Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By requesting an estimate, accepting a quote, hiring us to perform work, paying an invoice, or using our website, you agree to these Terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use our services. These Terms apply to every job we do for you, even if no separate written contract is signed for an individual job. If we provide a separate written contract for a specific project, that contract controls where it conflicts with these Terms.

2. Services Provided

Florida’s Stump Masters offers four core services across our seven-county service area in Central and Northeast Florida:

• Stump Grinding. Grinding tree stumps below grade using professional stump-grinding equipment, with chip-and-soil mix produced as a byproduct.
• Grading. Leveling, smoothing, and reshaping ground areas after stump grinding, land clearing, or general yard work to prepare for sod, seed, or landscaping.
• Sod Replacement. Removing damaged or unwanted turf and laying fresh sod to restore lawn areas, typically following stump grinding or grading.
• Wood Chip Removal. Hauling wood chips, stump grindings, yard debris, and post-storm tree material to licensed county yard-waste facilities.

We do not remove standing trees, perform tree pruning, handle root-canal-style soil remediation, install irrigation, or do general landscape design. If your project needs work outside our scope, we’ll tell you up front.

3. Estimates

All written estimates we provide are free and valid for 30 days from the date issued. Estimates are based on the information you share (photos, descriptions) and, when applicable, an on-site inspection. Final pricing is subject to confirmation at the site — if conditions on arrival differ materially from what was described (the stump is twice the size, access is blocked, undisclosed fence panels need to be removed), we’ll review revised pricing with you before starting work. You can decline at that point with no obligation.

Estimates expire after 30 days because fuel, disposal fees, sod prices, and labor availability shift. Past 30 days we’ll re-quote at no charge.

4. Pricing & Payment

Quoted prices are in U.S. dollars and exclude any applicable taxes unless stated otherwise.

Accepted payment methods: cash, check, and major credit/debit cards.

Payment timing: Payment is due upon completion of the job unless we agreed in writing to different terms. For most residential stump grinding, grading, and chip-removal jobs, this means we collect the same day the work is done.

Deposits. We may require a deposit for sod jobs that exceed $2,000 in total value, due to the upfront sod-supplier and pallet costs. Any required deposit will be stated clearly on the written estimate before you sign.

Returned checks. A returned-check fee of $35 (or the maximum amount allowed by Florida law) may be applied to checks that bounce.

Late payments. Invoices unpaid 30 days after completion may accrue a late fee of 1.5% per month (or the maximum allowed by Florida law). Accounts that go to collections are responsible for reasonable collection costs and attorneys’ fees.

5. Scheduling & Cancellation

We work hard to hit scheduled arrival windows, but outdoor work is weather-dependent.

Customer cancellations or reschedules: Please give us at least 24 hours’ notice if you need to cancel or reschedule a confirmed job. Cancellations made with less than 24 hours’ notice may be subject to a trip-charge fee equal to our minimum job rate, payable before we’ll re-book.

Weather rescheduling. We reserve the right to reschedule any job, at our sole discretion, when weather conditions make the work unsafe, low-quality, or damaging to your property — specifically including (but not limited to) active lightning, sustained high winds, saturated soil that would be torn up by equipment, freeze conditions affecting sod establishment, or active hurricane / tropical storm warnings. We’ll contact you as soon as we make the call and offer the next available date. No cancellation fee applies to weather reschedules.

Our cancellations. If we have to cancel for any reason — equipment breakdown, crew illness, scheduling conflict — we’ll let you know as early as possible and reschedule at the next available date. We don’t charge fees for our own cancellations.

6. Property Damage & Liability

We carry general liability insurance covering our work and the property where we operate. Proof of insurance is available on request before the job.

To protect both sides, our standard practice on every job:

• Photo documentation. We take before-and-after photos of the work area, including any pre-existing conditions (cracked driveway, irrigation heads, fence damage, lawn ruts) so there’s no later dispute about what was already there.
• Walk-the-site. Before equipment moves in, we walk the area with you (or, if you’re not present, on our own) to identify hazards: above-ground irrigation heads, low-voltage landscape lighting, septic lid covers, well caps, exposed roots, decorative borders, pet stakes, and so on.
• Marked items are your responsibility. Any irrigation lines, low-voltage electrical, private utilities, septic components, or buried infrastructure that is not visibly marked or flagged on the surface at the time of the work is the customer’s responsibility. We can’t see or detect every buried line, and we can’t be liable for damage to unmarked infrastructure.
• Damage we cause. If our crew damages something — broken sprinkler head, scuffed driveway edge, gouged sod track from a Bobcat — we own it. Tell us before we leave the site, or call within 48 hours of completion, and we’ll repair, replace, or credit the cost. Photos help.

