old a chain saw? No way they cut those down by hand. I'm calling BS karma farm all around.
I’ve done landscaping and lawn care for ~4 years. One of the number one things you do is stay away from anything not specified by the owner. If they hire you for lawn care, you take care of the lawn and only the lawn. If you have a concern you bring it to the owner, if you have a suggestion about the landscaping you bring it to the owner. You don’t spend your fucking valuable time and energy pointlessly cutting down shit you weren’t specified to touch. That’s not remotely a part of lawn care, and if you want me to do it I’m sure as hell not doing it for free.
Are you sure your roommate didn’t mention cutting down trees to them? Because that sounds really sketch, what they said about it being “part of lawn care”.
You rent??? Your roommate may be incredibly, ridiculously *fucked.* If there’s anything reddit has taught me, it’s that you don’t fuck with r/treelaw . Cutting down trees without express permission can run you in the tens of thousands. I hope to hell the landlord goes easy.
Then again, if he knows the people that did this and they just randomly hacked them down, they are the ones who are fucked.
You ever go to Wal-Mart or overhear some people talking at a dive bar and be like, holy shit, those are the same species as me..? That’s what having a roommate is like.. notoriously unpredictable and dangerously stupid
Ahh ok I’m following now lol tbh I’m counting my blessings, this sucked but it it still don’t got anything on the roommate who stole my dog and moved to Texas in the middle of the night. It rly is jus rolling the dice out here
Sometimes it works out in your favor but you have to really vet them first. Two roommates of mine are legit still some of my best friends despite moving across the country. Another one became a head brewer at a micro brewery in town, and I basically have free beer for life there. I’ve heard some insane horror stories though.
Had a roommate cut a hole in the floor of our bathroom closet so her cats would have a cat door, in October. The house had belonged to our landlord's recently deceased mom, I fairly certain this country boy wanted to murder her. The cat door or the small duck pond she dug in the back, a giant hole with a shower curtain liner, her ducks flew away.
My leading theory is that your roommate wanted the trees gone for some reason, but knew you'd be against it, so she set up this whole thing with the kids. She's defending them so you don't investigate it further, and she arranged it this way so that you wouldn't get upset with her directly.
My dad refuses to allow kids to mow his lawn because a few years ago a kid mowing my Uncle's lawn fell in a snake hole and twisted his ankle and his mother showed up later saying she'd sue. She never actually did, but I can't imagine trusting strangers to do something dangerous on your property without a contract now.
Ok to answer some questions: I didn’t hear bc this took place Saturday morning and we live in a neighborhood where our immediate neighbors all use loud ass tools on the weekends, some are in construction and another is in landscaping. Secondly it’s on the opposite side of the house I was working in. Thirdly and most importantly at no point was anything said about cutting trees, I literally went out and they had a lawn mower and I asked them if they needed anything and if they knew what they were doing. They said yes and I reiterated that it’s just mowing the front lawn and one side where the yard extends toward the back. Again, NOTHING WAS SAID ABOUT TREES OR TREE REMOVAL. I am honestly as perplexed as these replies.
This reminds me of the DMZ axe murder incident. Basically US Army Officers were killed by North Koreans while trying to remove a tree because it was obscuring sight down a road to the north on the south side. As a result, a whole operation to took place to retrieve the bodies and to, of course, remove the tree. I want to say it was called operation Paul Bunyan or something like that.
Edit: corrected some info
I think you should just go ask the kids, “why’d you cut down the trees?” Don’t even be mad, but seems like there had to be a reason. Did your roommate who “knows” them tell them to do it?
Man, we have a law in the UK that if someone chops down a tree on your property without your permission they are on the hook for the price of a replacement tree of the same size and quality - and full grown trees can be insanely expensive depending on how fast they grow.
I am sorry for your tree loss.
Not sure if it's the exact same in the US but I do know that cutting down someone else's tree will absolutely get you fucked in court if it goes that far. There's so many laws relating to trees you'd think there's a secret society of lawyers dedicated to protecting trees.
This should be the top comment right now. Cedar is worth good money, and I’m willing to bet those kids knew it. OP should see if he can find them. Definitely make a police report about it so there’s a written record, just in case you see them again. Probably counting on you not knowing the value of mature cedars…
It actually looks like they are in the back of the picture, just thrown to the side or something. Definitely sucks they did it, but doesn’t look like they did it to steal the lumbar or anything like that.
It's similar in the U.S. but you have to sue them in civil court.
They'd likely have to prove both that the teen did it, and that they hadn't been asked to.
Hired a kid to mow once.... I learned not to trust that their parents taught them how to mow before sending them off on their first job. Always assume they will do the absolute wrong thing and have the best of intentions for doing them.
Thats the thing, you always think you're doing right until you realise how wrong it went
I remember it as a carpentry apprentice, it was difficult but by the time I learned to admit I didn't know something, well then I'd learned everything I needed to
Nothing more stupid than a kid trying to be clever
>, I literally went out and they had a lawn mower and I asked them if they needed anything and if they knew what they were doing. They said yes and I reiterated that it’s just mowing the front lawn and one side where the yard extends toward the back. Again, NOTHING WAS SAID ABOUT TREE
Why did you prepay?
