Tree service in Sun Valley, NV

Sun Valley is a community of about 22,000 in a narrow valley north of Reno and Sparks. More than half its homes are manufactured homes, and that single fact changes how tree work is done here.

Why are trees over manufactured homes a different job?

About 52% of Sun Valley's housing units are mobile or manufactured homes and about 44% are single-family detached (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020-2024). That is the highest share among the Reno-area communities we serve.

A manufactured home's roof and walls are lighter than a site-built house's. It is less able to take a falling limb. Lots are narrow, homes sit close to the lot lines, and sheds, carports and propane tanks fill the gaps. There is no drop zone.

So a tree here comes down in small pieces, each one held before it is cut. Our 75-foot boom truck reaches over a home from the street. Where the reach or the weight is too much for the boom, the crane lifts sections out. See tree removal in Sun Valley.

How old are Sun Valley's trees?

About a third of homes were placed or built before 1980, and the median year is 1990. Only about 16% date from 2000 or later. Most trees are therefore 30 to 50 years old: big enough to reach a roof, and old enough to have dead wood.

About 76% of homes are owner-occupied. For a tree that is healthy but too close, trimming for roof clearance and removing dead limbs is often all that is needed, and it is far better than waiting for a failure.

Snow, wind and the Reno weather office

The National Weather Service's Reno office station is about 2 miles from Sun Valley's center at 4,987 feet. Its NOAA 1991-2020 normals are 8.09 inches of precipitation and 29.7 inches of snow a year, with a mean temperature of 54.4 degrees. That snowfall figure is about 9 inches more than the Reno airport's.

Sun Valley's center is at about 4,720 feet in USDA zone 7b. Heavy snow on a tree over a light roof is a reason to prune before winter, not after. Our guide to heavy wet snow and broken limbs covers what to do when it is too late.

Wildfire exposure in Sun Valley

The Forest Service ranks Sun Valley's risk to homes above 97.7% of US communities and above about 74% of Nevada communities. About 16% of buildings are in the direct exposure zone and the remaining 84% in the indirect zone; none are rated minimal.

Thirty perimeters of 300 acres or more are mapped with a center point within about 10 miles since 1980. The Reservoir Fire of 1999, mapped at 6,163 acres, is centered under 4 miles away, the Poeville Road Fire of 2020 at 2,973 acres about 5.6 miles away, and the Prater Fire of 2017 at 2,700 acres about 7 miles away.

The valley's sides are open brush, and homes along them are the exposed ones. Defensible space in Sun Valley focuses on the strip between the last row of homes and the hill, and on what is stored against each home.

Services in Sun Valley

• Tree removal in sections over homes
• Crane-assisted removal
• Trimming, roof clearance and dead wooding
• Stump grinding
• Defensible space
• Certified arborist consultations and 24-hour emergency service