Tree roots

[Drewzilla]

Hi

got a tree that I want to cut down as it is growing very close to garage and is now

pushing roof tiles off, got the planning permission however the guy who came

around to assess it told me that it looks like the garage was built upon the tree roots and that chopping it down will probably result in subsidence issues and cause the garage to collapse, I asked him if I left the tree could I still get problem and he said yes and if I just pruned the branches pushing tiles off it would stress the tree and in balance it so would be best to chop it down. I’ve looked a little into subsidence and heave issues caused by decaying roots and moisture saturation so understand possible problems in cutting tree down. I’ve attached a couple of pics of the tree which is a Sycamore, hopefully someone here can reassure me it’s not going to cause a problem or agree that it has to come down regardless of consequences. I excavated some solid to allow me access and to assess the ground and I have found the foundations for the ground and there are some thick roots on top of this so hopefully maybe the roots don’t go under the foundations.

 

 

[Stubby]

Subsidence is used a lot to be " alarmist "  If what he says is true you are dammed if you do and dammed if you don't .  It does depend very much on soil type but just looking at it I would say section it down , chip the brash , keep the very excellent fire wood .   

[Dan Maynard]

As Stubby says, if removing the tree is going to affect it then when the tree grows that will also affect it. So you need a pruning regime that keeps the tree roots exactly the same size....

Or, remove the tree and deal with any cracks that do occur, before it gets any bigger or damages the roof any more.

[daveatdave]

some of the roots have been pruned to get the footings in for the extension by the look of the photos i don't think there will be many big roots underneath cut it down and grind the stump out otherwise it will start to grow again