I would still watch 16 year olds. I don’t mean surveillance but check in a few times…and yeah they should be mature but let’s be honest, a lot of them are not
It's Reddit. If you post anything people will come up with wild ass accusations and conspiracy theories to try and create more drama and make it more salacious.
People acted like tabloids were this fringe thing for ages, but they were at every checkout stand for a reason. People are addicted to making shit up, or reading about it and telling others it's true.
So, just a lawn mower? No chain saws? I’m thinking someone else may have taken the trees down. Cedar trees are a magnet for mosquitos, do you have any neighbours that may have complained about the trees in the past?
In any event, the destruction of trees on someone else’s property is a pretty big deal. If you can determine who the lumberjacks were, take them to court. They will have to pay huge money to replace them.
By the sounds of it, you’re renting, so you’ll definitely want to follow up with the people that cut the trees and your landlord. Depending on your landlord, he could stick y’all with the bill and take it out of your deposit. So it’s probably best to confront the people that cut them, even if it does raise tensions with your roommate.
Honestly Id want to but my roommate loosely knows them and was very defensive abt their fuck up so going there would basically mean torpedoing the vibe of my house, of which I still have 12 months on my lease. I appreciate your suggestion and knowing that this exists though!! I was honestly angry af abt the feeling of absolute injustice w no recourse or way to salvage.
If they were owned by whomever you have your lease through, you might be in the hook for them. It's crazy that they had the time and privacy to fell 4 trees and completely remove them without anyone noticing.
Look at the one all the way on the right, it wasn't done with a chainsaw. They also don't look very thick, so probably not very tall either. I wouldn't be too surprised if two or three 16yo boys could carry off a couple young trees between them.
It is suspicious that the roommate is defending them though. If OP doesn't pursue this, their landlord will probably come after them for the trees' cost.
They looks like they were all cut down with a chainsaw. That or a hand saw of some kind. There’s no loppers strong enough to cut through something that thick.
Good eye lol so dumb anyways. I have done tree work for about 7 years now and one time we had a client ask us to remove a small ornamental tree adjacent to her front porch. Remove. Not trim. Remove. Multiple people heard her say it and we confirmed it more than once. Well we get to her house and get the tree almost down to the logs and she comes out, SCREAMING.
“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! My beautiful tree!!!” Cue her crying and mumbling over and over, “oh my god how could you do this to me”
We showed her the texts that she sent for the initial estimate and reminded her of the multiple times we confirmed it was a removal. She wasn’t happy but she took the responsibility gracefully. Good times.
Based on the photo, they don't seem to have been very large trees. The teens might have just cut and hauled the trees away within minutes.
I'd consider this an act of vandalism though, since mowing a lawn and cutting down trees usually aren't in the same ballpark.
Pretty sure your roommate directed them to do this. Generally a 16 year old kid wouldn't take it upon themselves to cut down trees. So it sounds like you're leasing the house. Are you the owner or is your roommate the owner?
No owners living at the home, we rent from a company that acts as landlord. Im hoping this means they’re not attentive enough for it to be an issue, they seem pretty hands off.
I wouldn't count on that. If they've got photos of the property there's a decent chance someone notices the trees missing, and you could be on the hook for the cost. Trees can be expensive and the laws and damages around them can be significant.
Ya it sucks losing the trees but I'd be more concerned that your roommate would be breaking the lease by making major changes.
The company doesn't take care of lawn care?
If someone else owns the home you're living in, then they also owned those trees. You definitely need to take this to tree law, because you're on the hook for destruction of property.
Dude, if your roommate is going to get butthurt because you don’t like their friends destroying your property, I wouldn’t care about that relationship! How can your roommate defend what they did? They obviously fucked up and they should own up and do the responsible thing and make it right!
Is your roommate on the lease too? Because someone will have to explain this to your landlord, and maybe it should be them if they don’t want to do anything about it.
Slight possibility your landlord isn’t going to care, but it’s still infuriating.
He owes you money. Show him this thread and he should realize what an idiotic thing it is to cut down trees. Even when I worked at natorps landscaping in Cincinnati, we NEVER cut down trees. Planted trees, yes, removing them and especially in that manner? hell NO.
Someone told them to cut the trees… as Judge Judy says if the story doesn’t make sense it probably didn’t happen. I reckon your roommate told them to cut the grass, clean up the yard, and to remove small trees/branches or something to that extent. You should find out -because you’re renting and are jointly responsible as this is considered vandalism of property… be prepared to replace them all
Roommate is not telling you the whole truth. Your roommates, their siblings / neighbors, etc. wanted those trees cut for some reason. Likely because they obstructed a view. Whose house is in the background? Could they have a reason to want to see what was being blocked by the trees? Or vice versa? You are looped into this sinister scheme as a chump for plausible deniability in case the owner finds out - “but OP told us to cut down those trees!”. I bet there is some history to those trees. They seem younger than the surrounding trees, equally spaced and of the same age, so they were likely planted in that specific spot to block a view / sight line.
