Multiple big trees around the house and heave advice

[Ven]

Hi,

Need advice if trees can be removed and if heave can cause any problems.

 

3 birch to side and one at back is seeetchestnut.

Trees are about 8 meters from the house.

Multiple trees with TPO.

 

Structure survey shows. Proximity of trees is risk to the building. 

Several large trees close to property and could lead to damage to property.

 

Please advise what is best solution.

1)Will council approve.

2) can I remove in one go or gradually.

3) precautions to foundations like

4) make another layer under ground next to the foundations about 1 to 2 metre deep. 

Please kindly advise.

 Thanks 

[Squaredy]

10 hours ago, Ven said:

Hi,

Need advice if trees can be removed and if heave can cause any problems.

 

3 birch to side and one at back is seeetchestnut.

Trees are about 8 meters from the house.

Multiple trees with TPO.

 

Structure survey shows. Proximity of trees is risk to the building. 

Several large trees close to property and could lead to damage to property.

 

Please advise what is best solution.

1)Will council approve.

2) can I remove in one go or gradually.

3) precautions to foundations like

4) make another layer under ground next to the foundations about 1 to 2 metre deep. 

Please kindly advise.

 Thanks 

I am no arborist but I can advise you on this one.  You will need an expert qualified arborist to do a proper survey and probably a surveyor or even engineer to assess the foundations and likely impact.  You could even ask the insurance company who they think can assess the likely impact - after all they have a strong interest in avoiding damage to the property.

 

You will not get a conclusive answer on this or any other internet forum. 

[Khriss]

Well done Squaredy ( an don't ask yr insurer cos they clueless !) I would want Arb report Structure report n Soil report, then you go from there.........  K

Edited February 26, 2019 by Khriss
Yes, you get charged for those.

[Jon Heuch]

Ven

 

You ask four specific questions:

 

1) Council: how are they involved? Conservation Area - it's a simple notification & you need no evidence, but they can serve a TPO. If you are being asked to remove trees on the basis that a structural survey has listed the trees as a "risk",  you are in a sorry position. All sorts of things might happen but there is no need to worry about them - men may land from Mars etc etc. If there is no sign of movement after the summer of 2018 I would take quite a relaxed view on how birch trees might affect a house. TPO? You will need evidence & the council are likely to refuse. What appears to be an oak may present a greater risk...but without more details I cannot advise.

2) Can you remove in one go or gradually. This old wives tale (& I have some respect for the wisdom of old wives!) is difficult to get rid of - if there is a heave risk, there is a heave risk. Removing trees gradually is not thought to be a means of avoiding this.

3) Not sure what you mean: the foundations are set; you can't do anything about them.

4) Are you an arborist or a structural engineer or a builder? If there is a problem it is primarily with the soil underneath the foundations, not beside them (although heave can cause lateral movement)…….probably for a metre or three. Unless you have expert knowledge and lots of experience don't even think about digging into the ground.

 

My advice:

 

i) the houseowner should have typical domestic house insurance including as standard heave, landslip and subsidence.

ii) if you are just removing the trees you make sure you are acting under the instructions of another professional. i.e. you are just a contractor

iii) if you are providing advice  you have professional indemnity insurance (on an ongoing basis, not just this year as this could come back to bite you at any time in your career). At least £1 million.

iv) in terms of an arborist report, I am not sure this is really going to be of much assistance - it might provide you with ii) and some experience might assist in an assessment. it might be of assistance in putting the structural report back into its envelope and avoid removing any trees at all......but that might put you out of a job?

 

[Ven]

Please note.

I am planning to buy this property.

Full Structure buyers report says can be risk to building but no evidence at the moment.

Tree surgeons says they can cut height and side branches but can't see any damage to building 

They look too big, close and so council can approve to remove.

 

Need to apply for council.

 

Thanks

[Chris at eden]

2 minutes ago, Ven said:

Please note.

I am planning to buy this property.

Full Structure buyers report says can be risk to building but no evidence at the moment.

Tree surgeons says they can cut height and side branches but can't see any damage to building 

They look too big, close and so council can approve to remove.

 

Need to apply for council.

 

Thanks

Sounds like what you need is a mortgage / insurance report to assess the risk of future damage.  What area are you in (postcode)?  When was the house built?  If you ping me an email via my website (below link) I can send you a quote.  Let me guess, the structural survey states that the house is built on suspected shrinkable subsoil?  It may well be, but some of them seem to have a standard paragraph that states this for everything.  It impossible to say on a forum what the risk is, it needs a site visit and proper inspection. 

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[Mark J]

49 minutes ago, Chris at eden said:

Sounds like what you need is a mortgage / insurance report to assess the risk of future damage.  What area are you in (postcode)?  When was the house built?  If you ping me an email via my website (below link) I can send you a quote.  Let me guess, the structural survey states that the house is built on suspected shrinkable subsoil?  It may well be, but some of them seem to have a standard paragraph that states this for everything.  It impossible to say on a forum what the risk is, it needs a site visit and proper inspection. 

 

Cheers

 

Chris

Agreed.

Site investigations will determine foundation depth and type and subsoil conditions. Without those, any arboricultural advice is guesswork.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Mark J

[benedmonds]

They are big trees close to the house but according to cranfield 

Soilscape 14: 
Freely draining very acid sandy and loamy soils.

 

 

[bankhouse builder]

There are so many variables on this question. 

soil plasticity 

foundation type

foundation depth

If there isn't any damage at the moment have you got room to install a root barrier. I installed one on a house which was an insurance right off. It was successful  the house was built on a raft and the raft was flexing. The trees causing the problem were already there before the house was built and were in an adjoining woodland which had a tpo on everything. So the only option was to protect the property. The engineer on the job made us dig a 450 wide trench 1mtr below the root level we lined the sides with visqueen then filled it with concrete up to ground level. There was some serious cracks these were monitored for about 4 years in which time the they had closed up and the movement had stopped.