Tree Removal Guide?

The following was posted in my neighborhood list serve.  What do you think?

The
first thing you should do is stand far enough away from the house to
just see if you get the feeling that the tree is crowding the house. 
Yes________     No _________
Next, measure (in feet) how far away
the tree is from the house or any concerned structure.  Is it less than
20 ft.? Yes________  No _________
The next step is to take a
retractable tape measure and stand facing the tree.  Hold the tape level
horizontally about 4-5 ft. off the ground and measure the diameter of
the tree in inches.  Is the diameter greater than 18 inches? 
Yes________  No________
Next, is the tree near a driveway?  Yes______ No________ How far away? _____________
Is the tree near a walkway?    Yes________  No________ How far away? __________________
Is the tree near a street?  Yes________  No________ How far away? _________________
Is
there obvious damage to any of the above such as a sidewalk cracking or
heaving up of the concrete by tree roots? Yes________   No_______
Standing 30 ft. or so away and looking at the crown of the tree, does it appear to be full? Yes_____  No_____

While still out there, estimate how wide the crown is by using multiples of the diameter of the trunk that
you measured earlier. Is your estimate greater than 30 ft.? Yes_______  No______

While you are still looking at the crown are there any dead limbs visible? Yes_____  No______
Are they in the crown?  Yes______   No______
Are they on the edges?  Yes______   No______
Are they lying on the ground?  Yes______  No______

Now add up all your yes answers and if your total is three or more, you might want to get some referrals
for sho’nuff licensed, trained, bonded/insured, spectrum, multi-disciplined tree service (not just a tree
cutter) to see what logical options are available to increase the tree’s safety and health. Some things to
consider are root feeding, cabling, crown thinning, balancing the crown wind load, repairing any large
cavities in the main trunk and/or limbs, plus remedying the cause of the damage, install a lightning
protection system, etc.  As we can see there are so many possibilities or needs, every situation is different.