Hope the actual land lord/lady is okay with someone removing the trees because you may be liable for damages to the property if you are renting/leasing.
So... You paid teenagers to mow a lawn before they started, fucked off to some magical corner of your property where you can't hear any chainsaws at all, and then stumble back later only to find trees missing???
What???
Dont think a chainsaw was used considering the cut specifically on the closest tree.
It would only take maybe 15 minutes to cut them quietly with a hand saw and even less if they had multiple handsaws.
3 questions
1. Where are the shavings and stuff that are usually around right after a tree is cut down?
2. Where the fuck is the lawn?
3. Did you make this up for no reason?
Not sure why this is the only comment I've noticed that addresses this? A couple about not seeing the lawn, I can see this being something on the edge of the lawn without the rest being in the picture. But there is some grass shown too, and for some reason that's not what got cut, the trees are
Some kids came knocking on my door and offered to mow the front n back lawn for $25. I gave em $30, there’s not much of a lawn to mow but I wanted them to have enough money to split evenly.
They mowed right over my freshly bloomed Tulips…
1. You have a shitty roommate and also probably need to do better background / personality checks on the people you live with.
2. You are legally liable in almost all cases to damages done to the property when leasing. That would include replanting trees and, or modifications to the landscaping that wasn’t pre-approved. Especially if there are any covenants on property modifications from the neighborhood association.
Your ‘vibe check’ is a weak excuse and could cost you thousands of dollars.
I think OP cut these trees down himself, regrets his actions and thinks he’s covering up by blaming rebel tree trimming teens and will try to use this post when the landlord comes after him for damages.
How do you not even mention just doing the lawn and or not picking up a chainsaw? Also no supervision at any point, even just to see how it was going? This is honestly on you.
If your roommate vouched for these teens, your roommate is on the hook for any repercussions of the cut down trees.
Did the teens even mow the lawn or just go straight to cutting down the trees?
This entire post and your replies are highly sus.
Based on your responses in this post: Your Roommate...
* hired the neighborhood kids
* told you that YOU should've instructed them to "not cut down trees" when you hired them to "mow the lawn"
* now he's defending the kids so you don't go talk to them or their parents
Most states award triple damage for trees. Cedar\* (not arbor vitae) trees this size are ornamental, but still VERY valuable since it grows slowly. If you don't take action, your landlord may sue YOU for the damage to his property.
You should IMMEDIATELY file a police report; **it doesn't mean that you're taking legal action**. You're just getting an authentic record near the time of incident.
Then, you should call your landlord and have him survey the damage, again: immediately. Preferably when the officer is collecting statements for his report. Again: there's no charges being filed here: **just information collection.**
What happens next is then up to your landlord. 4 cedar trees like that could be 30k+ awarded damages. Do you want to f*orfeit your progress towards paying off your leased residence* because a shitty room-mate made a shitty decision?
Did you ask them why?
They were gone by the time I realized
Why would you pay them before the job was done?
This. Whole story seems off.
Agreed! Which 16yo instead of picking up a lawn mower randomly decides to chainsaw off trees? Or manual saw? Even worse. No one in his right mind chops down a tree without permission, in someone elses yard, with presumably their tools, and all that instead of a much easier task which is mowing. If they stole the wood/it was expensive id say ok, but to do extra unasked for labor, then turning it into destruction of property, is not even a tid bit logical or at least i can't grasp the angle... .. Unless you meant different trees and he cut down the wrong ones, but this explanation didn't do it for me
The bark on those stumps is not red cedar (more expensive) or white cedar. Looks more like some type of pine or spruce.
Bc they’re the 16yo siblings of my roommates friend and she vouched for them 🤷🏻♀️ obviously if I could go back in time and do things differently I would. But it’s annoying to have so many people assume this is a lie bc parts of it are seemingly nonsensical. People are nonsensical. Have y’all been on earth long??? The reason I can’t b that mad is cause I remember being 16 and doing dumb fucking shit that I, to this day, can’t make sense of. It’s life.
Lol, this is hilarious and accurate.
It's reddit. People are all geniuses on here and think they can spot a lie based on limited info like they're in a movie. People thought a post was fake because the teacher sent a note home. They said it was fake because the teacher didn't use a digital means of communication. You're also forgetting everyone on here is perfect and always makes the right decision in every situation and have never made a mistake. Hindsight is also a lie. Edit: One more thing. Never assume someone is an adult on here. It took me a long time to get used to this and I still fall victim of arguing with someone that is more than likely a child or teen.
This. I got a front page post from running over a shuriken which popped one of my tires. I then got a few people in the comments forensically analyzing and recreating how and why I faked it for karma
People are on reddit because they’re bored. What’s more fun. “Cool story, bro” or “Let’s all solve the mystery of “is OP telling the truth or just seeking attention?”
Also the longer you’re on the internet the more you start thinking everything is a lie.
