Help will removing conifers cause heave?

[Millie1976]

Hi   I am looking for some advice   Buying a 1930s semi detached house in Birmingham which has 3 large conifer trees (i think they are conifers) in the front garden about 8-10 metres from the house   They are as tall as the second storey of the house and are very bushy.   The house is on clay soil (mudstone)   I like the trees but would like to reduce the height   Would this cause heave?  Surveyor could not find any evidence of subsidence  in the house at present  but did mention caution about the trees and the clay soil.  The front wall is bowing slightly as well presumably from the roots of the trees.   Worried in case i buy the house and then cutdown trees slightly and heave occurs   Any advice?
 

[Lowestoft Firewood]

You could remove them altogether (I would they're ugly) and  i very much doubt youd have any issues.

[Millie1976]

Really? and you dont think i would have issues being on clay soil.   The drive is blocked paved as well.  Are they conifer trees do you think?

[Lowestoft Firewood]

They are definately conifers which as usual havent been looked after. 

 

Rip out and replace with a nice hedge like yew / laurel / beech - something you can cut as hard as you like and you wont kill. 

 

If you top the hedge you have you will still end up with bottom half being bare.

[maybelateron]

8 minutes ago, Lowestoft Firewood said:

Rip out and replace with a nice hedge like yew / laurel / beech - something you can cut as hard as you like and you wont kill. 

 

If you top the hedge you have you will still end up with bottom half being bare.

I would do exactly the same. Additionally you will have a lot more light around that side of the house. 

[nepia]

Thirded.  Looks like they were planted for screening but not maintained (tops cut regularly) so the bottoms are thinning thus defeating the purpose of them being there.

 

It's a very common scenario.  Scrap them, put in a nice hedge as above.

[Millie1976]

Thank you everyone.  Would this cause heave to the property by removing them?  That is my main concern.

 

[Millie1976]

Also, do you think it will be really costly?  Am I looking in the £1,000s???

[Treeation]

Hard to see  from the photos, but from what I can see I imagine around £500 to fell and remove green waste from site. The a few hundred to either grub out stumps with mini digger or get a stump grinder in so you should get everything done for sub £1K

[Millie1976]

Thank you Treeation.

 

There are trees on the otherside as well between me and the neighbour so I know it won't be a cheap job.  I'm more concerned abut the damage it could do to the foundations being on clay soil but no one has commented on that.  I realise it is best for someone to come and see the property in person as it is hard to see from a photo.  Just wondered if anyone has knowledge of removing these types of tree on clay soil.

 

Apprciate all your help.

 

[Jon Heuch]

3 hours ago, Millie1976 said:

Thank you everyone.  Would this cause heave to the property by removing them?  That is my main concern.

 

Heave can be an issue when a large tree is removed that is significantly older than the property, or where new houses are built on land that was recently wooded. If the house was built in 1930s & the trees appear to be decades old at best, you should have no concerns over heave. If the porch, boundary walls or other items are more recent that relationship may be more complex but simply ensure you take out standard building insurance and it will include "subsidence, heave & landslip". If something did occur it would be a matter for your insurers to sort out.