Houston Stump Grinding and Tree Stump Removal in Galveston County, TX: Storm Stumps, the Price Each and What We Grind
A stump in Galveston County costs $150 to $400 to grind, by diameter, and half of them were made by a storm, not a saw. After Harvey we spent a year on the coast grinding what the wind snapped off at six feet. The ground is coastal clay in League City and Dickinson, sand toward Hitchcock, and both hold salt. We grind 8 inches below grade in a yard and grub the whole root ball when a slab is going over it. Fifteen stumps or more go by the day. Call (713) 587-6978 or send a photo with a tape measure across the top. Janine will have a number back to you by tomorrow.
COUNTY FIELD GUIDE
Stump Grinding vs. Stump Removal in Coastal Clay and Sand Soil: Grind the Stump or Remove the Root
Grind it if grass or a landscape bed is going over it. Dig it out if a slab, a driveway or a fence post is. On the coast the third rule is the pad. Nearly every new slab here sits on fill above base flood elevation, and every tree stump under that fill comes out whole first, because a buried stump decays and the slab sinks into the hole. Full stump removal means the excavator pulls the root ball, and in coastal clay the hole holds water, so we backfill it the same day in lifts. On our jobs in Santa Fe we see salt cedar that sprouts from any root left in wet ground and tallow crowns that do the same, so the surface root grinding runs out ten feet on both. The oaks are the opposite. Most owners want the cluster kept, and when one has to go the stump is 30 inches of hard wood with roots under the driveway, a $400 grind and an hour. Sand near Hitchcock eats carbide teeth twice as fast as clay. Safe stump removal next to a house on piers means a plywood shield, a smaller machine and a call to 811 three days ahead, because the water line is never where the homeowner thinks it is.
- Under 12 inches across: $150, 20 minutes.
- 12 to 24 inches: $250 to $300, under an hour.
- Over 24 inches: $400, or full root removal by the day.
- Fifteen stumps and up: by the day, with a $1,200 to $1,500 trip minimum.
Stump Grinding Cost in Galveston County, TX: Per Tree Stump and Multi-Stump Lots by the Day
Numbers first. The lot decides the final price.
The price is $150 to $400 per stump, measured across the widest point of the cut at ground level. Pine grinds faster than oak of the same size because the wood is softer, and a storm-snapped trunk still standing at six feet gets cut to the ground first, which adds 20 minutes. Lots with many stumps go by the day. A League City yard with 12 storm stumps is a day, and we cleared one like that off FM 518 last fall after a Gulf storm, dropped the broken tops in the morning and ground 14 stumps by dark. The Crosby storm sketch runs the same here: 1.5 acres of downed hackberry and tallow, mulched on site, one day, $3,200, stumps included. Wood chips stay in a mound where the tree was unless you want them hauled, and haul-off adds $600 to $1,200 a load. On the coast I tell people to spread the chips over the lawn as mulch, seed through them and mow when it comes up, because bare sand blows and bare clay seals. I price from a photo with a tape across the top, and the estimate is the invoice unless I find a steel post or a chunk of old seawall inside the wood. Call (713) 587-6978 or send the photo. Janine will have the number back by tomorrow, and the free estimate on site is free anywhere in Greater Houston.
Single stump
Illustrative range by size, access, and depth.
Multiple stumps
Same trip. Better to see them all before we roll.
Changes the day
Access, moisture, and what must leave the lot change the real number.
Tree Stump Removal After Storm Tree Service, Tree Removal and Root Grinding Near the Coast
Most stumps we grind in Galveston County were left by somebody else, usually a storm crew. Any tree service of northwest Houston will come down to the coast after a hurricane, drop the tree and leave you the base, because emergency tree removal after a storm is paid by the hour and stumps are slow. I don't offer professional tree care services, trimming or planting. I grind what the tree man leaves. On our own land clearing jobs the stumps come out the same day with the mulcher or the excavator, because one left in a build pad rots, settles and cracks the slab in year three. A stump left to decay in wet ground feeds termite and carpenter ant colonies for a decade, and the beetle larvae move into the fence next. That is the pest problem. Unsightly stumps in a front yard are an aesthetic problem. One under a new patio is a structural one, and a rotted one is a tripping hazard the day the grass hides it. Tree stump removal on a lot we did not clear costs the same as on one we did, and the debris goes out with the same trailer.