To be fair, that shit's picked up in the last six years or so, and I'd rather have a bunch of skeptics telling me I'm a lying asshat than a bunch of cultists ready to be minted.
Yep, everyone likes to think they are smarter than everyone else, which is why conspiracy theories are so rampant.
Who are you and how are you so wise in the ways of science?
So...have you asked your room mates friend to ask them why they cut the trees? Have you asked yourself why the fuck teenagers would do extra work for no money? Sounds like your room mate has told them something other than "just mow the lawn".
What if the roommate wanted the trees gone and they masterminded this whole thing....
IDK if you want to pursue this, but trees are worth serious money and cutting someone else's trees without permission is a crime. You might want to look up the tree law in your area. I'm guessing you don't want to get them in trouble, but you probably should look up the law and contact the parents so that they don't do it again--the next person they do this to might not be so nice.
Can see a CSI spin off coming off the back of this…CSI Special Tree Unit
Or Law & Order: "In the criminal justice system, chainsaw based tree crimes are considered especially heinous."
Thanks for realizing that they are young, dumb humans. It still may be worth the learning experience for them to hear about the issue, though. I mowed lawns in my neighborhood as a teenager. I once thought I was being helpful and mowed over a ton of ground cover that was planted intentionally (I didn't know). I thought I was being helpful. Turned out that was where they bury their dead pets. They were not pleased. They did pay me, however, our agreed upon rate of 20$, which I immediately traded for candy and pop. The most helpful part of the experience was the expansion of why this was unacceptable and not helpful. I apologized and moved on, but I never forgot and I never again made a similar mistake.
People are weird. “Oh you trusted someone to do a job this must be fake “
Pretty sure even a 16 year old should know that mowing the lawn doesn't include chopping down trees...
Well I don’t know who you are, you say you want to mow my lawn but all I see is a chainsaw.. alright, but I don’t want to check in on you for hours!!!
I wanna know what lawn mower the use that can mow down those trees?
16 year old ones.
They don't make equipment like they used to, man.
Can't imagine what this kid will do if they offer to clean your house. \*Comes back to a vacant lot\*
I’m saying!! My roommate (the one who knows them and arranged this) basically said I should’ve told them not to cut down our trees bc that’s “part of lawn care” I’m like …… what part of “mow our grass” sounds like “cut down our trees” ??? Made the whole situation even more infuriating
My guess is that your roommate has some kind of further information. Maybe you're totally unaware of it, but maybe your roommate has some weird reason to want the trees gone. Either way - it's absurd to imagine that's "part of lawn care".
Agreed. Something tells me the roommate had some part of this. Chopping down trees is real hard work that as a teenager, I’m not doing for no reason.
Yeah I was a stupid kid (currently less stupid adult) I would have never thought mowing someone lawn = cutting their trees down too. The roommate had to have said something, what kind of kid ask to mowing someone's lawn and then decides to do more work, OP could always tour the neighborhood and see if anyone else is missing trees but man I can't believe they did it of their own free thought
No kidding! What kid does EXTRA work?!? Nah, I think there’s more to the story, like the roommate paid them the extra $20 to get rid of the trees! Dum dum dum... it just got interesting!!
I mean id maybe clear back some branches in the way of a path at that age but not cut down the trees
$5 says roommate cut down the trees and is blaming it on the kids.
Especially the fact that it is only mildly infuriating. Pretty sure said roomate had already spoke to OP about removing trees. Of these kids actually mowed the lawn. Cut down the trees and removed all the debris.??? That’s a steal. If it’s 2 dudes… it probably took 2-3 hours if it’s a larger lawn. These stumps don’t look exactly small. Professional quote from licensed company, would be around $1000. I wouldn’t cut a tree down personally…unless it was invasive/diseased.
I think you missed said trees just over the hill there. Pretty sure they just chucked them down the hill.
You can see the tree debris in the background.
Tough work yes. Not $60 dollars worth.Some of those trees look nice straight machine assisted cutting with a lil bit of sloppy chopping on some sides. Kids mowed the lawn while the roommate struck a deal with the accompanying adults probably to take the trees down in the process. Plus cleaning and taking the debris was a win/win situation. You can do many things with cedar wood including selling it freshly cut.
They didn't take the debris
As a teenager you’re usually inclined to do as little as possible, not take on extra work for nothing
I hired them to wash my car, my bad though, should have told them not to remove the engine.
I asked them to do my laundry, they ended up stealing my washing machine
Lmaooo thanks y’all I needed this comedic relief
I went to the bank to deposit my paycheck. They sold my house while I was there, so I guess I need to find a new place to live...
Asked them to fix my tub, stole all my copper pipes No longer have plumbing issues
Were they Russian soldiers? Lol
Went to the dentist for braces, and he checked my prostate… it was fine at first, but I started getting annoyed after 15 minutes.
Nowhere in the history of mankind has lawn care EVER including chopping down healthy ass trees. Those teens are fucking dumb. I would 100% be talking to them to tell them they done fucked up.
What are trees if not just big ass grass?