We are not liable for damage caused by: pre-existing conditions, unmarked underground items (see Underground Utilities section), Acts of God during the job (sudden storm damage to staged equipment or materials), or normal byproducts of stump grinding (chip splatter on adjacent surfaces, minor turf compression from equipment treads, soil settling around the grind hole over the following weeks).

7. Underground Utilities

Stump grinding extends below ground level. To work safely, we follow this protocol on every job:

• Public utilities — we call 811. For jobs involving deep grinding or excavation, we contact Sunshine 811 (Florida’s call-before-you-dig service) before starting work, when required by Florida statute. Sunshine 811 dispatches the public utility companies (gas, water, power, telecom) to mark public utilities at no cost. We will not grind deep until those marks are in place.
• Private utilities — the homeowner is responsible. Sunshine 811 marks public utilities only. Private lines — sprinkler / irrigation systems, low-voltage landscape lighting, private septic and well lines, propane lines from a private tank, gas-grill lines, pet-fence wires, electric to a detached shed or pool pump, and any other privately installed underground infrastructure — are not marked by 811. The homeowner is responsible for identifying and marking all private utilities before we begin work, or accepting the risk of damage to unmarked private infrastructure. We strongly recommend flagging sprinkler heads with bright tape and walking us through any other known private lines on arrival.
• If something gets hit. If we strike an unmarked private line, we’ll stop, document it, and discuss repair options. Repair of unmarked private utilities is the homeowner’s responsibility. Repair of damage to properly marked items, or to public utilities marked by 811, is our responsibility per the Property Damage section above.

8. Warranty

We stand behind our work with the following limited warranties:

• Stump grinding: 30 days. If the ground stump significantly resurfaces or the depth wasn’t what was quoted within 30 days of the job, call us and we’ll come back to re-grind at no additional charge. Note: settling of the chip-and-soil backfill over the following weeks is normal and not a warranty issue (the spot may sink an inch or two as the material compacts — top off with topsoil if needed).
• Sod establishment: 14 days. Properly installed sod, watered per the care instructions we provide, should establish within 14 days. If sod fails to establish in that window despite proper watering, call us and we’ll evaluate. Re-sod under warranty is provided at our discretion based on the cause.
• Grading: 30 days. Graded surfaces should hold their finish absent erosion or new disturbance. Settling, washouts from a tropical-storm-level rain event, or post-grade activity that disturbs the surface (digging, foot traffic during establishment) are not warranty issues.
• Wood chip removal: Once the chips leave your property and are dumped at a licensed yard-waste facility, the work is complete. There is no ongoing warranty on hauling.

Warranty exclusions. Our warranties do not cover failures caused by:

• Drought stress, watering restrictions, or insufficient irrigation
• Animal damage (deer, raccoons, dogs digging up sod, fire ants)
• Improper care, including over-watering, under-watering, herbicide application, fertilizer burn, or foot traffic before establishment
• Acts of God (hurricanes, tropical storms, freezes, floods, hail)
• Pre-existing soil, drainage, or infestation problems disclosed or visible at the time of the job
• Subsequent work by other contractors or the homeowner that disturbs the work area
• Failure to follow the written care instructions we provide

Warranty claims must be made by phone or email to the contact information at the bottom of this page within the warranty window. Photo documentation is appreciated.

9. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent allowed by Florida law:

• Our total liability for any claim arising from a job is limited to the amount you paid us for that job.
• We are not liable for indirect, consequential, incidental, special, or punitive damages — including lost income, lost use of property, emotional distress, or diminution in property value — even if we were advised that such damages were possible.
• We are not liable for delays or failures caused by events outside our reasonable control: weather, supplier failures, equipment breakdowns despite reasonable maintenance, pandemic, government action, fire, theft, or labor disputes.
• Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under Florida law (for example, liability for gross negligence or willful misconduct).

10. Governing Law & Venue

These Terms and any dispute arising from them or from work we perform are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules.

Any lawsuit, arbitration, or other legal action between us must be filed and heard in the state or federal courts located in Volusia County, Florida. Both parties consent to the personal jurisdiction and venue of those courts and waive any objection based on inconvenient forum.

Before filing any legal action, both parties agree to attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute by direct discussion for at least 30 days. Most disagreements end in a phone call — please give us a chance to fix the problem before escalating.

11. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found by a court to be unenforceable or invalid under Florida law, that provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or struck if modification isn’t possible. The remaining provisions stay in full force. The failure of either party to enforce any provision is not a waiver of the right to enforce it later.

These Terms, together with any written estimate or contract you signed for a specific job, are the entire agreement between us regarding our services. They replace any prior verbal or written understandings on the same subject.