Does Your ADU Builder Clear the Trees and Haul the Stumps, or Is That on You?

By Buz Artiano, BuildX | November 2026

Watch: Why Renting Wasn't an Option Anymore

There are trees in the way where you want your ADU to go. Nowhere in the price quote does it say who is supposed to cut them down, or haul them off, or what will be done with the stumps that are left behind. So you have to guess if that is already covered or if it will be a separate cost you'll have to arrange for yourself.

My name is Buz Artiano, founder of BuildX. We have built dozens of ADUs across Massachusetts, with most of that work on the South Shore and in Plymouth County, and we handle design, permitting, and construction under one roof. Massachusetts now lets homeowners build one ADU by right in single-family zoning districts under the Affordable Homes Act, and you can review the requirements at mass.gov. That settles the zoning question but not questions about the ground. All of the city building codes, health codes, and regulations about the dimensions still have to be met, and none of them say what will happen to the trees on your build site.

Kevin and Terry Cregan are BuildX clients and we're building an ADU on their Plymouth property for their daughter and her husband who've been renting for the last couple of years. They weren't able to find a house that fit their budget that didn't need a lot of repairs: a new roof, a new septic system, and new windows before anyone could live in it. Their lot had trees on it, and we can get a better picture of how this works when we know what happened to those trees.

You'd expect us to share a story where the family is happy with us. But we're talking about this one because the answer to the question in the title isn't a happy one. Tree and stump work isn't covered in our price and we'd rather you hear it now than read it on a change order after you've signed the contract.

Is Tree Removal Included in Your ADU Price?

No, it isn't included in ours, and you shouldn't assume it will be included in anyone else's unless you've seen it as a line item. Our base pricing deals with the foundation up. Everything below that and everything that connects the finished building to the outside world is site work and we can't give you any price until somebody has inspected your property.

Two identical ADUs with the same floor plan and finishes, can have very different prices for their site-work. One may have a flat, cleared lot with a sewer and sitting close to the driveway. And the other one has mature trees and a septic system that has to be worked around. The ADU is the same but the property isn't. So be sure and ask every builder on your list what their base price covers and what's a separate cost. Make sure their figures are based on your specific lot and get the answer in writing.

What Does Site Work Actually Cover on Your Lot?

Site work is what the building industry calls everything that has to be done to the property before and around the building, and it goes well beyond just the area of the structure. On an ADU project it will cover:

• Clearing the build envelope, which involves clearing the trees and brush that is the area where the ADU will go
• Digging the hole for the foundation, and moving the soil that is taken out of it
• Cutting or lengthening a driveway so trucks, an excavator, and eventually the occupant can get to the unit
• Connecting the ADU to water, to sewer or septic, and to power
• Grading, backfilling, and fixing what the equipment tore up on the way in

All the things on that list are additions to the quote. Utility connections and septic will increase the cost most. The subject of trees doesn't come up very often in the first discussions, because they don't seem like a construction cost until someone has to load them on a truck.

Below is how we divide it up for our own builds. This is just our own way of doing it, not an industry standard, but it will give you something concrete to measure other builders' answers against.

Do You Have to Hire Your Own Tree Company?

With the projects we do, no. The trees get chopped down as part of site work, that's done by our site-work subcontractor using the same excavator and bobcat that did the foundation. You're not hiring a separate tree service, trying to arrange two schedules, or standing between two companies that are arguing about who damaged what.

Kevin Cregan says this happened on their property in Plymouth. Our subcontractor who does the site work was running the excavator and the bobcat, and Kevin's response to how fast it was going was in his words, "within two days, I can't believe how much work he did." What was more important than the speed was how the decisions were being made. Kevin described it this way: "he's out there chatting with you about, well, we probably need to take down this tree or that tree."

That discussion should take place in the yard instead of just on paper for a good reason. The trees that have to be cut down aren't just the ones in the area where the ADU is going to be. An excavator has to have room to move, and the bobcat has to have a way in and out it can use all day. When it's a small lot a tree that's twenty feet clear of the building might still have to be taken out because it's in a place where the machine has to turn. You can't see that on a site plan, so we'll inspect your lot with you before anything gets cut.

Where Do My Wood and Stumps End Up?

A tree that has to be cut down will be used for a lot of wood and somebody has to figure out what happens to it. On the Cregan job the wood was cut up and stacked on the property where the family wanted it. Kevin said "we were taking down all the trees and processing them, and he stacked them up where you wanted them."

What to do with all the stumps are another thing to figure out, and this is something that people forget about. A stump matters depending on where it is relative to everything else that's being built. If it isn't too close to the foundation, the driveway or the power lines, then it might just be a problem of mowing and landscaping. If it's underneath or too close to one of those things it could rot and settle. Terry talked to the crew about that while they were still on the property. The answer was "yeah, no problem, whatever you guys want, I'll take care of you."

That doesn't always happen. They agreed this time because we asked for it while the equipment was still there. Wood processing, stacking location, stump removal, and hauling are four separate questions and there's work that has to be done with each one. Make sure you ask all these questions while the equipment is still there. If you wait until it leaves then you have to pay for them to come back to the property.

Terry's opinion is this: "And I think that speaks to Build-X's relationship that they have with subcontractors." A site crew that always works for the same builder on every job has a reason to figure out what to do with the stumps while they are still on the job site.

What Should You Ask Before You Sign?

You should ask all these questions when the builder is visiting your site. Bring your list of questions to all the builders on your list, including us:

• Does your base price include site work, or does it start at the foundation?
• Which trees are going to be taken out and who decides that?
• Is the wood cut up and left on the property or is it hauled away and will that change the price?
• Where will the wood be stacked?
• Are stumps removed, ground, or left in place, and is that part of the price?
• Who is responsible if a tree damages something while it's being chopped down?

If a builder can answer these questions for you on the spot then he's done this before. Any builder who can't give you an answer or says not to worry about it, is giving you a price that will change. The real risk is finding out how much the site work will cost you after you've already agreed to everything else.

When Are We the Wrong Builder for a Wooded Lot?

We don't give you a price for how much cutting down your trees will cost until we've inspected your property. So we can't give you a complete price for everything when you call us. If you have to have a firm total before someone comes and looks at your lot, then we're not the right company for you, and neither is any builder who will give you that total without an inspection.

There's another time when we're not the right answer for you. If the trees you want chopped down don't affect your ADU, and they are on the far side of the property, that's landscaping not site work. You need to call a tree company for that and we will let you know if that's what you need to do.

Walk Your Own Lot Before Anyone Else Does

Chopping down trees and stump work is site work, and you'll get a price for that after somebody inspects the property. The families that get the best outcome are those who ask about the wood and the stumps before the equipment arrives. You should go stand where the ADU is going to be and see what's in the way. You'll get a clearer answer from every builder you talk to, including ours.