Neighbours 50ft tree/conifer 2m away from property. Advice gratefully recieved!

[Dman77]

Hi Friendly tree experts.

 

Ive already checked in this section of the forum to see if my problem can be solved. There are similar threads but not exactly the same. Id appreciate some advice.

 

We are buying a house (early stages) and we are really worried that the neighbours 50ft ish tree/conifer which is 2m (trunk) away from our potential property (kitchen corner of the house) has roots all around our foundations waiting to cause untold destruction/subsidence.

No obvious cracks in exterior walls (no survey yet) but father inlaw has said to pull out the sale immediately as subsidence is a real possibility in ?years.

 

First of all - can anyone tell me what this is? This is a view from a neighbour (next to tree owner). Thats my potential house side wall.

 

 

 

(Never uploaded so hope that worked)

 

Based on that tree, what roots are likely? Shallow/deep, known for damage?

This is deep surrey near M25 and told clay is likely. House built mid 50,s.

 

I really dont want to start a long process unnecessarly if you kind folk think id be nuts to touch a property with this massive thing 2 meters away

Ps the neighnour also has 4 smaller ones half height of this 1 m each away along the boundary so probably root city down there

 

Any comments welcome. We really are stressing over this.

Cheers all

Dave

[Gary Prentice]

Sorry Dan, my original response was in reply to the estates agents surveyors information about the water demand and rooting depth. I meet a lot of people whose surveyors have told them about trees! Personally, I don't give an opinion on surveying - not my area but many surveyors freely advise on the field of arboricultural!

 

You can download a phone app from British Geographical Survey called iGeology, mark the position of the property and pay around £7.00 to get a report on hazards within 100m - BUT, this is reliant on the accuracy of the base geological maps and I'm told that they are acknowledged as inaccurate, or at least not accurate enough to rely on 100%

 

To be honest, all the information you would like to have only starts to become available after the event, when cracks appear and the insurance loss adjustor becomes involved. That's when site investigations begin, after other causes can be disregarded (settlement, landslip, thermal change, drains etc) - walk over and desk surveys, trial pits, crack monitoring/level monitoring etc.

 

Trial pits will provide foundation depths, soil samples to establish the soil type and Modified Plasticity Index of the soil (it's shrink swell potential), moisture content and presence of living tree roots.

 

I wouldn't want you to make a decision to purchase based on advice from an internet forum, or from someone sat at a keyboard 200 miles away. I think that you may need to get professional paid for advice, an arb survey will say that the trees are close enough to cause subsidence (on a shrinkable soil) and should be either removed or maintained at the current size - but you have no control over that without resorting to the courts or solicitors.

[Gary Prentice]

When a friend of mines son wanted to build upwards on a single story extension we dug down next to the property to establish the depth of the foundations. The footings weren't 'man enough' to support another story.

 

 

Out of interest, how was that conclusion reached? I'm assuming that building regs were complied with, but only for a single story and its associated loads?

 

Did the build go ahead with underpinning?

[eggsarascal]

Out of interest, how was that conclusion reached? I'm assuming that building regs were complied with, but only for a single story and its associated loads?

 

Did the build go ahead with underpinning?

 

Yep, the original footings were only man enough for a single story.

 

The build never went ahead. When the boys family grew he sold up and moved.

[Dman77]

Hi Everyone,

 

Well an update to the ingoing saga.

Had a full structural survey done today and the guy said there is definately movement in the property and cracks near the area of the question with the massive conifers likely to blame.

 

Quoted lots of money to fix and wouldnt get insurance given the obvious movement.

 

So thats the end of that. Dream house down the swanny. Month of two of going through the motions etc and will now have to pull out. Estate agents surveyor 'friend' who had a quick look after we had stated our concerns had originally said there were no problems at all and nothing to worry about.

Who'd ya believe eh?

 

Well, hats off to idiots who grows lelandii 2 mtrs away from somebody elses kitchen wall lets them grow to 50ft. You Fxxxxx tools. Excuse my french, im rather upset.

 

Cheers for reading.

Dave

[sloth]

Sorry to hear it's gone tits up for you, and thanks for the update. Better luck with the next one...

[Dman77]

No problem. I guess this all adds to the experience pot of the forum.

 

May help someone in the future.

 

Oh and i wasnt aware you cant claim against someone elses insurance for subsidence from their trees. Comes under 'peril' or something.

But you can claim off your neighbours if the same tree affects your drains though.

Funny that. So collapse somebody elses house with your tree through negligence (stupidity) of placement of tree or failure to tend to tree (lazyness) and you're not even responsible. Astonishing piece of law. Thats straight from two insurance companies.

Edited May 9, 2017 by Dman77

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Sorry to hear it's gone tits up for you, and thanks for the update. Better luck with the next one...

 

+1

 

Don't waste time, money, emotion with "Estate agents" and their opinions next time. Get one of the pucker experts from here (or AA / CAS etc) who will stand by their observations and findings and probably be considerably quicker and cheaper (certainly in emotional outlay) than "some bloke down the pub."

 

Tough break, but perhaps for the best.

[Dman77]

No i didnt, or wouldnt take anything an estate agent said as fact as correct or accurate which is why we got a full structural off an independent surveyor with all the qualifications.

Surprising how two surveyors came out with the complete opposite opinion. Didnt even agree on if the earth was clay or soil.

Im not sure on how either knew with out analysis of earth.

#doallprofessionalsjustmakecrapup?

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

No i didnt, or wouldnt take anything an estate agent said as fact as correct or accurate which is why we got a full structural off an independent surveyor with all the qualifications.

Surprising how two surveyors came out with the complete opposite opinion. Didnt even agree on if the earth was clay or soil.

Im not sure on how either knew with out analysis of earth.

#doallprofessionalsjustmakecrapup?

 

There are specific qual's for mortgage and subsidence reports as relates to trees. I'm not sure a "general" structural engineer or surveyor would necessarily encompass these attributes.

[Dman77]

You're probably right but it all looks grim and too much of a coincidence that there is a movement next to trees. Plus still not our bloody trees so i cant even do anything.

God knows who would buy this now. Cash buyer invester maybe.

Or someone gets 'lucky' and a surveyor oks the place.