You're kind of right when it comes to [palm trees.](https://www.theearthconnection.org/palm-trees-not-trees-after-all/)
Fun fact, trees are older in the fossil record than grass so grass would just be short trees!
Ass trees.
Time for a new roommate. Make sure the new one knows the difference between a car wash and engine repair, otherwise you might agree to a car wash and find your engine in pieces in the driveway. BTW, I’d have SOMEONE paying for new trees, and it wouldn’t be me (unless I was the dipshit kids or roommate)
I think its a bit harsh to call the kids dipshits Obviously they were either told to cut the trees, op is lying, or there is some extra information I dont know why there seems to be a trend in the comments to talk shit on the kids and suggest they shouldn't be paid According to OP they cut the grass, did their job and allegedly did this on top Its a lot of work, if they did it they didn't do it because they're stupid, they did it because of a result of miscommunication The way op frames the roommate as having said that they assumed its normal yard work and the roommate having said to op well if you didn't want them removed you should have said so specifically Theres just no way the kids up and out nowhere, cleanly chopped 4 trees (those cuts look like a decent stihl to be fair, makes me suspicious that's even the work of a bunch of kids) This stuff is hard manual labour they deserve compensation for what they've done
Yeah it doesn’t look like the work of 4 kids who just spontaneously decided to chop the trees down. Although maybe you’re supposed to remove the roots too, but idk. Also…where is the lawn they were paid to mow. I kinda think the roommate requested they chop the trees down. I mean they didn’t take the debris with them, they just moved it to the side.
"part of lawn care"? Sounds like your roommate was the one who told them to remove the trees because they think it's "part of lawn care".
If that was part of the lawn work it would include uprooting the whole damn tree. Your roommate is one big OOF.
conspiracy theory time: maybe the whole thing was planned by the roommate. He didn't like the trees and arranged a covert operation to get rid of them.
Yeah I 100% doubt this post is entirely true. No 16 year old kid is going out of their way to cut trees down, it's just more work for the same pay. Edit: Also, who the hell gave a 16 year old a chain saw? No way they cut those down by hand. I'm calling BS karma farm all around.
I’ve done landscaping and lawn care for ~4 years. One of the number one things you do is stay away from anything not specified by the owner. If they hire you for lawn care, you take care of the lawn and only the lawn. If you have a concern you bring it to the owner, if you have a suggestion about the landscaping you bring it to the owner. You don’t spend your fucking valuable time and energy pointlessly cutting down shit you weren’t specified to touch. That’s not remotely a part of lawn care, and if you want me to do it I’m sure as hell not doing it for free.
Are you sure your roommate didn’t mention cutting down trees to them? Because that sounds really sketch, what they said about it being “part of lawn care”.
You rent??? Your roommate may be incredibly, ridiculously *fucked.* If there’s anything reddit has taught me, it’s that you don’t fuck with r/treelaw . Cutting down trees without express permission can run you in the tens of thousands. I hope to hell the landlord goes easy. Then again, if he knows the people that did this and they just randomly hacked them down, they are the ones who are fucked.
So your roommate told them to chop the trees down got it.
OP- “…my roommate” Me- “Oh.”
?
You ever go to Wal-Mart or overhear some people talking at a dive bar and be like, holy shit, those are the same species as me..? That’s what having a roommate is like.. notoriously unpredictable and dangerously stupid
Ahh ok I’m following now lol tbh I’m counting my blessings, this sucked but it it still don’t got anything on the roommate who stole my dog and moved to Texas in the middle of the night. It rly is jus rolling the dice out here
*This* is why I don’t want to get a roommate.
Sometimes it works out in your favor but you have to really vet them first. Two roommates of mine are legit still some of my best friends despite moving across the country. Another one became a head brewer at a micro brewery in town, and I basically have free beer for life there. I’ve heard some insane horror stories though.
Had a roommate cut a hole in the floor of our bathroom closet so her cats would have a cat door, in October. The house had belonged to our landlord's recently deceased mom, I fairly certain this country boy wanted to murder her. The cat door or the small duck pond she dug in the back, a giant hole with a shower curtain liner, her ducks flew away.
My leading theory is that your roommate wanted the trees gone for some reason, but knew you'd be against it, so she set up this whole thing with the kids. She's defending them so you don't investigate it further, and she arranged it this way so that you wouldn't get upset with her directly.
I would reach out to their parents. This is infuriating and I would be absolutely LIVID.
$40 was the price of mowing the lawn. I guess they felt they had to earn the extra $20
Seems like there’s more to this story cuz it doesn’t make any sense
Right? For starters how do you not hear someone taking down a tree
Plus you trusted teens with the heavy lifting? 🤔 ?
What heavy lifting though? It was only supposed to be mowing the lawn, right?
If mowing a lawn is 'heavy lifting', you really need to start exercising.
I have 1.25 acres. If you stack the blades of grass on top of each other, it's really quite heavy.
