OHIO811 before the grinder starts
Ohio law requires whoever is doing the digging to notify OHIO811, the Ohio Utilities Protection Service, "at least 2 working days, not including the day of the notification, but no more than 16 calendar days" before work begins. Weekends and legal holidays don't count as working days, so a call made on a Friday has Monday and Tuesday as its two working days. If digging doesn't start within 16 calendar days, the ticket expires (checked Nov 10, 2026).
OHIO811's pages don't name stump grinding as such. They do say to contact OHIO811 "any time the soil is disturbed, like tree planting," and a grinder chews well into the soil around a stump. Ask the contractor whether grinding at your address calls for a ticket, and who will place it. If you hire someone, OHIO811 says the person doing the work submits the notice (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Reaching OHIO811
- Dial 8-1-1, or 800-362-2764. Routine tickets are taken Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; emergencies around the clock (checked Nov 10, 2026).
- Online through e-dig for a single address, or through the OHIO811 app.
- The service is free.
From OHIO811's homeowner page and FAQ, checked Nov 10, 2026. The notice rule is Ohio Revised Code 3781.28(A).
Marked lines come with a tolerance zone: the width of the line plus 18 inches on each side. The flags and paint follow a color code (checked Nov 10, 2026):
| Color | What it marks |
|---|---|
| Red | Electric |
| Yellow | Gas or oil |
| Orange | Communications |
| Blue | Water |
| Green | Sewer |
| Purple | Reclaimed water or irrigation |
| White | Proposed digging |
| Pink | Survey markings |
Lines nobody comes to mark
An OHIO811 ticket doesn't mean every line in your yard gets flagged. OHIO811 itself says "unregistered lines, including some service lines and privately-owned lines, may not be marked," that those lines are the homeowner's responsibility, and that a private locator may be needed (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Lebanon adds one more. The city's Electric Department locates the lines it owns but does not locate privately owned underground service lines running from the transformer or secondary vault to the house (checked Nov 10, 2026). In a neighborhood with underground power, that's the line from the transformer or vault to your house.
Before the grinder comes, think about what you or an earlier owner may have buried near the stump:
- A wire to a lamp post, a detached garage, a shed or a well pump.
- Sprinkler lines and their control wires.
- An underground pet fence.
- A gas line to a grill or fire pit.
- Drain lines from downspouts or a sump pump.
Tell the contractor about anything on that list, and mark what you know with flags of your own.
The chips and the hole
A grinder leaves a pile like the one in the photo: wood chips mixed with whatever soil was around the stump. Miamian, one of the soils on Warren County's soils map, has a brown silt loam surface about 9 inches deep in the USDA's description, over dark yellowish brown clay loam that turns to yellowish brown clay farther down.
What happens to the pile is up to you, and it changes the price:
- Left in place for you to spread as mulch or rake out later.
- Raked out and backfilled with topsoil so the spot can be seeded. Ask whether soil is included.
- Hauled away. Thumbtack's grinding guide puts hauling the stump and chips at about $100 to $120 on average (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Cities won't take much of it. Mason's brush pickup doesn't accept root balls or stumps; the city says to cut them off and put them in the trash at 75 pounds or less. Lebanon's 2024 yard waste drop-off days took pruned branches, roots, brush and wood shavings at the Municipal Service Complex at 580 W. Main Street (checked Nov 10, 2026). Watch the city homepage and LebanonLife for this year's dates.
Ash stumps
If the stump is an ash, there's a wrinkle. Ohio State University Extension wrote in 2023 that in southwest Ohio the beetle's numbers crashed, but resprouted "bush ash" helped keep it going. Its July 2026 update says the borer is still infesting new ash seedlings (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Sprouts from an ash stump are ash, so they're food for the beetle too. If sprouts come up around a stump, ask the contractor whether grinding deeper or cutting the sprouts back makes more sense. More in the ash tree guide.
Planting where the stump was
If a new tree is going in, a few local rules decide where. OHIO811 asks for a call before tree planting, so the same notice applies again.
- Near Lebanon's equipment. The city's Electric Department says all plants must be kept at least 10 feet from any pole or other city equipment. Around pad-mounted transformers in underground neighborhoods, it asks for 12 feet clear in front and 3 feet around the back and sides. If crews have to clear equipment, the city isn't responsible for replacing plants (checked Nov 10, 2026).
