This gum tree towered nearly 300 feet within 10 feet of the back of my house.

By LAMAR THAMES

I have a confession to make. I am a big woosy. That probably isn’t surprising to those of you who know me, but let me explain.

Recently, I have had to hire two contractors for major work around my house. Both were going to cost a significant amount of money (at least to me) and the prospect scared me to death. I didn’t want to make a mistake in hiring either one of them, but I didn’t have any personal experience with doing it. Thus my dilemma.

The first chore was to pick a roofing contractor. Over the years, I have had to pay several thousand dollars for minor repairs to the old roof caused by falling limbs from a giant gum tree in the backyard. The most recent repair was going to be about $1,500. My wife and I decided to have the roof replaced instead, since it was nearly 17 years old and showing signs of wear.

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