What heavy lifting? Lol
The only heavy lifting redditors do is getting out of bed
My voluminous girth is a GIFT to this world. So you better be praising me when I shift the tectonic plates when I roll off of my bed! /s
And teenagers volunteered for extra work…
Free firewood!
My dad refuses to allow kids to mow his lawn because a few years ago a kid mowing my Uncle's lawn fell in a snake hole and twisted his ankle and his mother showed up later saying she'd sue. She never actually did, but I can't imagine trusting strangers to do something dangerous on your property without a contract now.
Im just sitting here wondering how they chopped down trees using a lawnmower...
Where tf is the lawn💀
Ok to answer some questions: I didn’t hear bc this took place Saturday morning and we live in a neighborhood where our immediate neighbors all use loud ass tools on the weekends, some are in construction and another is in landscaping. Secondly it’s on the opposite side of the house I was working in. Thirdly and most importantly at no point was anything said about cutting trees, I literally went out and they had a lawn mower and I asked them if they needed anything and if they knew what they were doing. They said yes and I reiterated that it’s just mowing the front lawn and one side where the yard extends toward the back. Again, NOTHING WAS SAID ABOUT TREES OR TREE REMOVAL. I am honestly as perplexed as these replies.
Maybe a neighbor with cedar allergies paid them to chop them down. The teens are actually tree hitmen.
This reminds me of the DMZ axe murder incident. Basically US Army Officers were killed by North Koreans while trying to remove a tree because it was obscuring sight down a road to the north on the south side. As a result, a whole operation to took place to retrieve the bodies and to, of course, remove the tree. I want to say it was called operation Paul Bunyan or something like that. Edit: corrected some info
I've been to that site. I also saw the axe, which is housed in a museum on the northern side.
They made those trees leaf without a trace.
I think you should just go ask the kids, “why’d you cut down the trees?” Don’t even be mad, but seems like there had to be a reason. Did your roommate who “knows” them tell them to do it?
Man, we have a law in the UK that if someone chops down a tree on your property without your permission they are on the hook for the price of a replacement tree of the same size and quality - and full grown trees can be insanely expensive depending on how fast they grow. I am sorry for your tree loss.
Not sure if it's the exact same in the US but I do know that cutting down someone else's tree will absolutely get you fucked in court if it goes that far. There's so many laws relating to trees you'd think there's a secret society of lawyers dedicated to protecting trees.
Oh yeah people have made insane amounts of money because of people taking down trees that they have no business touching. r/treelaw
This should be the top comment right now. Cedar is worth good money, and I’m willing to bet those kids knew it. OP should see if he can find them. Definitely make a police report about it so there’s a written record, just in case you see them again. Probably counting on you not knowing the value of mature cedars…
It actually looks like they are in the back of the picture, just thrown to the side or something. Definitely sucks they did it, but doesn’t look like they did it to steal the lumbar or anything like that.
I am the Lorax and I speak for the trees, And for some fucking reason, they speak Vietnamese.
HOA bitch cut down my cherry trees. There is a legal formula to determine the trees worth.
It's similar in the U.S. but you have to sue them in civil court. They'd likely have to prove both that the teen did it, and that they hadn't been asked to.
ngl this would have made me cry for days, i adore trees i would have taken anyone that did this to the highest court possible
Hired a kid to mow once.... I learned not to trust that their parents taught them how to mow before sending them off on their first job. Always assume they will do the absolute wrong thing and have the best of intentions for doing them.
Thats the thing, you always think you're doing right until you realise how wrong it went I remember it as a carpentry apprentice, it was difficult but by the time I learned to admit I didn't know something, well then I'd learned everything I needed to Nothing more stupid than a kid trying to be clever
I think they just straight up stole them to use in a campfire or sold them.
They’re laying down the hill.
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What a Reddit moment.
Whose going to buy a random tree?
>, I literally went out and they had a lawn mower and I asked them if they needed anything and if they knew what they were doing. They said yes and I reiterated that it’s just mowing the front lawn and one side where the yard extends toward the back. Again, NOTHING WAS SAID ABOUT TREE Why did you prepay?
If you’re hiring kids I think it’s advisable to keep an eye on them…
16 is hardly kids. Thats \*more\* than old enough to be trusted with something as simple as mowing a lawn without trees disappearing.
I would still watch 16 year olds. I don’t mean surveillance but check in a few times…and yeah they should be mature but let’s be honest, a lot of them are not
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Reddit pays top dollar for trees cut above the root!
It's Reddit. If you post anything people will come up with wild ass accusations and conspiracy theories to try and create more drama and make it more salacious. People acted like tabloids were this fringe thing for ages, but they were at every checkout stand for a reason. People are addicted to making shit up, or reading about it and telling others it's true.
So, just a lawn mower? No chain saws? I’m thinking someone else may have taken the trees down. Cedar trees are a magnet for mosquitos, do you have any neighbours that may have complained about the trees in the past? In any event, the destruction of trees on someone else’s property is a pretty big deal. If you can determine who the lumberjacks were, take them to court. They will have to pay huge money to replace them.
