Fix the Little Things: Increase Property Value by Removing Tree Stumps

Your house is more than just a roof and walls.  Your home is also an investment of time and money, and an investment that will pay off in the future if you keep your home well maintained.  You might not be thinking of moving out anytime soon, but keeping up your home’s value is important for more than just the selling price.  Chances are your homeowner’s association management company has rules and regulations about maintaining the value of your home, as well as everyone else’s, because your home affects your neighborhood’s property value and visa versa.  There are plenty of ways to increase and keep up the value of your home, but some of the simplest, yet most important things, you can easily do yourself.

These little things can range from small upgrades to repairing minor damage throughout your home. These are things you might have gotten used to but will stand out when an appraiser is walking through your house.  There are certain features and fixtures that will harm your property value, but can be easily take care of.  “Fix the Little Things” is a series of posts that cover simple projects that will increase the value of your home and property. First up, we talk about removing stumps from your yard to increase your home and property value.

Removing Tree Stumps from Your Yard

Stumps in your yard will begin to rot and look ugly and will negatively affect your property value, but they can be removed with some hard yard work.  You’ll need:

• A shovel, for digging
• An axe, for cutting the tree roots
• A digging bar, for digging and for leverage

You might need

• A mattock and/or pick, to help with the digging
• A chain and a work vehicle, to help pull the stump up

Start digging with the shovel and expose as many roots as possible and as deep down as possible.  Use the axe to chop through tree roots to dig deeper down.  You’re going to try to dig out as many roots as possible before trying to pry out the stump.  You might want to spray some water on the stump to expose any roots hiding in the dirt and loosen up the soil.  When you’ve gotten 75% or more of the roots dug up and chopped off, start trying to pry the stump out of the ground.  Use the digging bar as a lever and try to pop the stump out of the ground.  If this doesn’t seem to be working, either dig some more and cut off more roots, or wrap a chain around the stump, attach to your work vehicle and the stump, then try to pull it out.  Just remember to never push your tools, including your vehicle or your own body too hard.  Trees are pretty determined to stay in the ground so don’t be surprised if it’s stubborn.  But with a bit of sweat and elbow grease, your stump should be out, and your property value increased just a bit more.