Frequently Asked Questions
The questions Nashville homeowners actually ask, including the two about curb strips and alleys that nobody else on this street of websites seems to answer.
Nashville Stump Grinding and Stump Removal FAQs
What does stump grinding cost in Nashville in 2026?
A single small stump generally runs $100 to $175, a mid-size stump $175 to $350, and a large hardwood $350 to $700. Multiples on one property drop the per-stump number, and there is a minimum service call. Access moves those bands more here than diameter does - a twenty-inch stump behind a thirty-six inch gate can cost more than a thirty-inch one in an open front lawn. Clear photos plus a gate measurement usually get you a firm figure the same day.
Can I take out the tree between the sidewalk and the street?
Not on your own say-so. That strip is Metro right-of-way and anything standing in it is a public tree under Code Section 2.104.060, which requires a permit from the urban forester before it is damaged, destroyed or removed. The administrative fee is ten dollars. Where there is no sidewalk, Metro treats everything from the water meter box out to the street the same way. Remove one without the permit and the city directs what gets replaced.
Do I need a permit to grind a stump in my own Nashville yard?
For a single-family or duplex property, no. Metro's tree removal permit at 17.40.470 does not apply to those - it is aimed at commercial developers, commercially zoned property and multi-family development. What still applies to you is the locate obligation before ground is disturbed, and Metro's stormwater rules if the job moves a serious volume of material.
How deep do you grind, and why does it vary across the city?
Six to twelve inches below grade covers most jobs, deeper under a slab or driveway edge or where something is going back in the hole. It varies because Davidson County bedrock does. Talbott soils across the Central Basin uplands run only twenty to forty inches to limestone and the depth changes within one block, so a ridge lot in Belmont or Inglewood may hit ledge before the wheel reaches twelve while the bottomland lot near Richland Creek grinds as deep as you like.
Will a grinder fit down my alley in Germantown or Salemtown?
Usually the machine will and often the trailer will not. We measure the alley mouth turn, the narrowest point along it, and any fixed obstruction - a dumpster pad, a utility pole set close, a neighbour's parking. Where the trailer cannot get in, the machine walks in under its own power from the nearest place we can legally stop. Send a photo down the alley from the street and we can usually tell you before booking.
How many chips will a ground stump actually produce?
Two to three times what most people picture. Wood expands considerably as it is cut, so a stump that looked like a wheelbarrow's worth becomes a genuine pile. Decide in advance whether it stays as mulch or leaves on the truck, because Metro's brush collection only runs four cycles a year, does not take grindings mixed with soil, and does not collect on private streets at all.
Does 811 cover everything under my yard?
No, and this is the gap that damages things. Tennessee 811 notifies member utilities who send locators for their own facilities, with three working days' notice required. It does not cover private and customer-owned lines - sewer laterals, water service into the building, irrigation, low-voltage landscape lighting, invisible fence, propane. On a 1950s Nashville lot those are exactly what sits near the stump, and flagging them is the homeowner's job.
My tree is in a historic overlay. Does that stop a stump grind?
The overlay does not regulate the tree, but it very much regulates what happens on that ground afterward. Germantown is a full Historic Preservation Overlay where exterior alterations are reviewed, and Lockeland Springs-East End, Belmont-Hillsboro, Salemtown and Inglewood Place are neighbourhood conservation overlays. A new parking pad, a rebuilt drive or a relocated fence where the stump was needs a preservation permit from the Metro Historic Zoning Commission.
Can I replant anything I like once the stump is out?
You can, but Metro publishes a prohibited list and it is worth reading first. Silver maple, all Callery and Bradford pear cultivars, pin oak, every ash, tree of heaven, mimosa, princess tree and chinaberry are among the species Metro will not recommend, mostly because they are what is failing in this city right now. The recommended large-canopy list leans heavily on native oaks - white, swamp white, shingle, chinkapin, Shumard and others.
How soon can you come out after a storm?
Faster for a single stump than for a whole street. After a widespread event - Winter Storm Fern took out more than 230,000 NES customers in January 2026 - the whole city calls in the same week and honest scheduling means a real date rather than a promise we would miss. We will also tell you where a job needs NES to disconnect the service drop first, because that call sets the timeline more than our calendar does.
Can you grind a stump close to my neighbour's tree?
Usually, with a plan. We work the stump's own root flare and stop, rather than following every root outward toward whatever it leads to, and we keep the machine off the neighbouring tree's root zone by controlling the approach path rather than driving the same line repeatedly. On a fifty-foot city lot two trees are often sharing ground, so this is a normal Nashville constraint rather than an unusual one.
Do you charge a fee just to come out and look?
No. Estimates are free and most single stumps never need a visit if the photos and the gate measurement are clear. We ask to walk a site when access is the unknown - an alley we have not seen, a shared drive, a steep side yard, a stump inside a few feet of a slab - because guessing at that produces a number neither of us should rely on.