- Under wires on public land. Lebanon's Section 907.11 allows only small species from the Shade Tree Commission's list under overhead electric wires, spaces public trees 30, 40 or 50 feet apart by size, and keeps them 35 feet from a street corner and 10 feet from a fire hydrant (checked Nov 10, 2026).
- How big it gets. Mason's code calls a tree large if it reaches 50 feet or more, medium at 30 to 50 feet, and small under 30 feet (checked Nov 10, 2026). Pick the size class for the space before you buy.
Ideas for what to plant are in the Warren County trees guide.
Published grinding prices
These are national averages, not prices from Lebanon or Mason contractors. Thumbtack's 2026 stump grinding guide, updated October 23, 2026, gives an average of $230 to $593, with low-end jobs around $116 and high-end jobs around $1,210 (checked Nov 10, 2026). It also lists prices by stump diameter:
| Stump diameter | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Less than 12 in. across | $267 to $354 |
| 12–24 in. across | $324 to $443 |
| 24–36 in. across | $355 to $486 |
| 36–48 in. across | $372 to $494 |
Thumbtack adds that some companies price a yard with many stumps at about $150 an hour (checked Nov 10, 2026). HomeAdvisor's stump grinding guide, titled for 2025 with no update date shown, gives an average of $250 and a normal range of $120 to $500. It prices grinding at $2 to $5 per inch of diameter, with a minimum fee of $100 to $150 and $40 to $75 for each additional stump (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Worked example: one small stump
Take a 20-inch stump. At HomeAdvisor's $2 to $5 per inch, the grinding itself works out to $40 to $100. That's at or below the $100 to $150 minimum fee in the same guide, so a single small stump is likely to be billed at the minimum. A second stump at the same visit adds $40 to $75 on HomeAdvisor's figures. National figures, checked Nov 10, 2026.
The contractor's written price after seeing your stumps is the one that counts. All of the published figures are on published prices.
Stump questions
Do I have to call OHIO811 before a stump is ground?
OHIO811 says to contact it any time the soil is disturbed, and the law puts the duty on whoever does the digging. If a contractor is grinding, they place the ticket. Ask them to confirm it at least two working days ahead, not counting the day of the call (checked Nov 10, 2026).
How long is an OHIO811 ticket good for?
Digging has to start within 16 calendar days of the notice, or the ticket expires and a new one is needed (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Who marks the power line to my detached garage?
Probably nobody, unless you hire someone. OHIO811 says private lines may not be marked, and in Lebanon the city doesn't locate privately owned service lines from the transformer to the house. A private locator can find them (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Can I put the stump out with the brush in Mason?
No. Mason's brush collection doesn't take stumps or root balls. The city says to cut them off and put them in the trash at 75 pounds or less (checked Nov 10, 2026).
Is grinding worth it for one small stump?
It depends on what you want in that spot. A small stump may be billed at the contractor's minimum, which HomeAdvisor puts at $100 to $150 nationally (checked Nov 10, 2026). If several stumps can be done in the same visit, the price per stump usually drops.
Stump jobs requested here are handed to one independent contractor in the Warren County area. This site owns no grinder.
Sources
- OHIO811, homeowner page and FAQ. Checked Nov 10, 2026.
- City of Lebanon Electric Department, call before you dig and new plantings; line clearance. Checked Nov 10, 2026.
- City of Lebanon, 907.11 Tree spacing and clearance; 2024 yard waste drop-off notice. Checked Nov 10, 2026.
- City of Mason, brush and leaf collection; Chapter 939 (revised Nov 18, 2013). Checked Nov 10, 2026.
- USDA, Miamian series description (revised Nov 2021); Warren County Regional Planning Commission, soils map.
- Ohio State University, "Is Emerald Ash Borer on the Rebound in Ohio?" (June 14, 2023) and "Emerald Ash Borer Still Infesting Trees" (July 1, 2026).
- Thumbtack, 2026 Stump Grinding Cost Guide (updated Oct 23, 2026); HomeAdvisor, stump grinding cost (titled 2025). National figures, checked Nov 10, 2026.