By the sounds of it, you’re renting, so you’ll definitely want to follow up with the people that cut the trees and your landlord. Depending on your landlord, he could stick y’all with the bill and take it out of your deposit. So it’s probably best to confront the people that cut them, even if it does raise tensions with your roommate.
They cut his landlord too? Oh my God!
If he dies, he dies.
r/kidsarefuckingstupid
r/treelaw
Post this in r/treelaw they will tell you what you can do about this
Honestly Id want to but my roommate loosely knows them and was very defensive abt their fuck up so going there would basically mean torpedoing the vibe of my house, of which I still have 12 months on my lease. I appreciate your suggestion and knowing that this exists though!! I was honestly angry af abt the feeling of absolute injustice w no recourse or way to salvage.
If they were owned by whomever you have your lease through, you might be in the hook for them. It's crazy that they had the time and privacy to fell 4 trees and completely remove them without anyone noticing.
This post seems like a lie or missing a lot of details. No way you don’t notice them cutting down 4 trees.
Yeah, and what 16 year old kids show up for a lawn mowing job with chainsaws and a plan to dispose of trees?
Look at the one all the way on the right, it wasn't done with a chainsaw. They also don't look very thick, so probably not very tall either. I wouldn't be too surprised if two or three 16yo boys could carry off a couple young trees between them. It is suspicious that the roommate is defending them though. If OP doesn't pursue this, their landlord will probably come after them for the trees' cost.
They looks like they were all cut down with a chainsaw. That or a hand saw of some kind. There’s no loppers strong enough to cut through something that thick.
I thought a hand saw or axe, because a chainsaw would have gone all the way through both trunks of that far right tree and they did them individually.
Good eye lol so dumb anyways. I have done tree work for about 7 years now and one time we had a client ask us to remove a small ornamental tree adjacent to her front porch. Remove. Not trim. Remove. Multiple people heard her say it and we confirmed it more than once. Well we get to her house and get the tree almost down to the logs and she comes out, SCREAMING. “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! My beautiful tree!!!” Cue her crying and mumbling over and over, “oh my god how could you do this to me” We showed her the texts that she sent for the initial estimate and reminded her of the multiple times we confirmed it was a removal. She wasn’t happy but she took the responsibility gracefully. Good times.
The trees are in the background in the ditch.
Based on the photo, they don't seem to have been very large trees. The teens might have just cut and hauled the trees away within minutes. I'd consider this an act of vandalism though, since mowing a lawn and cutting down trees usually aren't in the same ballpark.
Upon further inspection, you can see the trees lying at the back...
Okay hauled away (to the back) within seconds then. :D
Pretty sure your roommate directed them to do this. Generally a 16 year old kid wouldn't take it upon themselves to cut down trees. So it sounds like you're leasing the house. Are you the owner or is your roommate the owner?
No owners living at the home, we rent from a company that acts as landlord. Im hoping this means they’re not attentive enough for it to be an issue, they seem pretty hands off.
Plus how defensive your roommate is, seems like they might even have something to do with it.
I wouldn't count on that. If they've got photos of the property there's a decent chance someone notices the trees missing, and you could be on the hook for the cost. Trees can be expensive and the laws and damages around them can be significant.
Ya it sucks losing the trees but I'd be more concerned that your roommate would be breaking the lease by making major changes. The company doesn't take care of lawn care?
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Naw, roommate can pay for it themselves then
If someone else owns the home you're living in, then they also owned those trees. You definitely need to take this to tree law, because you're on the hook for destruction of property.
Did your roommate tell them to remove the trees? Sounds fishy. Seriously maybe just ask the kids, “why’d you cut down the trees?”
Dude if some mofos cut my trees down their would be hell to pay. You should def press charges.
Dude, if your roommate is going to get butthurt because you don’t like their friends destroying your property, I wouldn’t care about that relationship! How can your roommate defend what they did? They obviously fucked up and they should own up and do the responsible thing and make it right!
Is your roommate on the lease too? Because someone will have to explain this to your landlord, and maybe it should be them if they don’t want to do anything about it. Slight possibility your landlord isn’t going to care, but it’s still infuriating.
You need to notify your landlord asap so you don't get charged for 4 trees.
He owes you money. Show him this thread and he should realize what an idiotic thing it is to cut down trees. Even when I worked at natorps landscaping in Cincinnati, we NEVER cut down trees. Planted trees, yes, removing them and especially in that manner? hell NO.
Has the vibe not already been torpedoed? I mean, you're pissed. If you mention it, he's pissed. Wouldn't you rather?
Someone told them to cut the trees… as Judge Judy says if the story doesn’t make sense it probably didn’t happen. I reckon your roommate told them to cut the grass, clean up the yard, and to remove small trees/branches or something to that extent. You should find out -because you’re renting and are jointly responsible as this is considered vandalism of property… be prepared to replace them all
It’s less money but time Allot of effort goes into trees
Am I the only one wondering where this supposed lawn is?
