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Roots under house? ? ? Ray 06-22-2008
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Posted by Ray on June 22, 2008, 1:20 pm
We have a spruce or fir tree which seems to have come up on its own, about
10 inches from the foundation of our house. (Before we got here.) At first
I didn't pay much attention, but now it's a good 30 feet tall and the base
trunk is around 5 inches in diameter.

Is this something that endangers the foundation -- as tree roots often lift
up sidewalks?



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Posted by hallerb@aol.com on June 22, 2008, 1:39 pm
> We have a spruce or fir tree which seems to have come up on its own, about=

> 10 inches from the foundation of our house. (Before we got here.) =EF=BF=
=BDAt first
> I didn't pay much attention, but now it's a good 30 feet tall and the base=

> trunk is around 5 inches in diameter.
>
> Is this something that endangers the foundation -- as tree roots often lif=
t
> up sidewalks?

doubtful, although it can attack sewer lines,

before you cut it down, mature trees add home value, shade in summer,
and fir trees in winter break the wind.

this tree is likely saving you energy.

have lots of friends with fir trees around their home and no
foundation troubles.

just dont let branches touch roof, in wind they can damage shingles

Posted by aemeijers on June 22, 2008, 2:11 pm
Ray wrote:
> We have a spruce or fir tree which seems to have come up on its own, about
> 10 inches from the foundation of our house. (Before we got here.) At first
> I didn't pay much attention, but now it's a good 30 feet tall and the base
> trunk is around 5 inches in diameter.
>
> Is this something that endangers the foundation -- as tree roots often lift
> up sidewalks?
>
>
Depends on how deep and solid your foundation is. If you are on a
shallow crawl or slab, yeah, it could do damage. A basement, less
likely, unless it bows the wall in.

But in general, 10" from the house is way too close, for a lot of
reasons. I'd cut it down. I know, I hate to kill trees too, but
sometimes there is no other practical choice. Your insurance agent will
agree with me.

--
aem sends...

Posted by Banty on June 22, 2008, 7:53 pm
says...
>
>Ray wrote:
>> We have a spruce or fir tree which seems to have come up on its own, about
>> 10 inches from the foundation of our house. (Before we got here.) At first
>> I didn't pay much attention, but now it's a good 30 feet tall and the base
>> trunk is around 5 inches in diameter.
>>
>> Is this something that endangers the foundation -- as tree roots often lift
>> up sidewalks?
>>
>>
>Depends on how deep and solid your foundation is. If you are on a
>shallow crawl or slab, yeah, it could do damage. A basement, less
>likely, unless it bows the wall in.
>
>But in general, 10" from the house is way too close, for a lot of
>reasons. I'd cut it down. I know, I hate to kill trees too, but
>sometimes there is no other practical choice. Your insurance agent will
>agree with me.
>

Yeah; cut it down. Plant another fir some 6 to 10 feet from the foundation to
get your shade.

I had a volunteer poplar (they grow fast) by a deck - grew to 30 feet quickly.
Shallow-rooted, a tropical storm bent it over - I got it removed before it fell
on someone.

But I had enjoyed its shade and its branches close to the deck, so I planted a
maple farther out for its eventual shade. That was 8 years ago - glad I did
that.

Banty


Posted by Jim Elbrecht on June 22, 2008, 3:56 pm

>We have a spruce or fir tree which seems to have come up on its own, about
>10 inches from the foundation of our house. (Before we got here.) At first
>I didn't pay much attention, but now it's a good 30 feet tall and the base
>trunk is around 5 inches in diameter.
>
>Is this something that endangers the foundation -- as tree roots often lift
>up sidewalks?
>

Without seeing it and not knowing what kind of foundation you have I'd
have to say I doubt it would damage the foundation.

What it *will* do is drip pitch on your siding, drop needles in your
gutters, large branches will attack your shingles, and then when it
is too big to cut down without great expense, it will blow down in a
wind/ice storm and do $50,000 worth of damage to your house.

I'd get rid of this one while it will only cost you a couple hours and
a few tears. Plant another about 20 feet from the house as a
memorial to the 'strong volunteer.'

Jim

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