Terminalxylem
Footballguy
About a year ago, my neighbor approached me about some issues he’d experienced with his plumbing. Although I don’t know the exact nature of the problems, he mentioned they removed one of their toilets and saw tree roots traversing the soil adjacent to the piping. Long story short, he thought the roots caused his problems and were coming from a ~30 foot tree adjacent to his home, on my side of the property line. He also thought the roots were cracking a sidewalk next to his house and potentially causing foundation issues.
So I consulted an arborist. He wasn’t as certain the tree was solely responsible for all my neighbor’s problems, in part because a retaining wall separates our properties, with the neighbor’s ground level ~5 feet below the bottom of the tree. So the roots would have to grow at least that distance down before traversing laterally to damage the neighbor’s property. While he agreed they could still disrupt the plumbing, the smaller diameter roots which could make it under their home probably couldn’t cause foundation issues. Moreover, the area where we live is notorious for foundation problems related to expansion/contraction of clay-based soil. I know this to be the case, as I have spent over $120K to fix our foundation.
He suggested we keep the tree, both for the shade it provides and value it adds to our property. To mitigate the potential damage, he could cut the roots and install a physical/herbicides barrier to prevent them from regrowing on their property. And my wife likes the pretty pink flowers on the tree, though they often fall with other leaf litter into my neighbors’ gutters, adding insult to the plumbing injury.
I presented this option to my neighbors, who weren’t immediately sold on the idea, as they’d prefer the tree be removed entirely. So we left it at they’d weigh their options and get back to me.
I heard nothing about it until today, when my neighbor said his plumbing issues were getting worse. So I called the arborist back. He’s coming in the morning to re-evaluate and provide estimates for tree removal versus root mitigation barrier. I reminded my neighbor of the latter solution, but he said he was concerned that digging a trench in his yard to cut the wayward roots and install the barrier might destabilize the retaining wall.
My questions for the board:
1. Anyone have experience with installing barriers to prevent root damage?
2. Since the tree is on my property, I’m expected to foot the bill for either solution, correct?
3. By paying to remove the tree or cut roots/install a barrier, am I implicitly accepting responsibility for other damage the tree may have caused? I assume an structural/soil engineer could comment on the likelihood of tree roots causing foundation issues.
4. What would you do? For the record, we get along well with the neighbors, but basically keep to ourselves. Also, roots from this tree have grown into our plumbing, but were extracted by a plumber and subsequently kept at bay by Root-X.
So I consulted an arborist. He wasn’t as certain the tree was solely responsible for all my neighbor’s problems, in part because a retaining wall separates our properties, with the neighbor’s ground level ~5 feet below the bottom of the tree. So the roots would have to grow at least that distance down before traversing laterally to damage the neighbor’s property. While he agreed they could still disrupt the plumbing, the smaller diameter roots which could make it under their home probably couldn’t cause foundation issues. Moreover, the area where we live is notorious for foundation problems related to expansion/contraction of clay-based soil. I know this to be the case, as I have spent over $120K to fix our foundation.
He suggested we keep the tree, both for the shade it provides and value it adds to our property. To mitigate the potential damage, he could cut the roots and install a physical/herbicides barrier to prevent them from regrowing on their property. And my wife likes the pretty pink flowers on the tree, though they often fall with other leaf litter into my neighbors’ gutters, adding insult to the plumbing injury.
I presented this option to my neighbors, who weren’t immediately sold on the idea, as they’d prefer the tree be removed entirely. So we left it at they’d weigh their options and get back to me.
I heard nothing about it until today, when my neighbor said his plumbing issues were getting worse. So I called the arborist back. He’s coming in the morning to re-evaluate and provide estimates for tree removal versus root mitigation barrier. I reminded my neighbor of the latter solution, but he said he was concerned that digging a trench in his yard to cut the wayward roots and install the barrier might destabilize the retaining wall.
My questions for the board:
1. Anyone have experience with installing barriers to prevent root damage?
2. Since the tree is on my property, I’m expected to foot the bill for either solution, correct?
3. By paying to remove the tree or cut roots/install a barrier, am I implicitly accepting responsibility for other damage the tree may have caused? I assume an structural/soil engineer could comment on the likelihood of tree roots causing foundation issues.
4. What would you do? For the record, we get along well with the neighbors, but basically keep to ourselves. Also, roots from this tree have grown into our plumbing, but were extracted by a plumber and subsequently kept at bay by Root-X.