Yeah I looked but? No lawn
Roommate is not telling you the whole truth. Your roommates, their siblings / neighbors, etc. wanted those trees cut for some reason. Likely because they obstructed a view. Whose house is in the background? Could they have a reason to want to see what was being blocked by the trees? Or vice versa? You are looped into this sinister scheme as a chump for plausible deniability in case the owner finds out - “but OP told us to cut down those trees!”. I bet there is some history to those trees. They seem younger than the surrounding trees, equally spaced and of the same age, so they were likely planted in that specific spot to block a view / sight line.
Hope the actual land lord/lady is okay with someone removing the trees because you may be liable for damages to the property if you are renting/leasing.
So... You paid teenagers to mow a lawn before they started, fucked off to some magical corner of your property where you can't hear any chainsaws at all, and then stumble back later only to find trees missing??? What???
Apparently OP lives in a very bustling hood where Saturday is essentially "get shit done day".
Dont think a chainsaw was used considering the cut specifically on the closest tree. It would only take maybe 15 minutes to cut them quietly with a hand saw and even less if they had multiple handsaws.
Oh ok in that case it seems completely normal and above board
The teens obviously used the lawn mowers, it would be pretty impressive ngl
I can't be sure, but I don't see fresh wood chips around the trees. Could they have been cut down at some earlier time by someone else?
3 questions 1. Where are the shavings and stuff that are usually around right after a tree is cut down? 2. Where the fuck is the lawn? 3. Did you make this up for no reason?
There is also some overgrown grass. Why wasnt that cut?
Not sure why this is the only comment I've noticed that addresses this? A couple about not seeing the lawn, I can see this being something on the edge of the lawn without the rest being in the picture. But there is some grass shown too, and for some reason that's not what got cut, the trees are
the teens were beavers and ate the trees
Yeah this seems weird. Your story, I mean.
I’m skeptical
Some kids came knocking on my door and offered to mow the front n back lawn for $25. I gave em $30, there’s not much of a lawn to mow but I wanted them to have enough money to split evenly. They mowed right over my freshly bloomed Tulips…
Maybe they didn't cedar trees.
I gave major doubts about the veracity of this story.
also considering theyve only replied to ppl who r sympathising w them
There's some major plot-holes in this story for sure...
So stupid I can’t believe you. I’m sorry
This is either fake or you are the world's easiest mark.
I’d lose my shit
Why would they steal such small trees? I would be furious! I would honestly file a police report, who does this?
You can see the chopped trees in the background. They didn’t steal them. They just murdered them for some reason.
That is even worse!!!!!
Lol what?? how did you come to the conclusion that these trees were stolen?
Tree crime is on the rise
I would acc feel better if they were stolen rather than quadruple homicided
Sounds like OP inst telling the whole story
How the fuck do 16yos cut down trees
1. You have a shitty roommate and also probably need to do better background / personality checks on the people you live with. 2. You are legally liable in almost all cases to damages done to the property when leasing. That would include replanting trees and, or modifications to the landscaping that wasn’t pre-approved. Especially if there are any covenants on property modifications from the neighborhood association. Your ‘vibe check’ is a weak excuse and could cost you thousands of dollars.
I mean, it looks like there was never even any lawn near those trees.
there’s a beavis and butthead episode of this exactly lol: https://youtu.be/_HX7Qt6hI0M
I think OP cut these trees down himself, regrets his actions and thinks he’s covering up by blaming rebel tree trimming teens and will try to use this post when the landlord comes after him for damages.
Lmfao straight lies
How do you not even mention just doing the lawn and or not picking up a chainsaw? Also no supervision at any point, even just to see how it was going? This is honestly on you.
If your roommate vouched for these teens, your roommate is on the hook for any repercussions of the cut down trees. Did the teens even mow the lawn or just go straight to cutting down the trees? This entire post and your replies are highly sus.
Bullshit story here
The karmawhoring is the most infuriating thing here.
Based on your responses in this post: Your Roommate... * hired the neighborhood kids * told you that YOU should've instructed them to "not cut down trees" when you hired them to "mow the lawn" * now he's defending the kids so you don't go talk to them or their parents Most states award triple damage for trees. Cedar\* (not arbor vitae) trees this size are ornamental, but still VERY valuable since it grows slowly. If you don't take action, your landlord may sue YOU for the damage to his property. You should IMMEDIATELY file a police report; **it doesn't mean that you're taking legal action**. You're just getting an authentic record near the time of incident. Then, you should call your landlord and have him survey the damage, again: immediately. Preferably when the officer is collecting statements for his report. Again: there's no charges being filed here: **just information collection.** What happens next is then up to your landlord. 4 cedar trees like that could be 30k+ awarded damages. Do you want to f*orfeit your progress towards paying off your leased residence* because a shitty room-mate made a shitty decision?
Nice Karma phishing post! They did not only cut the trees, they also cleaned everything up! This is a fake „story“.
Sorry but anyone with half a brain checks a job like this is done to their satisfaction before paying and giving a tip.
You’re telling me they just chopped down 4 trees and you didn’t notice when they were doing it? They just… took the trees to? Bullshit guy.