Salt and sand decide the right equipment on the coast. A rental grinder at 13 horsepower with a 9-inch wheel loses its teeth to the sand in a dozen stumps. Ours runs 60 horses of power on carbide teeth and a hydraulic swing, and the wheel gets washed every night, so a 24-inch live oak that would take your Saturday takes us 40 minutes. We specialize in storm stumps rental machines cannot reach, and a professional stump removal service should remove a stump of any size and leave the yard flat.
Professional Stump Grinder and Grinding Services in League City, Dickinson, Santa Fe and Galveston County
Our equipment yard is in Hockley. Send the address and Janine will confirm the route.
We grind stumps in League City, Dickinson, Santa Fe, Texas City, Friendswood and Hitchcock. Galveston County pulled 2,521 single-family permits in 2025 by the Census Building Permits Survey, League City 816 of them, so most of our stump work here is a new pad or a storm yard. League City has tree rules for new builds, but a stump is past that question. The same machine that grinds a live oak stump in West University or Highland Village on Monday grinds salt cedar in Dickinson on Tuesday, and we park the trailer on the street either way. West Houston, Katy and Cypress are clay and tallow with no salt in them. Down here the salt and the wind change the work, and a woodland lot near Santa Fe on sand grinds faster than the same count on Houston's gumbo. Two inches of rain saturate the clay in League City and it stays soft for a week, so I schedule yard work for the dry stretch. Grinding stumps in Houston runs all year. Galveston County grinding runs all year too, with a hose on the trailer. A tree needs 60 years to grow a $400 stump on the coast. One hurricane makes it in a night.
Residential and commercial work runs the same way, same machine, same rate. Commercial properties along I-45 with a row of parking-lot stumps go by the day. We are stump grinding specialists second and land clearers first, and the grinder rides on the same trailer as the mulcher. Under a county burn ban the chips cannot be burned, inside the FEMA surge zones the hole gets filled the same day, and where the wetland grass starts a USACE wetland delineation may apply, so we do not dig there without the paperwork. Since 2018 the chips have stayed on the soil.
Get a Free Quote for the Stumps in Your Front Yard, Driveway or Fence Line
Get a free quote by sending a photo of each stump with a tape measure laid across the top, plus your address. Janine will have a number back by tomorrow, and the on-site look is free inside Greater Houston. Tell her the flood zone if you know it, what is going over the hole, grass, sod, a slab or an irrigation line, and whether you want the chips left or hauled. Call (713) 587-6978. I will not call it competitive. I will call it $150 to $400 a stump, in writing, before the trailer leaves the yard. Salt cedar is the only tree I know that drinks salt water and still looks thirsty. We grind it anyway.
Tell Janine about your lot.
The address. The growth. Three honest photos.
Design preview. This form does not send or store information until a backend is connected.
Plain answers.
If your question is about wet ground, Janine will ask me.
How much to grind one stump?
For planning, many stumps fall in a $150–$400 range, but the size, roots, depth, and access decide the quote. Send a close photo and the diameter.
Is stump grinding the same as removal?
No. Grinding takes the visible stump down into chips. Full removal takes out more root mass. A lawn and a slab need different results.
Do I need a permit to clear my lot?
It depends on the address and scope. Grading, floodplain work, drainage changes, wetlands, and local tree rules can trigger approvals. We check the jurisdiction before any regulated dirt work begins.
What happens to the brush?
Forestry mulching leaves chips on the ground. Full clearing can include piles or haul-off when the next use needs a different finish. Tell us whether you want mulch, a clean pad, or both.
Who answers the request?
Janine reads the web forms and handles the schedule. She usually responds within the hour during working hours. Hollis reviews the ground and takes responsibility for the scope and number.